This paper explores Health and Physical Education (HPE) students' understanding of Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) and discusses some of the links that connect HPE, sport and CCE in Australia. A brief overview of CCE key features is provided. Second- and third-year HPE pre-service teachers at an Australian regional university were surveyed…

Background: The imperative for social justice in education means that pre-service teachers should learn how to teach for and about social justice, including pedagogical and content knowledge. Understanding how physical education (PE) pre-service teachers and teacher educators construct and develop their knowledge of social justice pedagogies and…

Background: Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers are in a unique position to act as role models to their students. Purpose: To explore the expectations, beliefs and attitudes towards role modelling of health behaviours by pre-service teachers who were specialising in HPE, and those who were not. Study design: Cross-sectional, Survey…

Purpose: The forced shift to online teaching delivery during COVID-19 suppression measures in 2020 was a complex challenge for Australian teachers. Teachers were given very little time to prepare online content and very little professional development to teach online. Their experiences prompted discussion about the abilities of pre-service…

Whilst Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is only one leverage point for teacher professional learning and development, it is of vital importance that ITE supports pre-service teachers (PSTs) in developing knowledge and skills necessary to promote inclusion of students with a disability in their class-spaces. Whilst 'inclusion' is a key feature of…

Transitioning to university can be challenging for many first-year students. This study focusses on a Health and Physical Education (HPE) subject delivered at an Australian regional university and designed to support first-year preservice teachers training to teach in primary schools. The aim of this mixed-methods research was to investigate if a…

Purpose: Self-study is used to report Author 1's attempts at introducing Asian games in teaching a new unit as part of physical education teacher education at an Australian university. Method: Author 1's diary and reflective journal extracts as well as contemporary and historical documents were our data sources. Critical incidents were identified…

Background: As with any period of transition, the induction into a university degree in Physical Education and Sport studies can be a daunting encounter for many students. In recognition of this, increased attention is directed to specific institutional practices that might support students during this phase. Indeed, improving the first-year…

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is a critical arena for advancing inclusion in Health and Physical Education (HPE). This paper reports research that is engaging with the diversity of the HPE profession and practitioners. It centres on a unique case study that critically explored the school-based professional experience of an Australian secondary…

Socio-cultural theorists have argued that having a diverse understanding of subjectivities of "normal"/"ideal" bodies is important for Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers. When teachers hold a single understanding and perception of "normal"/"ideal" bodies, such as a thin body as normal or ideal…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine how pre-service physical education (PE) teacher education students understand health education and their role as health educators. The challenges that a cohort of pre-service teachers (n = 20) majoring and minoring in PE face in engaging in a socially contextualised understanding of health are…

Changes to the purpose and scope of health and physical education (HPE) in schools have prompted revisions in teacher education degrees within Australia. Using a qualitative approach, this study explored HPE teachers' perceptions of these changes. Of particular interest was pre-service HPE teachers' reflections on the importance of skill…

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers identify a range of supposedly demonstrable capabilities for graduate teachers. Elaborations privilege the realization of Standards through mentoring, and feedback from senior colleagues. As manifestations of the logic of neo-liberalism they operate as audit technologies for pre-service teachers…

Background: Generalist teachers' confidence, competence and preparedness to teach Physical Education (PE) following Primary School Physical Education Teacher Education (PSPETE) has emerged as a research imperative. Yet little is known of teachers' perceptions of such matters. For teacher educators responding to the deficient delivery of primary…

This research explored teacher perceptions of how they influence academic performance of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Physical Education students. VCE Physical Education teachers (n = 37) from 31 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia participated in a qualitative study using focus groups with a semi-structured interview schedule.…