Physical education at preschools: the meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners at three preschool settings in Scotland

Abstract

Background: Preschool physical education has been largely unexplored by researchers. This article examines the meaning of the term ‘physical education’, in relation to preschool contexts, to 14 practitioners working at three preschool settings in Scotland. Our focus on preschool physical education reflects a change in the language associated with young children's physical education in Scottish educational policy. The recently implemented Curriculum for Excellence refers to ‘physical education’ in relation to preschool education, whereas the previous Scottish preschool curriculum referred to ‘physical development and movement’. Methods: The study employed a poststructural type of discourse analysis concerned with identifying patterns in language use. Research methods employed were observations and interviews. Findings: Practitioners generally indicated that they were uncomfortable with the term ‘physical education’ in relation to preschool contexts. Terms they preferred included ‘physical play’, ‘exercise’ and ‘health and wellbeing’. Drawing on developmental discourses, they tended to associate ‘physical education’ with schools, positioning it as something more formal and structured than what preschool children would (or should) experience. It seemed that, for some practitioners, their privileging of play clashed with the notion of ‘physical education’. Conclusion: We suggest that researchers and policy-makers need to be aware that using the terms ‘physical education’ or ‘PE’ with preschool practitioners may be a problematic endeavour. Consulting with preschool practitioners is important for understanding why particular language, discourses and practices associated with physical education may be supported or resisted in preschool contexts. Furthermore, we suggest that preschool practitioners should critically reflect on taken-for-granted developmental discourses that position preschool children as ‘too young’ for particular experiences.

Keywords:

• physical education
• preschool
• Scotland
• developmental discourses
• play

Acknowledgements

We would like to express sincere thanks to the practitioners and children at Oakdale, Cheery Faces and Sunnyland. Thanks also to Dr. Mike Jess and the Developmental Physical Education Group at The University of Edinburgh for funding the research. Finally, thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and helpful advice on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. Children in Scotland are entitled to free part-time preschool education from the term after their third birthdays. They usually start primary school when aged four or five years (The City of Edinburgh Council 2013).

2. Curriculum for Excellence features eight subject areas (health and wellbeing being one), each of which has two main guiding texts: ‘principles and practice’ (which explains the guiding framework, purposes of learning, practitioners' roles and responsibilities, and features of assessment) and ‘experiences and outcomes’ (which details the specific learning experiences and outcomes children are expected to engage with and achieve). The experiences and outcomes are presented across five levels, which are described as ‘lines of development which describe progress in learning’ (LTS 2009, 4). The first level – ‘early’ – concerns children in preschool and the initial year of primary school, ‘or later for some’ (LTS 2009, 4).

3. Early Moves is ‘a developmentally appropriate movement framework for young children’ (Jess and McIntyre 2009, 16). It was constructed and is disseminated through CPD courses by the Developmental Physical Education Group (DPEG) at The University of Edinburgh.

4. P1, or Primary 1, refers to the first year of primary school in Scotland.