“You Only Teach PE and It Doesn’t Really Matter”: Middle School PE Teachers’ Perspectives on Intervention Efforts to Increase Physical Activity

Abstract

Physical education (PE) is a frequent site of public health intervention to promote physical activity (PA); however, intervention research frequently overlooks the perspective of PE teachers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teachers' experiences with and perceptions of a PA curriculum intervention. Six findings within three categories were identified and described in detail. In-depth one-on-one semistructured interviews were conducted with nine PE teachers from eight middle schools in Los Angeles. Feeling underappreciated and having a "muddled mission" within PE were driving factors in teacher morale and practice. Teachers had positive experiences with the curriculum, but significant barriers remained and limited the potential for PA during PE classes. PE teachers are pulled in multiple directions and perceive a lack of necessary support systems to achieve student health goals. Interventions aimed at leveraging PE as a site of PA promotion must incorporate the perspectives of PE teachers.

The Effects of a 2-Year Middle School Physical Education Program on Physical Activity and Its Determinants

“…FitnessGram is widely used as a fitness assessment tool and can have important implications for PE teachers. 44 An evaluation of SPARK among fifth graders also found improvement in health-related fitness outcomes, specifically among girls. 38 This suggests that SPARK may be a useful program for preparing for FitnessGram assessment or improving fitness, rather than increasing PA more broadly.…”

Physical fitness disparities among New York City public school youth using standardized methods, 2006-2017

“…Alternatively, some studies have proposed population-wide youth fitness promotion through active school transport (walking and cycling) [63], community-school organization collaborations (such as community-school marathon programs) [64], park-based afterschool programs [12], and community fitness facility programs with active youth recruitment [65]. Others have suggested the need for engaging physical education teachers in the design of school-based fitness promotion efforts [66].…”

Response to Letter to the Editor for “You Only Teach PE and It Doesn’t Really Matter”

“…This letter is in response to the recent article by Gill, Roth, Rice, Prelip, and Koniak-Griffin (2018), which highlighted the benefits of collaborative practice between physical education (PE) teachers and school nurses to promote physical activity in the school setting. With approximately 50 million public school students in the United States, spending nearly 7 hours a day in the school setting, it is easy to see why schools should play an important role in promoting students' overall health and safety (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2018).…”