Points of tension and possibility: boundaries in and of physical education

Abstract

This article offers a conceptually based commentary that addresses a longstanding dilemma for physical education, of what theoretical insights can usefully be pursued as a basis for advancing physical education curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. It utilises the work of Basil Bernstein to argue that structural and symbolic boundaries are key to understanding and productively engaging with stability and change in physical education. Relations between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are examined in terms of their linkages with legitimate knowledge structures and knowledge relations in/of physical education, and in turn, with equity in physical education. While curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are each identified as important avenues for critically informed pedagogic action, the collective dynamic is identified as over-riding any single influence. Furthermore, that dynamic is shown to be inseparable from the knowledge structures in/of physical education.

Keywords:

• Physical education
• Curriculum
• Pedagogy
• Assessment
• Equity

Notes

1. The development of the Australian Curriculum is identified as comprising three broad phases: Phase 1—development of the Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history (F-10 published 2010; 11–12 in development); Phase 2—development of the Australian Curriculum for geography, languages and the arts (in development from 2010); and Phase 3—development of the Australian Curriculum for the remaining areas identified in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, including Health and Physical Education (in development from 2011). Further detail of the developments can be found at the Australian Curriculum, Reporting and Assessment Authority (ACARA) website http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum.html