Introduction
Physical education is an integral component of the primary curriculum in most countries, and many instructors experience complex problems while administering it. The primary aim of the physical education curriculum is to encourage learners to acquire motor skills. Countries use different curriculum guiding provisions while implementing physical education in primary schools. However, towards the end of the last decade and the start of the current decade, the quality of instruction in primary physical education (PE) became the subject of a heated debate in England. The debate came about amid a review of the primary school curriculum and proposed reforms in education including PE. In particular, the effectiveness of teaching colleges to impart knowledge and skills to PE teachers has been questioned. Various types of research have shown that training PE teachers do not convey the necessary skills and competencies to enable PE instructors to impart physical education skills to learners effectively. Besides, the government reforms experienced during this time greatly affected the way PE is taught in primary schools. This paper will review different components of teaching physical education in Scotland and internationally, with a particular focus on the primary school PE curriculum. Specifically, the paper will review the key benchmarks and the approaches primary teachers use to instruct the learners to assess whether they parallel research evidence and, at the same time take into account the position of primary school PE teachers.
Scottish Primary Physical Education
The government of Scotland recognizes the benefits of physical activities on children’s physical development. Consequently, it imposed a policy in 2014 requiring all schools to assign a minimum of two hours per week to PE. The policy aims to perpetrate the government’s goal to provide opportunities for physical activities to all children. The policy also seeks to facilitate an understanding of the benefits of physical activity in protection from lifestyle diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes associated with a sedentary lifestyle. By incorporating PE in the education curriculum, schools assume an important position in providing lasting investment in the health of the students and the future health profile of the country’s citizens.
In Scotland, PE teachers create opportunities for learners to collaborate among themselves and work in groups to learn physical skills. These collaborative activities form the foundation for students to develop self-confidence and invest in their future health at the secondary stage of PE. This is important, given that evidence shows that collaboration between students reduces as they progress to secondary school. Self-confidence is essential for students to maintain diligence in their physical education because some students give up physical education due to a previous learning experience that did not build their self-confidence.
Physical education in Scotland is intended to establish a strong basis for engagement in physical activity into the adulthood and old age of students. Thus, the PE curriculum aims to impart a culture of physical activity to the young generation by helping them appreciate the health benefits of keeping active throughout their life. Four key benchmarks against which a PE teacher assesses the achievement of students regarding PE are outlined in the curriculum.
Physical Education Benchmarks
The four benchmarks of physical education are cognitive skills, physical competencies, personal qualities, and physical fitness. Under each benchmark are specific outcomes and experiences. Cognitive skills encompass four learning outcomes: problem-solving, focus and concentration, decision-making, and creativity. Physical competencies encompass kinaesthetic awareness, balance and control, coordination and fluency, rhythm and timing, and gross and fine motor skills. Physical fitness relates to physical abilities, including stamina, speed, core stability and strength, and flexibility. The fourth aspect of PE, personal qualities, entails such psychological and social qualities as motivation, confidence and self-esteem, determination and resilience, responsibility and leadership, respect and tolerance, and communication.
Based on the Education Scotland Foghlam Alba (2016), the key guidance and support for teachers in planning, teaching, and assessing PE are experiences, outcomes, and benchmarks. Specifically, benchmarking serves a repertoire of purposes, among them informing the judgment of teachers about the student’s achievement in terms of certain levels of skills, abilities, and competencies. In particular, the benchmark set out the objective and outcome of PE lessons per level of the curriculum. Although the success of the learner is based on different aspects of the benchmark, it is the requirement to show mastery of all aspects of the relevant benchmark to progress to another level. However, the teachers must ensure that the decision does not promote significant gaps in the learners. In light of this, the students should demonstrate major skills, competencies, and abilities relevant to their level of learning.
The curriculum brought a different angle in the way PE is viewed by many. PE was first understood as a program to teach motor, affective, and cognitive skills in various physical activities. The new curriculum, however, prioritizes the overall health and well-being of students, which ranges from physical, and psychological, to emotional and social aptitude. The curriculum according to Thornburn (2010) facilitates the potential of PE to link overall learning via novel and creative pedagogies. Of note, concerns about the health profile of Scotland have informed this curriculum change.
Background of Curriculum Development
The government of Scotland recognizes five educational and national priorities that aim to empower primary PE teachers and students to attain their optimum potential. The government also perceived a need for pupil-centred education, which in part stemmed from the 2002 countrywide debate on education in Scotland. This national discourse led to the formation of a group to review the existing curriculum and determine the major points to use in the reform of the curriculum for children and youth aged between 3 and 18 years. The current primary curriculum is based on the findings of the appointed group.
Through their findings, the group proposed the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which delineates future goals for all schools in the country. The underlying aim of the curriculum design was thus to place the learner at the center of education in Scotland, besides nurturing academically successful students, confident persons, and accountable citizens. Of note, the curriculum stresses the students’ autonomy and interdisciplinary learning.
