ABSTRACT
This chapter is organised into 2 sections. The first outlines the long held belief that physical activity is an essential element of a healthy and balanced lifestyle and that by extension physical education plays a key role in promoting physical activity. That said the focus of the physical education curriculum continues to be dominated by sport and competitive as opposed to individual and lifetime activities that have a carryover value across the life course. Encouragingly teaching approaches have changed over the past 30 years and teachers have been urged to adopt a more ‘inclusive approach’ that meets the needs of all students regardless of ability. This ‘inclusive pedagogy paradigm’ should develop supportive teaching environments and climates that motivate participants to engage in activity that builds the foundation stones required to become physically literate and active for life. Further developing physical literacy during school physical education also requires an understanding of the basic principles of behaviour change so that active behaviours are promoted outside of the curriculum. The second section summarises a number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have quantified how effective the physical education curriculum is at improving physical competence, academic achievement, cognition and concentration, physical activity and physical fitness. The body of literature includes encouraging results on all these outcomes but investigators also note that studies are limited and details about curriculum delivery are sparse. Technology has also been used to augment curriculum delivery with encouraging results. Active video games and can contribute to physical activity and physical competence but are not as effective at developing fundamental movement skills as traditional activities. Further developing technologies will increase the range of teaching and assessment tools available to physical educators. This in turn will require a different approach to teacher education including the development of pedagogical approaches that integrate technology into the physical education curriculum. In summary physical education is effective in promoting development in the psychomotor, affective and cognitive domains. The question remains whether the curriculum as it stands promotes lifelong behaviour in physical activity.
