ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to raise a number of issues associated with the topical and somewhat uncertain relationship between physical education and the ‘community’. This relationship means different things to the diverse range of agents and agencies (all of which are considered to be working collaboratively); however, it is not the purpose of this chapter to provide the reader with the ‘way it should be’. Instead, an outline of the context and the nature of the key issues is highlighted. In taking such an approach it is possible to appreciate the principles behind the political and subsequently the practical agenda. By grasping an understanding of the relationship between the political and practical agenda it should be possible to develop practice to address, and so direct, this agenda for physical education teaching and teachers so that it becomes an educative process rather than a political product. The reader should be able to identify the political climate in which physical education is presently being manipulated by a sporting agenda. Having established the broad framework, some of the wider issues and implications associated with this political agenda and policy framework are explored relative to key national initiatives in schools and the community. It is the structure and consequent nature of the impact of these initiatives (independently and together) that are important as it is through them that the agenda is set and the place and role of physical education is determined.
