Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acculturation on parents' readings of and expectations for physical education. Method: Participants were 39 parents of pupils enrolled at one public middle school. Data were collected with an open-ended questionnaire and follow-up formal interviews. They were analyzed using…

Girls' identity constructions are influenced by the dominant sport, health and beauty discourses in their society. Recent research indicates that sport and health discourses embedded in physical education (PE) compete for influence. Some of these studies have illustrated how these discourses inform girls' social construction of body ideals and…

Longitudinal studies on adolescents' enjoyment in physical education (PE) are lacking. This study examined students' self-reported enjoyment and predictors of enjoyment in PE in school among students from age 14 to 19, using questionnaires and interviews. From the results, enjoyment in PE increases among girls during high school, while students…

Current concerns about a childhood obesity crisis and children's physical activity levels have combined to justify fitness lessons as a physical education practice in New Zealand primary (elementary) schools. Researchers focused on children's understandings of fitness lessons argue that they construct fitness as a quest for an "ideal"…

Gard [(2008). "When a Boy's Gotta Dance: New Masculinities, Old Pleasures." "Sport, Education and Society," 13(2), 181-193], Booth [(2009). "Politics and Pleasure: The Philosophy of Physical Education Revisited." "Quest," 61(2), 133-153] and Pringle [(2010). "Finding Pleasure in Physical Education: A…

Levels of physical activity and health-related fitness (HRF) are decreasing among adolescents in the United States. Several interventions have been implemented to reverse this downtrend. Traditionally, physical educators incorporate a direct instruction (DI) strategy, with teaching potentially leading students to disengage during class. An…

Background: School policies can change practices on a relatively permanent basis. This study investigated adoption and implementation of state-level policies specifying minutes (or percent) of physical activity in physical education (PE) or during school. Methods: Policies were identi?ed from existing databases and rated as having weak, moderate,…

Achievement in a domain is normally defined by the experts within the curricula. This exploratory study reported student conception of achievement in physical education, attempting to address two questions: (1) what do students expect to achieve and (2) how do students view the achievement in physical education. Students (N = 48) purposefully…

This paper will report on findings from a study that examined boys' performances of gender in school Physical Education (PE). Using a participatory visual research approach, involving video recordings of boys participating in PE, the boys' representations and interpretations of the visual data were explored during both focus groups and individual…

The ways in which students make sense of the gendered fitness expectations found in a norm-referenced fitness testing program (i.e. President's challenge physical fitness test) were the focus of this study. Participants were 18 fifth grade students who completed fitness tests in their physical education classes. They were interviewed using a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of middle school pupils' acculturation on their readings of and expectations for physical education. Participants were 94 pupils attending one public middle school. Data were collected using five qualitative techniques. They were analysed by employing analytic induction and constant…

This study examined enabling conditions related to implementing and sustaining a high-quality physical education program at three elementary schools in Pennsylvania. Physical education is being reduced or removed from elementary curriculums because of reduced school budgets and a strong focus on academic standards. Furthermore, the lack of…

The health and physical education (HPE) profession needs to find alternatives to its individualistic and performative focus if it is to remain relevant and meaningful for all learners. This paper presents a way of framing HPE that helps to shift the focus from the individual as autonomous decision-maker, and goes beyond sport and fitness testing…

P.E. classes are often the only opportunity for inner-city youth to engage in physical activity, but budget cuts and pressure to perform well on standardized tests has made P.E. an afterthought for many school administrators. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a new P.E. curriculum in five Los Angeles inner-city schools. Interviews were…

Flohr and Williams (1997) emphasized the importance of assessing students' attitudes about fitness testing as it contributes to effective, positive, and motivating physical education (PE) classes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify fifth and sixth graders' perceptions of fitness testing using FITNESSGRAM in a self-testing…