How can we build capacity in all teachers to enable the delivery of quality HPE?

As HPE educators, we know the physical learning done in a school environment plays an essential role in helping instil healthy values and lifelong attitudes to physical activity from a young age.

Teachers today face a great deal of accountability and therefore pressure to meet their responsibilities to achieve curriculum requirements, both at classroom and school levels. 

Since the introduction of NAPLAN, the emphasis on improving numeracy and literacy has often meant other learning areas are being afforded less time allocation and resources. Unfortunately, dedicated Physical Education (PE) is often one of the first areas be affected.

The Victorian Department of Education’s Physical and Sport Education Policy specifies primary schools must provide a minimum of 20-30 minutes of physical education per day for years F-3 and 3 hours per week of physical education and sport education with a minimum of 50% of that time for physical education for years 4-6. In addition, schools need to consider time allocation required to deliver the health education component of the curriculum.

Preservice primary teachers complete an average of 10 hours of practical PE training as part of their tertiary studies. Whilst they may gain a functional level of knowledge and skill to teach PE, this limited amount of training could only be considered as an introduction to PE (Warburton, 2000), and not enough to provide classroom teachers the confidence to effectively teach PE.

According to this article by ACHPER National Board Member, Christina Curry, “...some of the greatest barriers that can impact on the quality of PE and sporting programs within schools are low confidence from classroom teachers, inadequate facilities and resources, and low levels of interest in PE in general (Morgan & Hansen, 2008).”

“Many classroom teachers do not see themselves as good role models with regard to PE, as they are not physically skilled themselves: ‘Educators should have a passion for all that we teach. All it could take is a little research for teachers to feel a more confident in teaching PE. Who knows, if it seems less overwhelming it may not be pushed aside so often.’ (UWS student, 2012).”

“Teachers often rely on their own school experiences with PE and sport, whether they were good or bad. Their own teaching of PE is a reflection of these memories, rather than from the knowledge gained in professional pre service training. Schools must also ensure teachers are provided with adequate and ongoing professional learning because professional development is a necessity when trying to improve the classroom practices of teachers, and influence their attitudes and beliefs (Guskey, 2002).”

How can ACHPER Victoria help?

ACHPER Victoria works to build capacity in all teachers to enable the delivery of quality HPE, an essential component for enabling students to fulfil their potential.

Teachers can learn autonomously by utilising our range of resources (see TipOfTheWeekHPE) or attending professional learning events (such as our State HPE Conference in November). Additionally, we offer in-school consultations which can be tailored to the individual needs and requirements of schools, supporting generalist or classroom teachers to deliver quality PE programs which meet the Victorian curriculum.

If you or members of your team require further information or support to deliver a quality HPE program, please email our Professional Learning Manager Dr Bernie Holland or call (03) 9274 8906.