II International Congress of Physical Education Teachers

II international Congress of Physical Education Teachers

Welcoming Address of the Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation to participants and organizers of the II International Congress of Physical Education Teachers

On behalf of the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation I would like to welcome organizers, participants and guests of the II International Congress of Physical Education Teachers. At present physical culture and sports are facing global challenges. Meeting them requires new strategic approaches. One of the priority tasks is modernization of physical education in educational institutions.

In this regard exchange of best practices in physical education of schoolchildren, forming pro-active attitude, healthy lifestyle promotion are of paramount importance and up-to-date. I believe that knowledge and expertise you possess in widely-acknowledged projects are to facilitate addressing crucial social tasks aimed at advancement of physical culture and sports, forming healthy and harmoniously developed generation of younger Russians.

I wish you all fruitful work and success in implementation of your plans and activities.

Vitaly Mutko,

Minister of Sports, Tourism and

Youth Policy of the Russian Federation

Welcoming Address of the Head of the Republic of Karelia

Dear participants of the International Congress!

Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia hosts the International Congress of Physical Education Teachers on June 30 – July 4, 2010. This is already the second forum of PE teachers of primary, secondary and higher education institutions, experts in physical and health education from across Karelia, Russia, near and far abroad.

The capital of the Republic of Karelia is not a random choice for carrying out this significant international event. Raising healthy and physically strong generation has always been one of the priority tasks for the Karelian Government. The year of 90th anniversary of the Republic is also marked with opening of a new swimming pool in the city of Kostomuksha, a sports center in the city of Lahdenpohya, a sports gym of the Sheltozero School, stadiums in the cities of Medvezhyegorsk and Olonets.

The Republic of Karelia is justly considered to be an attractive place for holding international and all-Russia sport events. 58 kinds of sports are practiced In Karelia, 45 republican sports federations are functioning. The Republic of Karelia holds the 5th place among the regions of the North-Western District of Russia on the total number of people engaged in organized forms of regular physical activities.

We are proud of our compatriots, winners of World Championships and Olympics who honored Russia at various international competitions. Many athletes started their mount to the world top positions from school physical education classes. So it is a PE teacher who creates the basis of a child’s healthy lifestyle, promotes pupil’s love for exercising.

Intergenerational continuity in formation of healthy lifestyle skills is a determining factor of human potential development. That is why physical and health education teachers, trainers of children sport schools bear responsibility for preservation and promotion of traditions of health saving and conscientious attitude towards one’s health among children and youth.

The forum of physical and health education teachers is symbolically held within the Year of a Teacher. The government is interested in bringing up healthy young generations, and PE teachers are at the forefront of fulfilling this goal.

I believe that the Second International Congress of Physical Education Teachers is to be a vivid event facilitating promotion of regular exercising, sport activities and healthy lifestyle among the population.

Head of the Republic of Karelia Sergey Katanandov

Congress as a form of uniting physical education teachers

A.Voronov

Dean, Faculty of Physical Education,

Karelian State Pedagogical Academy,

city of Petrozavodsk

Both in Russia and many European countries approaches to promotion of healthy lifestyle among the younger generation by means of physical education are revised at present. The President of Russia has set up an urgent objective: “by 2020 every other citizen of Russia has to engaged in regular systematic physical exercising and sport activities. This figure should be not less that 80% among students”. The role of a PE teacher is of utmost importance in this regard. So a congress of PE teachers is a highly relevant event aimed at addressing the aforementioned tasks.

