Bringing joy to children through sports and play

Nestled among lush mountains, with the air hanging heavy with humidity hinting at imminent rain, Pingbian Miao Autonomous County in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, awakens to a typical summer morning. At Pingbian County No. 1 High School, Yongping (a pseudonym) and her classmates eagerly head to the sports equipment room to fetch volleyballs for their physical education (PE) class. Excited, they bounce the balls and chase each other across the playground, their laughter echoing through the air.

Physical Education Class is Dull No Longer

The morning’s PE session for Grade 10, Class 7 kicks off with a twist. Rather than jumping straight into volleyball drills, PE teacher Xiong Dailin starts a game called ‘Make a Group’. The students run around in a circle until a number is called out, then they scramble to form groups with the corresponding number of classmates. Those left out or in a group with the wrong number are ‘out’. After several rounds, Yongping and her classmates are breathless but grinning ear to ear.

“I used to dislike PE classes because they were mostly about running and jumping, which I found tiring and boring,” says Yongping. “But now, PE classes are much more enjoyable. Our teacher often arranges various games that not only entertain us but also help relieve my stress.”

Yongping, facing overwhelming academic pressure as she prepares for the next year’s college entrance examinations, now looks forward to her twice-weekly PE class the most.

After several rounds of games, Xiong guides the class to practice drills of increasing complexity. Yongping and her classmates are fully engaged. As the class nears its end, Xiong organizes another team-based game. “So much fun!” says one student, “Super exciting!” says another.

“We start and end our classes with games to make PE enjoyable and encourage active participation from students, shifting from passive learning to a more engaging approach," explains Xiong. “Moreover, games help students warm up and fully relax.”

“In previous PE classes, it was running that made me sweat, but now it’s playing that does the trick,” says Yongping’s classmate Lili (17, a pseudonym). “I love PE classes now because my mind and my body both relax at the same time.”

Sports for Development

The positive changes that the students have experienced can be traced back to a training Xiong attended in October 2023. Xiong was one of 50 resource high school PE teachers from Honghe Prefecture who participated in a five-day onsite training in Mengzi City, the capital of the prefecture. The expert-led training focused on teaching styles that align with recently revised national PE and health curriculum standards for senior secondary schools.

The training is part of a joint project by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to provide personalized professional development for senior secondary school sports teachers. The project also helps children build sports into a positive lifestyle, improving their overall learning and quality of life.

“In the past, traditional PE classes focused mainly on practice and performance, often neglecting many other aspects,” says Xiong. “Through this training, we’ve learned that students learn best when they enjoy themselves and find happiness in sports. Meanwhile, integrating learning, practice, and competition in PE classes helps develop students’ teamwork skills, it instils lifelong exercise habits, and it relieves their academic pressures.”

As the only teacher at Pingbian No.1 High School who took part in the training in 2023, Xiong not only applied the knowledge he acquired from the training in his own classroom but also shared it with his fellow PE teachers in his school. He regularly initiates discussions on course objectives and teaching plans, aligning with the project’s goal of promoting professional development among PE teachers with the help of resource teachers.

“Xiong’s sharing of learning experiences, from daily teaching to continuous professional development, has been incredibly helpful to us,” remarked Li Yuelan, a PE teacher at the junior high department of Pingbian No. 1 High School.

UNICEF advocates for every child to have access to sports and activities that foster their interest, enthusiasm, and skills in sports. UNICEF and the MOE have been collaborating since 2012 in Sports for Development to improve the quality of PE and sports activities in rural schools by building the capacity of PE teachers. The project that trained Xiong Dailin is now available in six prefectures of three provinces in the mid-west regions, including Honghe Prefecture.

“Sport is a powerful tool for engaging all children. Promoting the physical and mental health of children and young people through sport has always been a key focus for UNICEF,” explains Du Wei, Education Officer at UNICEF China. “We’re committed to enhancing the professional development of physical education teachers in mid-west China, especially in rural areas. Our goal is for students to genuinely enjoy and benefit from sports through their physical education classes and sports activities.”

Zhang Fengzhou, a teacher at the Beijing Institute of Education, has been a trainer for UNICEF’s Sports for Development programme since 2012, training thousands of PE teachers across China. “Over these years of training, many resource teachers have truly undergone significant transformations – now they set teaching goals and analyse student progress, and build relationships with children,” observes Zhang.

From teacher-dominant to student-centred

UNICEF and MOE held another training session in Pingbian No.1 High School from 24 to 28 June this year, to further assess teaching competencies and demonstrate the professional development outcomes of the PE teachers in Honghe. Fifty high school sports teachers from 9 counties and 4 cities in Honghe Prefecture participated in the training, with 11 of them conducting demonstration lessons.

Tan An, a PE teacher at Lin’an Senior High School in Jianshui County, participated in the project for the first time. During the training, he observed demonstrations, attended master classes, and conducted his own basketball class demonstration. He received feedback from both fellow teachers and experts. He felt that the 5-day training not only enhanced his teaching abilities but also changed his previous view that classes should be dominated by teachers.

"We should shift from traditional teacher-dominant PE classes to student-centred ones, to fully engage students in exercises and physical training. Instead of the teacher demonstrating and explaining throughout the entire class, a student-centred approach enables students to master sport-specific skills independently, fostering their innovation and creativity. These are valuable lessons I learned from this training,” says Tan An.

Through training PE teachers like Tan An and Xiong Dailin, who then share their experiences with colleagues, the project aims to reach to senior secondary school PE teachers throughout Honghe Prefecture with its teaching concepts.

Du Wei believes that the next phase of the project will focus on the physical and mental health of adolescents and equipping them with life skills for their future learning, life and work.

“Sports not only bring joy and health to children and adolescents but also serve as an effective means to promote their all-round development. Sports cultivate qualities such as teamwork, leadership, interpersonal communication, and respect for competitors, all of which contribute to a better transition into society,” says Du Wei.

Fresh from her volleyball class, Yongping, her hair soaked with sweat, echoes Du Wei’s understanding. “I do enjoy playing volleyball. Even though I’m not particularly outstanding at sports, PE class isn’t necessarily about reaching the level of an athlete, right? It’s good to relax and relieve stress.”