"I know PE is important but I don't feel confident teaching it" : Australian primary pre-service teachers' feelings and thoughts about teaching physical education

HPE (Health and Physical Education is one of the six compulsory Key Learning Areas (KLAs) in Primary Education in New South Wales (NSW) schools. Teachers are required to ensure their classes participate in both a practical and a theory lesson each week. Despite this mandatory obligation, Morgan (2008) has indicated that both pre-service teachers and practicing teachers would rather teach the other KLAs, regardless of the reported educational value of HPE. The quality of Physical Education (PE) in NSW primary schools has been questioned because teachers have experienced problems while teaching this subject (Morgan and Hanson, 2007). Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the feelings and thoughts of pre-service teachers towards teaching PE. An anomymous open-question survey (Saris and Gallhofer, 2007) was used with a cohort of pre-service teachers studying in the Master of teaching (Primary) program at the University of Western Sydney. The study explored areas such previous education, professional life and previous involvement with sports and physical activity, feelings about teaching HPE, and their impact on their willingness to teach PE. Using a qualitative analysis of responses produced an amalgamation of their discourses (Hallinan, 2006; Knijnik, 2006). Three different categories emerged from their responses. These will be discussed as well as implications for effective teaching practices, inclusivity and health oriented HPE practices within all NSW primary schools.