Becoming a primary physical educator

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have reported that generalist primary teachers lack the confidence and competence to teach Physical Education (PE). In response, schools have outsourced PE to external providers. This paper examines data from an online survey of 175 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in England and their perceived confidence to teach primary PE. Findings showed PSTs had high levels of confidence across a breadth of knowledge areas, specifically in areas relating to lesson planning, health and fitness and the subject’s aims. Conversely, knowledge confidence was lowest in swimming, assessment and working with external providers. This paper argues that to address teacher confidence in PE, teachers must be positioned back as the main curriculum deliverers. An outcome of this research has been the development of a professional knowledge model for primary PE which recognises a breadth of professional knowledge needed to become a primary physical educator.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary physical education
• initial teacher education
• teacher knowledge

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Vicky Randall http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7131-7628

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The PE ESAG was one of 17 Expert Subject Advisory Groups initially established and funded by the Department for Education. The groups were formed to provide guidance and practical support to teachers, schools and teacher educators to implement the new National Curriculum.

2. Figures were guided by the participating institution who stated the number if PSTs on each programme that was involved in the study.