This movement started in 2006 with the cooperation of the Faculty of Physical Culture of the Karelian State Pedagogical Academy and the Association of Physical Educators in Finland on implementation of the project “Promotion of healthy lifestyle by means of PE classes in schools of the Republic of Karelia”. First pilot schools were the Lyceum #1, the School #46 and the School #48 of the city of Petrozavodsk. In 2006-2009 PE teachers of Karelia participated in several international courses, seminars, conferences on physical culture held in Estonia, Finland, Italy. These were organized by the Association of Physical and Health Educators in Finland under the auspices of the European Physical Education Association (EUPEA). The latter was established in 1991 for development of physical education in the whole Europe. EUPEA considers physical education to be one of the central objectives of the school educational system, as motor development and promotion of lifelong physical exercising is crucial for modern society where opportunities of these activities are shrinking. The objectives set by the Association are the following: uniting efforts of academics and teachers for development of physical culture and healthy lifestyle promotion, advancing art of teaching, sharing experience, working out new approaches to organizing physical training, and in prospect establishing unified standard of physical education in all European countries.

Need in physical education quality improvement is also highlighted. The emphasis here is balanced school curricula that anticipates elevated teachers’ attention to extra motor activity of pupils including one organized within extra-curricular activities. Curricula stipulate at least 3 hours a week for physical and health education classes during the whole study period.

Member of the Association are also concerned with the quality of professional training of a teacher. So for example, a primary school teacher should accomplish special training in theory and methods of physical and health education in amount of at least 1000 academic hours (60 ECTS), a PE teacher in secondary school – at least 4000 academic hours (240 ECTS).

Members of the Association are convinced that unity of efforts of school teachers, parents, local communities in promotion of physical culture and healthy lifestyle are demanded. Networking of PE teachers from different countries has to be established and developed.

Even though education and educational policy are filed of competence of every single country, issues of physical education are common for the whole Europe. EUPEA unites associations of PE teachers of 29 European countries. Results of its activities have been presented on international congresses, seminars and courses in Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Estonia, Finland, etc. Unfortunately Russia is not in the list of these 29 states. Anyway it does not infer that we are not concerned with well-being of our children and youth. At our workplaces, in a sports gym or on a sports ground, everyone of us, PE teachers, tackles definite tasks, one of them is to promote love to physical exercises for every pupil, to work out such culture of behavior that everyday physical activities become an inherent part of his/he life. Anyway we have to unite in order to make results of our work more visible.

Adopting experience of European associations of PE teachers and having enlisted their support we established the Karelian Regional Non-Governmental Organization “Association of Physical Education Teachers of the Republic of Karelia” in March 2008. Later the Union of Karelia, Finland and Estonia in the filed was established.

The first major event organized jointly by the Association and the Karelian State Pedagogical Academy was the First International Congress of Physical and Health Education Teachers held on June 24-30, 2008 under the support of the Government of the Republic of Karelia and the Association of Physical and Health Educators in Finland.

416 physical education specialists participated the Congress representing from 15 regions of Russia, national associations of Italy, Finland, Estonia, Canada, the USA, Lithuania, Sweden, being driven by the aspiration to share experience and new ideas on physical and health education development.

The Congress program involved:

-  Scientific-research activities (plenary sessions, presentations of new approaches to physical and health education);

-  Practical activities (master classes for PE teachers);

-  Dissemination of results of the project “Promotion of healthy lifestyle in schools of the Republic of Karelia”.

100 master classes, lectures and seminars were carried out within the week. The participants received immense amount of knowledge in the field, shared experience, learnt various methods, reenergized, got an inspiration to create at PE classes. In follow-up of the Congress a videofilm was made; collected works in two languages were published; journals “Physical Culture at School”, “Sports at School”, “Health at School” devoted their issue to the event.

A foundation meeting of a new Inter-regional Association of Physical Education Teachers was held within the framework of the Congress. Representatives of 15 regions of Russia unanimously established this Association and made a decision to attract other regions to the organization. So one of the goals of the Second International Congress is promotion of establishment of all-Russia union of physical education teachers. The Organizing Committee has prepared a concept and graft regulations of the union. The union activities are to be aimed at:

-  Active promotion of physical exercising,

-  Modernization of school physical education system,

-  Activation of exchange of pedagogical experience, ideas, methods, modern technologies, information amid physical education teachers,

-  Improvement of physical education teaching in educational institutions,

-  Contribution to creation of contemporary sports facilities, working our recommendations for equipping,

-  Elaboration of efficient system of extra-curricular sport work, organization and holding of fitness and sport events,

-  Contribution to advancement of qualification, training and re-training of physical education teachers,

-  Promotion of a status of a physical education teacher in Russian educational system,

-  Elaboration of criteria for assessing work of a physical education teacher and an incentive scheme,

-  Development of cooperation among regional, national and international organizations of physical culture.

