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Hello,

My name is Jade Wierks and I am writing to you today from Agassiz, British Columbia. I am a student at the University of the Fraser Valley taking Educational Psychology. For part of my coursework, I am supposed to reflect on an aspect of my education journey. Lately, I have been reflecting on my journey in developing physical literacy. Do not worry if this term is new, my friends from around Canada will help to identify and describe this and how it relates to educational psychology.

The question I have been thinking about is: "how might my educational experience be different if I was more engaged in holistic physical literacy strategies?"

Thinking back, when I participated in physical education and movement, a lot of my experience focused on a traditional sport model. Although I did quite well at most sports, I wonder what my development and experience would have been like if I experienced a more holistic approach to physical education, such as embracing the concept of physical literacy. How would this have affected my relationships with others and those around me who found a traditional sport model overwhelming, frustrating or anxiety-provoking?

As I receive postcards from my friends around Canada, I hope to begin to answer this question from different perspectives on the concepts and research behind physical literacy and how certain strategies can be beneficial for holistic development.

After you have read all of the postcards, please come back and visit me in Agassiz, BC to see how I connect these perspectives, resources, ideas and reflections to my own learning and development.

I hope you enjoy reading the mail from across Canada on this topic.

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Hello,

My name is Helene Gardner and I am writing to you today from beautiful Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I am a Master's student at the University of Victoria studying physical education.

Within my program, one key concept that is consistently discussed in my course work and research is the term physical literacy. Similar to other literacy development, such as reading and writing, physical literacy is a multi-dimensional concept and promotes the development of foundational movement skills (Tang et al., 2023). It is the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that individuals need to enable them to participate in a wide variety of movement based activities (Physical and Health Education [PHE] Canada, n.d.).

Furthermore, physical literacy provides a holistic understanding of movement, and improves psycho-social and physical well-being (Melby et al., 2022). As discussed by Edwards et al. (2016), physical literacy has become a key focus of physical activity and physical activity promotion, as physical literacy is often considered an antecedent of lifelong physical activity, while also being developed by physical activity itself. As future educators, this relationship and the holistic concept of physical literacy is important to be aware of, even if you are not teaching physical education directly.

As defined by PHE Canada (2010), physical literacy focuses on the development of the whole child. Therefore, this includes cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual and physical health, along with developing attitudes and habits to use movement throughout life (PHE Canada, 2010).

I am looking forward to continuing my program to further my understanding about the concept of physical literacy and in my future role as an educator.

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Hello,

My name is Jonathan Smith and I am writing to you today from Edmonton, Alberta. I am a professor at the University of Alberta and one of my research passions is on the topic of physical literacy and education.

I want to take the time to further explain the concept of physical literacy to you within my postcard.

As proposed my Margaret Whitehead (2013), movement experiences frame future behaviour and shape the domains of physical literacy. These domains include:

1. The cognitive domain (the knowledge or understanding of movement effects)

2. The affective domain (the regulation of motivation, movement-related self-efficacy and self-confidence)

3. The physical domain (the movement itself, motor skills, sport movement and fundamental movement skills)

4. The behavioural domain (the use of and engagement in movement throughout an individual's lifespan)

(Longmuir et al., 2015; Whitehead, 2013)

In addition, Grauduszus et al. (2023) state that these domains do not exist in isolation, but rather are relational and supported by each other.

I hope explaining these domains and how they are influenced by one another within the concept of physical literacy provides further insight on this topic.

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Hello,

My name is Sally Stenson and I am a Grade 4 teacher at an elementary school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As a teacher in a small school, I am also required to teach physical education for the Grade 4 students in my class. Teaching physical education is out of my comfort zone, since I did not grow up feeling confident in physical education settings.

One thing I learned from other colleagues and through my teacher education is that through quality physical education, students become physically literate, in which they can then apply to physical activities and other aspects of life (Mandigo et al., 2009).

I appreciate learning this, since it brings a new perspective and changes my perception of the role of physical education itself. Furthermore, the goals of physical literacy indicate that students are better prepared to lead healthy active lives in a way that assist others, are respectful of the environment, and are more innovative and creative (Mandigo et al., 2009).

These are values that I instill within my classroom when we are engaging in other subject matter such as reading, writing, math and collaboration. I love seeing how the physical literacy approach transfers values that I already try to instill within my classroom to a broader context in a physical realm.

