Exploring the educational meaning of school physical education policy through international comparative study

Abstract

Purpose This study aims at investing the educational meanings of school physical education policy by analyzing the direction (ideal goal, goal, objective and program) of the policy in Korea and England. Methods The comparative research design was conducted by the policy literature analysis. In order to clarify the significance of the main discourse embedded the school physical education policy to the educational practice, I used qualitative content analysis based on the interpretive paradigm. Results The school physical education policy in Korea is divided into goal for general students and student athletes for 'happy students and school life', while the policy in England seeks to promote participation of competitive sports through school-community linkage for lifelong sports participation. As a result of the discourse analysis, the ambiguity of school physical education policy due to the complexity of various discourses (e.g. moral development, health, sports) diminishes the effectiveness of policy implementation as well as the teachers’ educational practice. In addition, competition sports discourse has been analyzed to limit the participation of many students in sports and to adversely affect lifelong participation in sports. Conclusions In conclusion, It is necessary to activate theoretical and empirical research that is the basis of building the school physical education policy direction and to establish cooperative governance for the policy implementation. In addition, student participation in lifelong sports and evidence-based policy making and practice are required.