For this end a systematic work has to organized involving holding seminars, master classes, conferences, meetings, congresses, publishing, collaboration with higher and secondary educational institutions, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy, NGOs, etc.

The Union of physical education teachers of Russia should become a full-fledged member of the European Physical Education Association. It may not stew in its own juice, but adopt positive experience of European countries and promote national methods. This is particularly important in the period of integration of educational spheres.

Lapta, an old Russian game

E. Abramova, School №15,

city of Naberezhnye Chelny

The younger generation's state of health is an important indicator of the country and society's well-being, but spirit and traditions are also very important. No doubt, spiritual and moral health is closely connected with physical one. Insufficient motor activity and computer mania lead to decrease in both intellectual and physical working capacity of the younger generation. So, it is very important to get pupils interested in physical training. A game can be one of motivation ways.

I searched for the game which could be interesting for all children, despite of the age and individual peculiarities, and could better develop pupils' motor and learning abilities. I chose a Russian national game, "Lapta". Lapta has become the most popular and favourite game at our school. To play lapta you need only a lawn or any sports field, a bat and a ball. The number of players and size of a field are not limited.

Lapta is included in the programme on physical training for comprehensive schools by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Let's teach children to play lapta.

Russian lapta: history and development stages

Lapta is an ancient Russian game. Lapta was mentioned already in ancient Russian chronicles. It was named after a bat used while playing, "lapta". So, lapta has been played for more than a thousand years. It is necessary to mention that lapta is not only a Russian game. The Norwegian archeologists found lapta bats used by Vikings. Games similar to lapta exist in many countries: cricket in England, baseball and softball in the USA, pelota in Cuba, etc.

At the time of Peter I lapta was not only a favourite game, but was also included in the program of physical training of soldiers of Preobrazhenskiy, Semenovsky and Shevardinsky regiments. Alexander Suvorov also used lapta to train soldiers.

In 1926 the USSR High council on physical training tried to formulate official rules to play lapta, but lapta was not recognized as a kind of sport though it was popular with people. And only in 1957, thanks to enthusiasts' efforts, the first official lapta competition took place. The first championship of the Russian Federation in 1958 helped to develop the game more. However in the 1960-70s lapta development stopped.

And only by the end of the 1980s lapta was revived by the USSR State Committee on Sport's resolution “On baseball, softball and Russian lapta development” carried in 1987. In 1994 lapta was included in the Unified Russian sports classification. In 1995 the new rules of competitions were developed. Since 1997 the inter-regional public organisation, Federation of Russian lapta, has operated. Now lapta is popular in more than thirty regions of Russia. Lapta is especially popular in Amur, Irkutsk, Tyumen, Tomsk, Saratov, Bryansk, Omsk, Volgograd, Tula, Novgorod, Moscow, Belgorod territorial units, as well as and in the cities of Krasnoyarsk and Krasnodar and in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Lapta is a dynamic kind of sports, and it develops to adapt to various situations. So, minilapta has occurred. It is possible to play it in any conditions. There is a beach lapta as well. At our school we play volleyball lapta.

Lapta rules are constantly becoming simpler, and this makes it more available. I use the following rules to play lapta:

Game rules

Field: flat, in the open air, 30-60 m long, 20-40 m wide.

Equipment: a tennis ball, a bat (length: 60-110 sm, width: 8-13 sm, a rounded handle, weight: not more than 1500 gr)