ERIC Number: EJ1185450
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Aug
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1356-336X
EISSN: N/A
The Outsourcing of Health and Physical Education: A Scoping Review
Sperka, Leigh; Enright, Eimear
European Physical Education Review, v24 n3 p349-371 Aug 2018
The outsourcing, or external provision, of Health and Physical Education (HPE) has only relatively recently become the focus of research. This critical scoping review of empirical work on outsourcing in HPE seeks to examine the extent, nature, and range of research that has been undertaken and provide a context for future scholarly inquiry. Literature was sourced from two educational databases, a manual search of five HPE journals, and searches of citations and references. A content analysis of the 31 empirical articles retrieved was undertaken to identify country of origin, study focus, participants recruited, subject and school level researched, study length, data sources, nature of analysis, and theoretical framework. This was followed by a critical analysis of the findings of each empirical study to identify knowledge gaps regarding the outsourcing of HPE. This process revealed that outsourcing varied from being an explicit research focus to becoming of interest as a result of the findings of the study. Nonetheless, there was consistency across all publications in the selection of primary schools as data collection contexts and the recruitment of either school staff or external agency employees as research participants. Thematic analysis of the findings of the articles resulted in three dominant themes: 'curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment', 'expertise', and 'partnerships'. Overall, this critical scoping review highlighted that it is crucial that outsourcing continues to be a focus of inquiry for the field and that both balance and depth is sought in the research design of studies that are undertaken.
Descriptors: Health Education, Physical Education, Journal Articles, Outsourcing, Curriculum, Instruction, Evaluation, Expertise, Partnerships in Education, Literature Reviews, Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, Research Methodology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Information Analyses
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A