UW–Madison’s Cindy Kuhrasch appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to talk about the importance of physical education and how it has changed through the years.
Kuhrasch is the program coordinator for the Physical Education Teacher Education program in the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology.
Kuhrasch told Meiller that physical educators now have a greater understanding of the “social and emotional component” to physical education. Speaking of the experiences that students have in physical education classes, she said they “can be either really bad, like coming into physical education and being really scared to climb the rope in front of your peers … or (they) can be really, really good.”
Kuhrasch said that if physical educators intentionally teach for positive experiences, research suggests that people are way more likely to be physically active in the future.
Kuhrasch also spoke about how physical educators are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in particular, she addressed the difficulties of translating physical education to an online format.
One approach that shows promise, she said, is creating at-home activities for kids to do with their families. The purpose, she said, is “to encourage that joy — and just happiness — that comes with moving. And instead of with your classmates, now it will be with your family.”
For more insights from Kuhrasch on physical education and the importance of being active, listen to the full program on the WPR website, here.