Principled pursuits of ‘the good citizen’ in health and physical education

Abstract

Background: Over many years, Health and Physical Education curriculum initiatives have provided a notable site of contestation and debate regarding the optimum approach to educating students for ‘good citizenship’. While similarly motivated, the contributions of a range of stakeholders of varying degrees of proximity to the site of teaching and learning have been made from somewhat diverse positions, with subsequently diverse implications for the content and pedagogical imperatives of the subject. Hunter proposed that these contributions and contestations over the purpose and content of subjects are the inevitable consequence of principled positions cohering around the notion of an ideal formation of the person. Purpose: Drawing on an Australian genealogy of subjectification study and current debates in Australia regarding the constitution of a proposed national (health and) physical education (HPE) curriculum, this paper serves to demonstrate the principled bases for former and contemporary curriculum development contributions, contestations, and critique. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the influence of principled bases for the operations and interactional outcomes of curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. Implementation: To demonstrate the pervasive presence and influence of two notable principled positions in HPE curriculum development – ‘healthy citizenship’ and ‘sports performer’ – we present findings from a genealogical analysis of curriculum reform in Queensland. The enduring influence of these principled positions is then demonstrated through contemporary advocacy initiatives for a national HPE curriculum in Australia. Conclusion: The concept of principled positions persuades curriculum stakeholders to remove themselves from arguments of right and wrong concerning schools, subjects, curricular principles, and innovations, to understand these elements as strategies which service different principled positions in relation to the same or similar educational projects. Moreover, it promotes a more circumspect and reflexive commentary on HPE and its constitution from the academic community, in the recognition that such contributions are no less shaped by certain principled views.