Seeing physical education from a holistic physical literacy approach helps teaching physical education not seem as daunting. It helps me see physical education through an inclusive lens of learning to move your body in different ways and approaches.

I look forward to you engaging with my other colleagues and other students from across Canada on their perspectives and expertise on this topic.

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Hello,

My name is Marlene Joseph and I am a principal for a small school in the community of Grand Rapids, Manitoba. Within the community, community members and their Indigenous culture is of upmost importance within learning structures and curriculum. Storytelling is extremely powerful and important in education and learning. This also relates to the topic of physical literacy, specifically in addressing the holistic nature that physical literacy concepts address.

For example, Donald (2021) discusses that stories may support cognitive, emotional, spiritual and physical learning, thus indicating that stories support holistic learning. This intersects with the goals of physical literacy. Stories can also shape how students understand their own identity and place in the world (Johnson, 2022). Therefore, utilizing story within physical literacy and education is of upmost importance for my fellow educator colleagues.

For example, in a study combining movement and storytelling, greater improvements were seen in both motor and language ability (Duncan et al., 2019) in comparison to not including story within movement activities. This shows the true power of story in learning, which includes physical literacy and motor learning. Utilizing story work as we move and learn about our bodies has tremendous benefits to identity, culture, language, relationship building, and physical movement.

I hope this helped identify the power of story work and how it can be used in conjunction with physical literacy strategies. Hopefully you can use this is in your reflections about your past learning journey, and how you may utilize story work as a future educator.

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Hello,

My name is Thomas Beckers and I am a Grade 6 student at an elementary school in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Life as a Grade 6 student is difficult. I am thinking about my transition to middle school and to be honest, this has me stressed and apprehensive about what this transition might bring, especially in terms of physical education.

One thing I have appreciated about my physical education teacher this year is my teacher's approach in making it fun and enjoyable. My teacher told me that enjoyment of physical activity is correlated with perceived competence of movement. Thus, it is important for physical literacy and movement to be fun (Cairney et al., 2012).

Some ways my teacher achieves this is by creating fun opportunities to learn skills without being pressured or judged by anyone else. These activities are fun, engaging, but also do not cause pressure or anxiety. Rather, they create opportunity to learn and trying something new without pressure.

One example of a game I love is when we do obstacle courses that are not measured by who wins, but are continuous and have us challenge ourselves within the activity, such as throwing a bean bag further away from the target each time we come to that station.

When I am having fun and engaging in physical movement and activity, I want to do more and try more activities. The importance of fun is something I hope my middle school teachers use in their physical education curriculum in order to promote physical literacy.

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Greetings from Gatineau, Quebec!

My name is Marlene Johnston and I am 67 years old. I was born in Montreal, and moved to Gatineau when I was in my early twenties. I raised my children here and now have the blessing of seeing my grandchildren grow up here as well.

Growing up, I did not love sports or physical activity. I was self-conscious of my skill level and often watched my brothers play hockey and other sports. I feel like I may have missed out on building a foundation and enjoyment for movement because of my hesitancies, fear and apprehensions.

As I transition into the later years of my life, I now see the importance of physical activity and movement for both health and for everyday life movements. I also see this through the eyes of my grandchildren, as I want them to experience and feel confident and competent in movement (Haley, 2018).

Being able to walk on ice safely is a movement and physical literacy skill that I am not proficient at, and building this confidence and skill throughout my life would have been beneficial as noted in the podcast by Haley (2018). This skill is important so I can navigate through the physical environment in the winter months.

While doing some research online around the importance of physical literacy, I found some great information. Northern Health (n.d.) states that "acquiring functional skills and knowledge enables enjoyment and successful participation in physical activity for a lifetime.” (para 2).

I feel like this quote helps fully encompass my views on the importance of physical literacy. I am delighted that this is a concept that is being explored and researched more, especially as my grandchildren develop, grow and learn.

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Hello,

My name is Henry Isaac and I am from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I am the father of two elementary aged children, Grade 3 and Grade 5. As a parent, I want the best for my children and for them to be true to themselves as they develop, change and grow.

I feel a part of this journey is for me to be engaged and present in their development and life journey. This is also true within the concept of physical literacy.

In a study by Lane et al. (2022), it was discovered that parent-focused physical literacy interventions are a positive and beneficial avenue to explore. The idea of this comes from the concept of PLAYshops, where parents engage in play-based activities alongside their children (Lane et al., 2022). This concept promotes physical literacy strategies for both the parent and the child themselves, thus contributing to holistic development (Lane et al., 2022).

