Exploring Australian secondary physical education teachers’ understanding of physical education in the context of new curriculum familiarisation

ABSTRACT This paper explores Australian secondary physical education (PE) teachers’ understanding of PE in the context of new curriculum familiarisation. Data was initially collected through online surveys (phase 1), and based on this data, participants were sourced from, and volunteered to be interviewed as part of phase 2 (interviews). The analysis of the phase 2 data highlighted a diverse array of teachers’ views relating to PE that ranged from PE being synonymous with sport and a strong desire to develop habits and patterns of behaviour for long-term physical activity participation in recreational pursuits. Although the multi-activity program model is highly problematised in academic literature, it was found that the multi-activity model is prominent and uncontested in most secondary school PE programs. A conflict between the rhetoric and reality of the educative importance of PE was evident. Therefore, it is argued that there is a gap between the proposition for a curriculum to demonstrate the value of learning ‘about’, ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement, and the ‘everyday practice’ of PE found in schools.