Physical education (PE) is steeped in history, tradition and ritual. The accepted tradition of excuse notes allowing pupils to self-exempt from lessons is one such ritual associated with the subject in schools. This paper explores the impact of this phenomenon, focusing on participation and engagement levels within PE lessons. Data was collected…

In physical education, it has become necessary for children to learn kinesiological knowledge for understanding the benefits of physical activity and developing a physically active lifestyle. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which cognitive assignments about healthful living and fitness contributed to knowledge growth on…

Advances in technology have created new opportunities for enhanced delivery of teaching to improve the acquisition of game skills in physical education (PE). The availability of a motion-tracking system (i.e. the A-Eye), which determines positional information of students in a practice context, might offer a suitable technology to support…

Studies from several countries show that girls with an immigrant background participate in organized sports to a lesser extent than other young people. Barriers related to culture and religion serve in many of these studies as explanations. In this article we suggest that the notions of culture and religion in this field of studies could be…

It is implied by governing organizations that Australia is presently experiencing its first national curriculum reform, when as the title suggests it is the second. However, until now Australian states and territories have been responsible for the education curriculum delivered within schools. The present national curriculum reform promises one…

This paper explores the tacit expert knowledge and understanding about games curriculum and pedagogy of three men, Len Almond, David Bunker, and Rod Thorpe, credited as the founders of the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model. The model emerged from teacher practice in the late 1970s and was little theorized at the time, apart from a…

The aim was to analyse the features concerning the applicational purpose and strategy of the most common instruments used to assess game tactics both in Physical Education (PE) and in extra-curricular sport contexts. The review focused on two instruments: the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) and the Team Sport Assessment Procedure…

The purposes of this study were twofold: to examine the effects of a community of practice (CoP) on (1) physical educators' and their students' health-related fitness content knowledge and (2) the physical educators' health-related fitness pedagogical content knowledge construction process. Twelve experienced physical education teachers (six in…

Innovation in enhancing the reflective abilities of physical education trainee teachers was explored in this study through establishing peer "training buddies" during their school placements. Opportunities for active engagement in peer- and self-reflection were provided to full-time Post-Graduate Secondary Physical Education trainee teachers (n =…

Over the past decade amidst the development and implementation of new official curriculum texts and associated assessment requirements, there has been considerable international interest in senior physical education. Arnold's three dimensions of movement have been prominent in curriculum developments and academic debates. In the state of Victoria,…

This article explores the current demands that teachers engage in year-on-year continued professional development (CPD) as a means of showing their ongoing competence to teach. In particular it highlights two types of CPD: the talked about notion of the "reflective practitioner" and the actioned reality of CPD as a measure of technical and…

Though considerable research on student attitudes has been conducted in physical education, little information exists concerning student attitudes toward after-school physical activity programmes. This study assessed students' attitudes toward their after-school physical activity programme located in southwest Texas, USA. Participants included 158…

The main purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the role of motivational climates, perceived competence and motivational regulations as antecedents of self-reported physical activity during junior high school years. The participants included 237 Finnish students (101 girls, 136 boys) that were 13 years old at the first stage of the…

This study investigates the career trajectory of primary school physical education teachers (PSPETs) in Hong Kong. It is focused on the problems arising from apparent overload and the multiple roles of physical education teachers' career development in Hong Kong brought about by education and curriculum reforms. The specific research question is,…

This study investigated how university students perceive an excellent physical education (PE) teacher at the university level. A sample of 2000 university students at four universities in China responded to a 53-item questionnaire. A 6-factor, 28-item model of an excellent teacher in PE was subsequently generated with a statistical good fit, using…