Background: Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004), a new national policy initiative in Scottish Schools, provides a unified curricular framework for children aged 3-18. Physical Education (PE) now forms part of a collective alongside physical activity and sport, subsumed by the newly created curriculum area of 'Health and Wellbeing' (Scottish Government, 2009). This research set out to examine the new curriculum in Scottish schools at the micro-implementation stage of the policy process within the context of practice. Purpose: The primary objective was to understand the factors that enable teachers to enact government led curricular policy. The secondary objective was to compare policy constructors' vision of Physical Education (PE) to the interpretation of PE teachers who were currently immersed in initiating curricular development. Methods and Procedures: The research adopted a mixed method survey approach. Eighty-eight secondary school physical education teachers responded to a questionnaire that explored teachers' perceptions of curriculum change. Respondents were full time physical education teachers working in secondary schools across Scotland and represented sixteen local authorities. In addition, seventeen physical education teachers within one local authority took part in semi-structured individual interviews. Comparisons were made with ten interviews conducted with policy constructors who were responsible for the initial, interim and final stages of developing and designing the experiences and outcomes for physical education. Main outcomes and results: The results from the questionnaire indicated that 66 per cent of teachers believed there was a need for change within the Scottish curriculum, however only 54 per cent anticipated that they would change the PE curriculum. Crucial in enabling teachers to enact and sustain change was the important role of agency, culture and social and material structures along with the schools capacity to manage new policy development. When comparing the data with the policy constructors the findings revealed a discrepancy between the policy constructors' understanding of the vision of physical education and teacher's interpretation. The alignment of PE within health and wellbeing was seen as an opportunity to build on the strengths of the subject; however concerns were raised that this shift may result in physical education becoming part of a fitness discourse distorting policy intentions. Conclusions : As PE teachers act as agents of change translating policy uniquely to fit with the opportunities and constraints of the school there is a fear that policy intentions may mutate as they percolate into practice.

Towards a developing Construct in Dance Education-Exploring the Relation of Emotional Intelligence to Teacher's Sense of Efficacy and teaching Experience among British Dance Education Students. Theories of emotional intelligence (EI) have already been applied successfully in the field of education, and EI has been found to predict different aspects of teaching such as influencing one's self-beliefs. Positive associations among emotional intelligence (EI) and teachers' self-efficacy (TSE) and length of teaching experience have been reported. This study aims to investigate potential associations between EI, TSE, and length of teaching experience amongst British postgraduate students of dance education (PGDE) students. A sequential mixed-methods design was applied, including both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to capture examples of emotionally intelligent dance students. Measures of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire (TEIQue) and the teacher sense of efficacy scale (TSES) were administered to a sample of eight PGDE students. The results suggest a positive association between trait emotional intelligence, its subscales and teachers' self-efficacy and between the TEIQue total score and the length of teaching experience. Qualitative data was collected via a multiple case study, evaluating four cases among the participants. Three main themes merged from the qualitative data: dance background, teaching experience and self-efficacy beliefs, exploring further the findings from the preliminary analysis. Specific student dance teacher development programmes have been suggested to enhance dance teachers' emotional intelligence.

In 2010, schools in Scotland implemented a new curriculum, a Curriculum for Excellence, and for physical education (PE), this represented a move from the ‘Expressive Arts’ to ‘Health and Wellbeing’ (HWB). To understand this new position, we explored the thoughts of those who were directly involved in the construction of the policy text for PE within HWB ( n = 10). All of the participants supported the position of PE within HWB, accepting that PE has an important role to play in improving pupils’ health and wellbeing, although there was some concern that teachers might misinterpret the role of PE within HWB. However, all of the participants believed that this new position for PE would encourage other professionals to value PE more highly. We conclude by suggesting that there should be a greater involvement of teachers in the reform process so that future curricular innovations are more closely aligned with the knowledge and practice of teachers. This may enable them to understand policy more clearly and implement policy more effectively.

Within Scotland's new curriculum, a Curriculum for Excellence, physical education (PE) has been relocated from 'Expressive Arts' to 'Health and Wellbeing'. The repositioning of PE could result in a shift in the way PE is conceptualised. In order to understand this shift, we conducted in-depth, one-to-one interviews with 10 participants who contributed to the development of the new policy text for PE. The results from this study provide a narrative that describes the process of developing policy text for PE. Additionally, the participants described a process of consultation and debate, and referred to decision-making based on national initiatives linked to improving children's health. However, there was also evidence to suggest that the government controlled the process and that this control limited the extent to which the participants could make a genuine contribution to shaping the vision for PE. In making the process of developing curriculum text for PE more explicit, it is hoped that this study will encourage teachers and other key stakeholders to read the documentation that was produced in a critical way and have a greater understanding of the policy development process.

To further understand differential perceptions of work and well-being this paper considers the influence of gender and years in current role (YCR). We surveyed 399 secondary school teachers (Class Teachers n-185; Middle Managers n-175 and Senior Managers n-38) from the central belt of Scotland. Sixty-six per cent of middle managers reported work as very stressful and 63 per cent of this group reported a significant change in their well-being. No gender differences were observed within this study however aspects of the content (e.g., "workload") and context (e.g., "changing demands") of work presented as significant occupational hazards for class teachers and middle managers with >10YCR. Middle managers were the only group concerned with "low staff morale" and we would suggest the consequences of change and a lack of time. On the basis of our findings and, in light of debates centring on teacher well-being, quality retention, high quality educational provision, we would argue that these teachers' with >10YCR, are in need of the physical and emotional space to reflect on and make sense of the changing context of work before they reach a point where their well-being is compromised.. This space could be created by increasing weekly non-teaching time, restructuring the school day and/or providing sabbaticals that enable teachers' to focus exclusively on their professional learning. This would of course incur a financial cost but we would argue that this would be but a small price to pay.