Should primary school PE be outsourced? An analysis of students’ perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT Primary classroom teachers are increasingly moving to the side-line as physical education (PE) is outsourced to external providers. Although there are many critiques of external providers, few studies draw on primary school students’ perspectives. This study calls on data from semi-structured focus group interviews with 24 students from four New Zealand primary schools to convey their perspectives on whom they prefer as their teachers of PE. Data were analysed through the constant comparative method within the concepts of inclusion and exclusion from the perspective of critical social justice. Three themes are presented and discussed: (1) ‘Classroom teachers are better because they know us’; (2) ‘External providers are better because they know sport’; (3) ‘Classroom teachers should teach PE; External providers should teach sport’. The findings highlight the importance of listening to students’ perspectives. We argue that classroom teachers should play a central role in teaching primary PE with assistance from external providers and HPE specialists to offer all students a socially just, inclusive, and equitable learning experience.