A Large-Unit Learning Design for Physical Education and Health Based on the Core Literacy Principal--An Example of a Junior High School Volleyball Lesson

Abstract

Physical education and health education play a fundamental role in promoting the comprehensive development of young students and constitute an essential component of school education. With the continuous advancement of educational reform in China, the concept of core literacy has gradually become a central concern in the field of physical education, emphasizing the cultivation of students' key abilities, essential character traits, and lifelong development capacities through discipline-based learning. In order to better respond to the developmental requirements of students' core literacy in physical education, the design and implementation of large-unit learning have emerged as an important pedagogical approach. Large-unit learning design helps overcome the fragmentation of traditional teaching content, enhances the internal coherence of learning objectives and activities, and promotes the integrated development of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values. Based on this background, this study systematically examines the necessity of adopting large-unit learning design in physical education under the framework of core literacy cultivation. Furthermore, in light of the practical, applicable, and integrative characteristics of physical education core literacy-oriented unit design, and guided by the fundamental principles of large-unit design aligned with disciplinary core literacy goals, this study analyzes and organizes the key elements involved in the design of large-unit learning in physical education. These elements include learning objectives, content structure, learning tasks, teaching strategies, and evaluation methods, all of which are closely connected to students' actual learning experiences. To enhance the concreteness and operability of the analysis, a junior high school volleyball teaching unit is used as an illustrative case to demonstrate the elemental characteristics and implementation pathways of large-unit learning design in physical education. The findings aim to provide theoretical support and practical reference for physical education teachers in planning and implementing large-unit teaching designs, thereby contributing to the effective cultivation of students' core literacy through physical education practice.