Finnish interpretations of Creative Physical Education

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhen physical education (PE) teachers change their programs to incorporate something new, the process always involves some effort at interpretation and adaptation. The perceived benefits must outweigh the labour required to think through the possibilities and to then manage the political and logistical challenges that go hand in hand with achieving change of this magnitude. This paper tells the story of one such change process, which involved the interpretation by a small group of teachers in Finland of a set of pedagogical ideas and practices developed in Australia known as Creative Physical Education. The story involves a range of characters (including the authors) and conveys the struggles and successes experienced through the course of understanding and implementing something new, developed in a different country. Benefits accrue to this work, such as more creative thinking and a higher level of engagement in PE of a wider section of the student population, but they are only briefly mentioned in this paper, with the main focus being to convey and explain the program adaptations made, or not made.