I also listened to a podcast by Haley (2018), where Dr. Kriellaars was interviewed. He discussed the importance of instilling competence and confidence in children as they move through their physical literacy development and journey. Dr. Kriellaars provided the example of helping his children experience or learn something new every week, such as skating, frisbee, throwing, fishing etc. He discussed that with this experience, his children gained the ability to develop confidence and competence to engage in activities or to try something new, even as they moved into adulthood.

Through my learnings thus far, I clearly see how alongside educators and teachers, I too have a job and responsibility in helping my children in their physical literacy journey.

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Hello,

My name is Harry Bradshaw and I am a Grade 1 teacher in Moncton, New Brunswick. I grew up in Moncton, so this has always been the land I connect with most as my own personal development took place in this very space. I am currently teaching at the same school I went to as a child.

I feel like since I have gone to school, a lot about the concept of physical education has changed. When I was in school, I remember physical education class being its own entity, and that was the only environment where movement was truly explored.

Now as a teacher myself, I have been researching and reading on the concept of physical literacy and how I can use this important concept within physical education as well as outside of this traditional setting. Indeed, it is still prominent within my physical education classes, but I am trying to be creative with different approaches to bring physical literacy to a classroom setting.

Increasing the diversity of children's daily physical activities is important for future physical activity behaviour and the development of physical literacy (Melby et al., 2021). With this knowledge, I am trying to be creative in how our daily physical activities can exist outside of the typical physical education class.

One example is that I have been starting the morning with a song, where I pick 5 special helpers each day that pick a movement to utilize within the song. Some examples are wiggle jumps, arms up, standing on one leg, hopping etc. My students have been very creative and it helps to start our day with movement and a smile.

Another concept I have learned in my latest research is that connecting physical literacy to other education curriculum can be beneficial (Bradford et al., 2019). I have been striving to utilize physical literacy concepts within other subjects.

For example, when we are learning about our letters, I ask the students to stand up and either try to make the shape of the letter with their body, or spell it out with a body part such as their foot or arm. Some other examples we use are doing jumps to count syllables or answer simple math questions.

So far, I have enjoyed integrating physical literacy strategies with other subjects and environments. If you have more suggestions or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

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Hello,

My name is Piper Wierks and I am 3 years old. I live in Agassiz, British Columbia but am currently visiting my grandparents in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia.

I love to play. I love to play with my dog, my parents, my sister and my toys. I also love to play outside and use my imagination.

I wanted to share some information on the importance of play within the context of physical literacy my grandparents discovered and wrote while I am visiting them.

Rudd (2021) discusses that play is an excellent way to develop physical literacy, as children gain and develop psychological, emotional and physical capacities. Furthermore, play engages individuals in a range of movement skills alongside promoting interaction with the environment, decision-making, social skills, and information perception (Rudd, 2021).

Rudd (2021) provides the example of children engaging in play such as jumping over a puddle or street curb in relationship to developing movement skills that help individuals navigate other potential life situations such as navigating ocean waves or avoiding an approaching vehicle.

Across the globe, children do not have adequate opportunities to engage in play (Rudd, 2021), thus showing the importance for creating a safe and optimal environment for play-based activity and movement.

Furthermore, Sawyer (2017) discusses that play-based activities correlate with increased motivation. Individual’s imagination and free-play spirit can benefit functions of learning (Sawyer, 2017), including learning and development of physical literacy.

As discussed by Rudd (2021), it is a great concern throughout the world that lack of movement within the daily lives of children can impact their physical, social and mental development. This shows the importance of going back to the foundational concept of play, and allowing opportunity for it to flourish.

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Hello,

My name is Maggie Douglas and I live in Iqaluit, Nunavut. I am a professor at the Nunavut Arctic College in the education department. I have spent my life here on these lands and am grateful to live here and to help shape the future of education in this territory.

The Nunavut Department of Education (2007) provides an excellent Learning Continuum that recognizes the individuality and importance of community within an individual's learning and developmental journey. This Learning Continuum has benchmarks, but also recognizes that each individual's journey is unique.

Within the Learning Continuum, Elders helped identify 5 benchmarks or points of transition in an individual's learning journey, which can also be applied to the concept of physical literacy.

