As educators we defined our organization mission to be “Building communities of learners” and we believe that in partnership with our APPEC committees – former and current – that we have been successful in achieving this for Physical Education Teachers.
As APPEC has developed over the last four years, we’ve received requests from around the world to host similar APPEC type events, as well as requests to expand the content areas into health and wellness, athletics, and experiential learning.
APPEC, of course, has “Asia Pacific” in the title and is also limiting in the sense of having only “Physical Education” and not Health/Wellness or Sport which are topics we are increasingly covering at the event. After extensive consultation we have decided to re-brand APPEC with a name and identity that can work for multiple regions, while also encompassing curriculum areas beyond PE. Our new name is PHASE, an acronym for Physical Education, Health & Wellness, Athletics, Sports, and Experiential Learning.
We continue to broaden the scope of the conference to extend the frontiers of Physical Education and to support the urgent need to increase physical activity in young people. This is exemplified by the introduction of the two-day educator Parkour certification program this year. Thirty teachers are now certified to teach Parkour allowing thousands of students to experience, appreciate, and engage in movement outside the normal school sports spectrum. And for the record, the injury rate in Parkour is far below that of traditional sports such as soccer and rugby!
Having looked at hotspots where the demand is greatest, we are delighted to announce a new conference in the United Arab Emirates from 10 to 12 October 2019. Our plan is to continue to expand into other areas where we believe there is demand for focussed high quality conferences in the coming years.
The new name PHASE captures the content areas we are looking to address with Physical Education at the front as it should be! However, the acronym also has a meaning: Phase is defined as: “a distinct period or stage in a process of change or forming part of something’s development.” What better word to capture what we do in schools? We have students for a particular phase in their development and hope to influence and develop them into being well rounded balanced young people. The work physical educators, coaches, trainers and wellness teachers do is incredibly important in this attaining this goal for students.
The most important thing to say is that beyond the name the conference will not change in any fundamental way, it just allows us to grow and serve the community in a broader sense.
Justin & Graeme – 21st Century Learning
