In 2008, the Welsh Assembly Government began the implementation of a new holistic play-based learning continuum for children aged three to seven called the Foundation Phase. Areas of learning replaced subjects and consequently pupils in Wales under the age of seven no longer study Physical Education in its traditional form. With growing…

Physical activity may benefit mental health, yet the potentially protective role of elementary school physical education (PE) on childhood mental health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specialist-taught PE program on indicators of childhood mental health. In this cluster-randomized controlled trial,…

Background: Many critical curriculum theorists in physical education have advocated a model- or models-based approach to teaching in the subject. This paper explores the literature base around models-based practice (MBP) and asks if this multi-models approach to curriculum planning has the potential to be the great white hope of pedagogical change…

Nearly 30% of U.S. schools have students with severe disabilities who participate in a self-contained adapted physical education (SAPE) setting, separate from their typically developing classmates. It is imperative that physical education teachers become familiar with pedagogical strategies for planning and teaching SAPE. The purpose of this…

The growing appeal and acceptance of disability sports within the general population makes them an attractive addition for any physical education program. When included in a general physical education program, these sports provide complementary skills to students while delivering a powerful message about what it means to be an athlete with a…

In order to prepare undergraduate students better for the realities of school life, instructors of some methods courses have started to use case studies for teaching. These cases are used to highlight the complexity and variability of the educational environment. This method of teaching, which has its roots in business, law, and medicine, has…

Background: Senior secondary physical education courses for certification continue to evolve with curricula reform occurring to ensure content is contemporary, student learning outcomes are maximised and assessment practices are valid for determining certification of students. The content of examinable senior secondary physical education courses…

This study examines the similarities and differences in perceptions of preservice and induction physical education teachers regarding their level of career preparedness and curricular preferences. Findings are based on interviews with 23 participants (12 preservice and 11 induction) from two Midwestern universities. Qualitative data from the…

The foundations of modern physical education in Turkey have been defined using arrangements of European countries. In general, it has been determined that European standards are taken into account as criteria when physical education is generally assessed. The evaluation of this development should also be made with scientific studies. It cannot be…

Background: Among the many changes occurring across Chinese society in the early years of the 21st century has been the construction and implementation of a new national curriculum which includes physical education (PE) as one of the main subject areas. Unlike the old PE curriculum with its sports performance-oriented criteria, the new curriculum…

While there are numerous pedagogical innovations and varying forms of professional learning to support change, teachers rarely move beyond the initial implementation of new ideas and policies and few innovations reach the institutionalized stage. Building on both site ontologies and situated learning in communities of practice perspectives, this…

Despite the current policy prominence of physical education, there is still unease about the subject's educational contribution. In this respect, we are surprised by how seldom John Dewey's writings inform contemporary reviews of aims and values. We outline how his writings on connecting the child and the curriculum and schools with…

Policy enactment is a dynamic process, which invites agents to uniquely create and recreate policy as an ongoing process. Few policies arrive in school fully formed and the process of policy enactment involves teachers navigating policy frameworks in a way that provides success for each individual pupil. This research examines the complexities…

This paper discusses the findings of a study on the production and enactment of physical education (PE) curriculum policy reforms in an Australian context. Over a decade, significant senior school reforms in Western Australia (WA) interacted with the introduction of an Australian Curriculum that rendered curriculum development dynamic and complex.…

Located at the intersection where teaching and curriculum meet, this narrative inquiry examines how collaborative curriculum making unfolded between and among six members of a physical education department in a middle school in the mid-southern USA. The internationally significant work takes the position that long-term relations are prerequisite…