The CfE groups PE together with physical activity and sport under the umbrella of health and wellbeing (HWB). The HWB takes a key position in the curriculum as do numeracy and literacy.
A specially created workforce recommended that schools provide children with a minimum of one hour for engaging in physical activity daily, and at least two hours of PE lessons per week. This policy is premised on the perception that quality PE could boost the health and wellbeing of pupils, academic performance, confidence, and learning motivation.
The curriculum delineates the experiences and outcomes of PE lessons. The experiences describe what the teachers should expect from various activities, while outcomes define the ability of participants to explain, show, or use (Scottish Government, 2008). According to Gray et al. (2012), experiences and outcomes are particularly crucial for PE teachers, because this is where they are directly involved. This notwithstanding, teachers’ understanding of experiences and outcomes will determine the success of their delivery of the PE lessons. Dinan-Thompsom (2001) argues that PE instructors must have confidence that the outcomes will enhance the learning of students. Only then can they effect authentic change in the learners, as trust provides teachers with the drive to implement learning and a change in the way the learners perceive PE and PE lessons.
The Position of Physical Education in the Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) plays a significant role in enhancing the health and well-being of young children and the youth, as well as the communities from whence they come. The primary purpose of learning in HWB is to impart the knowledge, skills, and competencies to young learners necessary to achieve mental, health, social, and physical proficiency at present and in the future. In this light, the objectives of the curriculum include enabling students to:
i. Make informed choices toward the advancement of their health and well-being,
ii. Have a firsthand experience of challenges at the same time have fun
iii. Experience the benefits of healthy living and physical activity
iv. Apply their all-round competencies to sustain a healthy lifestyle
v. Progress to the next level of education or work
vi. Develop a pattern of HWB for the subsequent generation of youngsters in Scotland
vii. Perform at top levels in sports
viii. Prepare for related careers, such as health, sports, and leisure
The HWB framework starts by describing the characteristics of the environment for learning that will promote the health and well-being of the learners, including prioritizing activities that support healthy lifestyles. The experiences and outcomes serve the critical role of guiding practitioners in facilitating the health and well-being of young learners. These indicators constitute an inclusive strategy to enhance the HWB of learners that parallels the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It prioritizes care respect, participation, responsibility, and impartiality.
The CfE recognizes the primary role that physical education plays in attaining the health and well-being of the learners. The curriculum advocates for PE that inspires and challenges the students to experience fun with physical activities, develop favorable attitudes, and boost their lives by integrating physical activities into their lifestyles. The curriculum is based on the perception that PE would establish a strong foundation for current and future engagement in physical activities and games, besides being a priceless investment in health and purposeful life. The curriculum forces schools in Scotland to create programs for primary students to engage in physical activities and games in conjunction with predetermined PE lessons, during break and lunch, trips and during weekends, and holidays. The curriculum especially sanctions schools to provide outdoor learning for its capacity to contribute to physical activity and coverage of various aspects of the curriculum.
Fitness is a most desirable characteristic in almost all occupations. Therefore, engagement in physical activities guarantees the future economic success of the students. Of note, many careers are related to physical activities and sports. Many jobs hire people who are physically active and healthy because they often tend to be productive compared to people who exhibit characteristics of inactivity.
PE Curriculum Implementation
2010 saw a change in the primary physical education curriculum in Scotland from an ‘Expressive Arts’ to a ‘Health and Wellbeing’ (HWB) philosophy. The new curriculum is premised on the potential of PE to enhance the health and well-being of the learners and to impart a lifelong culture of physical activity. However, the success of PE in accomplishing this end depends entirely on the teachers’ interpretation of the position PE assumes in facilitating the health and well-being of primary pupils.
A learner-centered PE curriculum, others, must take into account the cultural and socio-economic background of the young learners to support ongoing learning needs. In addition, opportunities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are necessary to ensure that primary PE teachers deliver lessons consistent with the goals stipulated in the CfE.
The new curriculum requires teachers to effect learning via teamwork experiences among young children and adolescents. Compared to the conventional PE curriculum, the new curriculum neither involves linear teaching of predetermined content of a lesson nor aims to instill standard basic competencies and abilities in the learners (Light, 2008). Rather, the contemporary curriculum promotes learning by students collaborating in exploring the subject matter from different angles, as opposed to the direct transmission of knowledge from teacher to learner. However, teachers training colleges should therefore nurture them to achieve effectively the goals and outcomes envisaged in the new curriculum.
