What is Physical Education in Primary Schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand?

External providers and their impact on primary physical education in Aotearoa/New Zealand

“…These include the poor quality of teacher preparation in physical education, the lack of PD opportunities, the ongoing government emphasis on numeracy and literacy, and the understanding of and lack of value given to physical education by principals, teachers and society at large (Dyson et al, 2011;Penney et al, 2013;Petrie et al, 2013). Primary teachers have generally received little support and leadership to help implement new physical education curricula or indeed to clarify what is meant by the term physical education (Culpan, 1996(Culpan, /1997.…”

“…(p. 15) Other Aotearoa/New Zealand Scholars have also argued that due to the influence of EPs students are experiencing a simplistic representation of physical education (Burrows & Wright, 2007;Dyson, Gordon,& Cowan, 2011;Gordon, Cowan, McKenzie, & Dyson, 2013;Penney et al, 2013) which is not always clearly associated with the NZC (MOE, 2007). Kirk (2010) commented that the presence of these programs and organisations has a significant influence on the construction of physical education, while Macdonald (2011) felt that outsourcing is significant in that it can potentially:…”

“…Their work identified 'inadequacies and needs in (i) initial teacher education and (ii) professional development and support for teachers ' (p. 45). The call for improved initial teacher education and teachers' practices has been supported by a number of other writers (Gordon et al, 2013;Dyson et al, 2011;Griggs, 2007Griggs, , 2010Harris, Cale, & Musson, 2012;Petrie et al, 2013), all who supported the need for a dedicated effort to enhance teacher preparation in physical education. In regards to PD, Penney et al (2013) concluded that if teachers were to supply quality physical education in schools a concentrated effort in school-based and PD opportunities for teachers was needed.…”

“…It draws on data from a larger study that investigated the realities of physical education as it is currently practiced in New Zealand primary schools (Dyson, Gordon, Cowan, & McKenzie, 2014). In it we have used the term EPs, which refers to any outside agency coming into a school to provide a service, program or resource as this was the term that primary school teachers most often used in schools.…”

Building a Community of Collaborative Inquiry: A Pathway to Re-imagining Practice in Health and Physical Education

“…The proliferation of programmes, resources and initiatives provided by external providers has also drawn critique, with one New Zealand study noting over 124 outside programmes and personnel being available to schools in the Waikato region alone (Petrie, Penney, & Fellows, in press). Furthermore, a mandated prioritisation of literacy and numeracy in New Zealand primary schools (Tolley, 2009, October), together with a nationwide reduction in time allocated during initial teacher education time for the HPE learning area (Dyson, Gordon, & Cowan, 2011;Petrie, 2008) only serves to intensify concerns about whether the holistic and socio-critical models of health and wellbeing promoted in The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) are currently being realised. The aforementioned commentaries raise important questions about what is going on in the name of HPE currently in primary school settings and how best to build beyond critique to promote change at the level of classroom and school practice.…”