Physical activity during physical education lessons : a qualitative investigation of Australian PE teacher perceptions

Andrew Bennie, Edel Langan

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    School physical education (PE) experiences play a critical role in adolescents' physical activity (PA) levels. Teachers are crucial to students' initial experiences in PA; however, limited research has explored teachers' perspectives about PA during PE using in-depth qualitative research techniques. We conducted interviews with 25 current Australian male and female PE teachers to investigate their perceptions about PA in secondary school PE (grades 7-12). Our findings indicated PA was a major focus for teachers during PE lessons; however, many physical and psychosocial factors underpinned practical classes. During PE lessons, PE teachers favoured game-based activities to promote PA while citing the traditional skill-drill approach as a strategy that limited PA. These findings highlight an ongoing shift in PE teaching towards a games-based approach and have several important implications for future teaching practice and research.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)970-988
    Number of pages19
    JournalInternational Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
    Volume28
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Physical activity during physical education lessons : a qualitative investigation of Australian PE teacher perceptions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this