The contemporary curriculum has targeted children and adolescents to establish a strong foundation for lasting physical activity to guarantee good health and happiness. This idea came about amid report findings indicating inconsistency with and irrelevance of different PE programs to the primary school kids as well as the communities. However, the PE education programs have been faulted as being deficient in realizing the national goal of nurturing future generations of physically active and healthy Scottish (Atencio et al., 2012). Besides enough teachers are needed to facilitate effective execution of the curriculum goals and expectations because there was an estimated shortage of 400 teachers to help realize the vision entrenched in the new curriculum. Besides the need for numbers, Teachers must also express confidence and ownership of the PE programs to customize PE learning inclusive of all culturally diverse learners.
Teachers need CPD
The professional knowledge of teachers is paramount to the delivery of the visions that underlie CfE. In essence, the quality of the practitioner's CPD is essential to improving the standards of PE. Thus, boosting the quality of CPD is critical to facilitating the expectations and the goals of the new curriculum. Concerns about the level of career-long professional progress of primary school PE teachers are common throughout the globe and across different subjects. CPD of PE teachers has been criticized as incoherent, irrelevant, disjoined, and unchallenging besides often being provided out of the context of PE.
Teachers are key stakeholders in executing the new PE curriculum in primary schools; therefore, their understanding of the curriculum's expectations and outcomes counts in helping the Scottish government achieve its vision of a future active, healthy Scottish. Teachers are the change agents in realizing this vision (Carse 2015) and must, therefore, be supported to fulfill the mandates delineated in the new primary PE curriculum.
The CfE assigns the responsibility of interpreting and designing the curriculum to teachers and schools separately. It affords teachers the freedom and responsibility to plan and deliver the curriculum's tenets. In particular, the flexibility afforded by the curriculum to PE teachers represents a rich platform for a diverse curriculum consistent with the prevailing circumstances and needs of the consumers.
Scotland's decision to give teachers the utmost power in implementing the country's goals mimics those of other Western nations.
However, the curriculum constitutes a move to make teachers mere agents of the desired expectations of the curriculum, which according to Harris (2011) erodes the autonomy of the teaching professional, paving the way for a culture of compliance. On the contrary, teachers need to make informed professional discretion to maneuver through the intricate process of curriculum change. Taking ownership of the change process is fundamental to the effective delivery of the curriculum, which requires primary PE teachers to acquire knowledge of the curriculum in addition to pedagogical creativity. Fullan (1993) places moral purpose, which is the drive to make a difference, at the chore of the success in harnessing the process of change.
Concerns about the readiness of teachers to implement the demands of curriculum change have been raised in Scotland as in other countries. Several factors have been implicated in the inability of teachers to deliver new curricula, some of which are linked to the teachers while others are outside their influence (Carse, 2015). Teachers-related factors include his or her view of and confidence to administer PE lessons, whereas factors beyond teachers' control are such elements as resources, PE teacher's training and CPD, and time for PE sessions within the curriculum (Gray, Mulholland & MacLean 2012). These factors have the potential to impact negatively on the quality of PE delivered to the learners.
In Scotland, three major policy developments have aided the efforts to solve the problem of PE teachers’ preparedness to implement the new PE curriculum. These policies are the 2001 HMIE report, the physical activity approach by the Scottish Executive (2003), and the review group (Scottish Executive, 2004). Recommendations from these reports inspired particular changes in the primary PE curriculum. The reports proposed moving PE from expressive arts to the area of HWB and allocating PE a minimum of 2 hours every week. The other equally important recommendation was an investment in the professional development of PE practitioners (Carse, 2015). The government of Scotland headed this recommendation by funding postgraduate programs in primary PE in Edinburg and Glasgow universities.
Other Countries
In Australia and New Zealand, reforms in the primary PE curricula led to the subsuming of PE by the Health and Physical Education (HPE) domain, with the influence of politics suspected as the major drive in the decision (Burrows & Wright, 2004). In New Zealand particularly, a considerable change in the conceptualization of PE occurred following the introduction of mental health as a major outcome of the syllabus. Self-actualization in relevance with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is considered an important outcome of PE (Burrow & Wright, 2004).
In Australia, the situation is more complex. The authority and autonomy have been granted to each state and territory to apply the national text according to their discretion (Penney, 1998), consistent with their needs and circumstances. The institution of HPE as a major learning area can make a favorable contribution to the health of children and adolescents, despite challenging the conventional practice in PE. This situation highlights the power of politics to dictate policies on education by influencing and legitimizing discourse; thus, affecting the nature and vision of PE.
Conclusion
The position of PE as a foundation for a lifelong engagement in physical activity and a healthy lifestyle is acknowledged in Scotland and other countries with changes in the PE curriculum. At the same time, the crucial role primary PE teachers play in implementing the vision of the curriculum has been recognized in the change, and the Scottish government has invested in postgraduate PE primary teachers’ programs in the universities. By granting the PE teachers the autonomy and responsibility to implement the goals and expectations of the new PE curriculum, the government takes into the unique needs and circumstances of students from diverse backgrounds.
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