ABSTRACT
The current educational climate gives pupils’ learning within broader dimensions of the curriculum a curious place within physical education. On one hand, the Education Reform Act (Department of Education and Science (DES, 1988), the Education (Schools) Act (DES, 1992), the National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) (Department for Education and Employment and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (DFEE/QCA, 1999), and Citizenship Education all clearly identify the importance of promoting pupils’ learning in broader dimensions of the curriculum. However, in practical terms, it is the four strands of the programme of study (acquiring and developing, selecting and applying, evaluating and improving and knowledge of health and fitness), taught through the breadth of study (i.e. the six areas of activity in the NCPE (athletics, dance, games, gymnastics, outdoor and adventurous activities and swimming) that tend to be the focus of teachers’ work. Moreover, when assessing pupils’ learning, the ‘levels of attainment’ reflect learning in the four strands. Given this context an assessment-driven curriculum has the potential to marginalise learning outcomes such as those in the broader dimensions of the curriculum.
