ABSTRACT
The three chapters in Part II relate closely to the issue of aims that was central to the debate in Part I and consider aspects of pupil learning. Chapter 4, ‘What should pupils learn in physical education?’ presents a particular model of the content that learners should experience, while Chapter 5, ‘Physical education and health: considerations and issues’ puts the spotlight on the ways in which a focus on health can be incorporated into physical education. Chapter 6, ‘What is success in physical education and how can this best be achieved?’ argues that the current aims and practices of the subject should be reviewed in order to ensure that all pupils can experience success. Chapter 4, ‘What should pupils learn in physical education?’ looks at issues concerned with the subject matter of physical education. It suggests that new thinking could be valuable to encourage all learners to develop the motivation and confidence that will lead to participation in physical activity throughout life. Having considered what might be the aims of physical education, the chapter addresses three aspects of content. These are the movement content, the activities experienced and the inclusion of elements of theory. Also discussed are the notion of choice of activities in curriculum time and the best use of extra-curricular time. The chapter is presented as a dialogue to provide an example of how a real-life conversation could be conducted. You are encouraged to formulate your own views on the issues under debate, considering arguments to support the positions you hold. Chapter 5, ‘Physical education and health: considerations and issues’ focuses on the role of physical education in promoting health and highlights some of the key considerations and commonly debated issues within the literature concerning the area of health within the physical education curriculum. The chapter takes the approach of providing an overview of a range of research and evidence to stimulate debate amongst readers about the challenges and opportunities for physical educators in relation to health. The chapter starts by considering physical education’s role and responsibilities in relation to health and then obesity. Issues including the place, expression, organisation, content
and delivery of health within the physical education curriculum are then explored. Chapter 6, ‘What is success in physical education and how can this best be achieved?’ is designed to raise questions about what counts as success in physical education. You are asked to consider the relationship between assessment and the aims of the subject and to reflect on the long unquestioned focus on high-quality performance skills as being the way that pupils should be assessed in physical education. The chapter then asks you to conceptualise assessment that is as concerned with process as with product and which moves away from norm-referenced assessment procedures to assessment that can chart individual progress. The notion is proposed that our fundamental aim should be that all learners are motivated to continue with physical activity throughout the lifespan and implications for achieving success in this respect are outlined. Recommendations for enabling all learners to be successful in achieving this aim are briefly proposed and the chapter ends with a challenge for you to devise and implement appropriate strategies to judge success that recognise individual progress.
