ABSTRACT
Any effort to develop the beginnings of lifelong health, enjoyment and participation in sport and physical activity should acknowledge some of the philosophy of early years education. The DfES and QCA (2000) identified a number of principles of early years education. Below we list those principles which are pertinent to the demands of participation in a unit of Sport Education:
1 that children should feel included, secure and valued; 2 that no child should be excluded or disadvantaged; 3 that relevant and appropriate content should match the different levels
of children’s needs; 4 that there should be opportunities for children to take part in activities
that they plan or put in place themselves. (adapted from DfES/QCA, 2000)
Developing qualities of responsibility, consideration and support amongst students, such that they will be able to demonstrate the ability to care for and invest in their peers, should not only be a major objective for teachers using Sport Education. They are qualities and characteristics of learning and behaviour that are desirable in the very early stages of students’ education.
