Within Aotearoa/New Zealand primary schools, External Providers (EPs) have steadily increased their influence on physical education.

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Whilst globally there has been a great deal of discussion and rhetoric regarding the state of physical education at the primary level, there is a paucity of evidence regarding teachers’ perceptions of quality physical education in practice. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore and interpret primary school teachers’ perceptions of physical education in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and identify the influence(s) of education, sport and health policies on these perceptions. This study utilized a mixed methods design, including a questionnaire of 487 classroom teachers from 133 different primary and intermediate schools in five regions (North Auckland, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Southland) across NZ. The research team also interviewed 41 classroom teachers from across the five regions. Three themes were drawn from the teacher surveys and interviews: muddled thinking; teacher levels of confidence; and physical education or sport. The findings suggest that a number of policies and practices have strongly shaped what occurs ‘in the name’ of physical education in primary schools. These have created a ‘perfect storm’ for primary physical education in NZ and there is concern that the reality of what occurs in practice does not meet the expectations of the national curriculum. There is a need to re-shape the principles and ideals of current practice in primary physical education rather than accepting the historical sports, competition, fitness, fundamental sport skills and ‘Kiwisportification’ of physical education.

This study examines practicing primary school teacher's perceptions of the teaching of physical education in their schools. There has been some criticism of primary school physical education but until now this criticism has been largely based on a number of small studies involving limited numbers of teachers and schools. This study involved surveys of 487 teachers and in-depth individual interviews with 33 teachers located across six major regions of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The findings are presented in four themes: what does physical education look like; who teaches physical education; planning, assessment and reflection; and influences on the teaching of physical education. The study identified that what occurs in the physical education space in primary schools is often inconsistent and variable. The findings are discussed in relation to the requirements of the New Zealand Curriculum, the 2014 National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement report and previous research on primary school physical education. The article concludes by discussing future directions for the teaching physical education in light of these findings.

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