Teachers' Perspectives and Policy Implications: Physical Education in New Zealand Elementary Schools

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Student Learning and Teacher Effectiveness in Physical Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate primary school teachers’ perspectives of physical education in New Zealand and how this might relate to other countries. This research used a mixed methods design, including a questionnaire of 487 generalist classroom teachers from 133 different primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand and also interviewed 41 teachers. Three themes were drawn from the evidence: muddled thinking; teacher levels of confidence; and physical education or sport. The findings suggest that a number of policies and practices have strongly shaped what occurs in physical education in elementary schools. Internationally, with new policies in place in many countries (UNESCO, 2015), our profession has the opportunity to re-shape what goes on in school physical education.

Authors

• Ben P. Dyson, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Barrie A. Gordon, Victoria University of Wellington