These include:

1. Qaujilisaaqtuq: The Emergent Learner

2. Tukisiliqtuq: The Transitional Learner

3. Tukisinaqsiliqtuq: The Communicative Learner

4. Pinasugunnaqsijuq: The Confident Learner

5. Pijunnaqsijuq: The Proficient Learner

(Nunavut Department of Education, 2007).

Individuals can be at different points of transition at a given time, depending on the context, subject, topic or other factors (Nunavut Department of Education, 2007).

For example, within the concepts reading and writing, an individual may be a Transitional Learner, where at the same time they are a Communicative Learner in physical literacy concepts.

The Learning Continuum also describes this journey alike to building an igloo; it is a continuous process by building block by block and row by row (Nunavut Department of Education, 2007). Some days, more blocks may be placed, while other days there may be a pause or delay; all in which adds to the uniqueness of one's learning and developmental journey.

I am appreciative of the Elders that contributed to this resource, as it truly identifies the uniqueness of an individual's learning and developmental journey, without concrete and definitive achievement points that do not appreciate the uniqueness of each individual's situation and journey.

This collaborative resource has been a wealth of knowledge and engages my students in conversation and dialogue around the topic of lifelong learning, which can also be applied to physical literacy. I am grateful to those who contributed and developed this useful resource.

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Greetings from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories!

My name is Allison Ericson and I am an education assistant that has the privilege to work alongside a Grade 3 student who has a diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I support and walk alongside the student in all different experiences and classes, including physical education. The teacher of the class told me they use the concepts of physical literacy to try and create a safe and inclusive space for all individuals to experience and develop in movement. The concepts of physical literacy and its holistic components are in conjunction to adapting activity to be what is best for each student.

I also wanted to discuss something else I have learned and appreciate moving forward in my work. I recently read an article by Carlson (2007) that discusses the Indigenous perspectives on how individuals with disabilities are a blessing to communities. Western institutional structures often devalue and exclude individuals with intellectual disabilities (Carlson, 2007).

Further, Carlson (2007) discusses the perspective that a healthy community and the individuals within it need to include all of its members. I compare this idea to the classroom community, where every individual contributes something beautiful and unique, including physical education or physical literacy based activities.

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Hello,

My name is Ursula Melvin and I am the director of the non-profit UCANMOVE which supports and advocates for the holistic and beneficial concepts of physical literacy. I am writing to you today from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

I wanted to briefly discuss the idea of physical literacy across the lifespan. When hearing the term physical literacy and understanding the meaning of it, we often attribute it to children. However, as stated by Joanna Sheppard in the short film No Running “Physical literacy is a journey that does not end at grade 3, or graduation at grade 12… it is their whole life.” (James, 2020, 34:21).

This statement is important to reflect on. We are all lifelong learners, which includes movement and the holistic properties of physical literacy. It is never too late to engage in physical literacy strategies, try something new or develop a new skill.

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Hello,

I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing the postcards from around Canada and engaging in other perspectives, experiences and knowledge around the concept of physical literacy.

I now wanted to take the time to discuss how these concepts relate to answering my initial question: "how might my educational experience be different if I was more engaged in holistic physical literacy strategies?"

The holistic aspect of physical literacy is something I have appreciated while researching this topic. I appreciate how this concept accepts that each individual is unique and that you can come as you are and learn and succeed at your own pace without being compared to others. In terms of my own experience, perhaps this would have taken some of the stress that I felt to learn a specific sport skill in order to keep up with the class or feel like I was contributing to a team.

I also appreciate the idea that physical literacy is a lifelong journey and not something that is a checklist with specific dates and times. Often in school, I felt that I needed to be able to achieve specific and certain things at a specific time. For example, I could not overhand serve a volleyball in Grade 8. In my mind, I was a failure and there was no reason to even join the school team as I was not good enough.

My final reflection comes from the versatility and adaptiveness of physical literacy components. When I was 28 years old, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour in my cerebellum. I had it removed, but needed to re-learn how to walk and write, alongside my one year old. I went back to the basics of movement, basically at the same level as my one year old at the time. At this time, physical literacy and the social, emotional, physical and behavioural domains that encompass it became clear to me. I lost all skill to serve a volleyball that had me so worried in Grade 8. However, what was important was my confidence, competence and attitude to learn, develop and try to engage in movement again.

In conclusion, my journey through movement and physical literacy is still on-going and will continue through my life. As a mother, I appreciate the creative approaches in education today that try to encompass the concept of physical literacy across all learning and development.