Abstract
High quality Physical Education should instigate and support all learners to develop into a lifelong participant in a way which upkeeps their own health, fitness, and well-being. There are, however, an ever-increasing number of children who drop out of participating in physical activities at the earliest opportunity, leading to an increase in sedentary lifestyles and a rise in childhood obesity. It is evidence such as this which indicates Physical Education, specifically in England, is not currently appropriate for all and requires change. To attempt to make the subject a more positive experience for all and to inspire lifelong involvement, varying the curriculum and including alternative activities for pupils might tap into useful wider cultures. This paper discusses the emergence of alternative sports, the challenges and synergies of implementation, and focuses on what could work and why.
Highlights
Physical education (PE) is the considered, continuous learning that takes place in the school’s timetabled curriculum and is an entitlement for all learners
High quality PE should instigate and support all learners to partake in physical activity (PA) or sport and to provide openings for everyone to develop into a lifelong participant in a way which upkeeps their own health, fitness, and well-being [2]
Further to the curriculum requirements of PE, teachers are often tasked with servicing multiple agendas of promoting lifelong physical activity, developing sporting practices and habits, and improving the health and well-being of young people across the school day [1,29,30,31]
Summary
Physical education (PE) is the considered, continuous learning that takes place in the school’s timetabled curriculum and is an entitlement for all learners. Simmons and MacLean (2018) [15] suggest the curricula delivered are reliant on more proactive teachers to teach the required wider variety of activities [16] This provides something of a challenge when teacher training focused research suggests that a high proportion of teachers’ subject knowledge is developed prior to initial teacher training [17,18,19], and when they do start working in school, they are shaped by a practice which is already occurring [20]. Further to the curriculum requirements of PE, teachers are often tasked with servicing multiple agendas of promoting lifelong physical activity, developing sporting practices and habits, and improving the health and well-being of young people across the school day [1,29,30,31]. Just how different could and should PE become, though, and what alternatives are on offer?
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