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Study shows health related exercise in secondary schools is overlooked
Posted on 28/12/2008
Study shows health related exercise in secondary schools is overlooked
A number of PE teachers do not appear to be effectively promoting health and physical activity in secondary schools, according to a Loughborough university study.
Researchers in the University’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences (SSES) have discovered that despite being a compulsory part of the curriculum, health related exercise (HRE) is often marginalised or poorly delivered in many secondary schools across England.
HRE was introduced as a statutory component of the National Curriculum in 1992 and is designed to encourage a healthy lifestyle among young people through a variety of sports and physical activities.
Researchers surveyed 112 secondary school PE teachers from different local authorities and conducted additional detailed interviews with 12 of the respondents. They found that, whilst most teachers appreciate the importance of HRE, many receive inadequate training in this area, which can lead to poor delivery and coverage of HRE within the physical education curriculum.
The study identified a lack of formal guidance on the delivery of HRE and confusion around what HRE constitutes. The research underlines the importance of engaging teachers in appropriate continuous professional development (CPD) so they have the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to help pupils improve their health.
“The limited experiences that many teachers had of health related exercise in their initial teacher training may be a key contributor to the narrow views and limited understanding that many had,” said lead researcher Laura Ward.
“Many PE teachers come from competitive sports backgrounds. A lack of further training in health related areas means teachers aren’t really aware of the full range of activities that can achieve the aims of HRE.
“For a number of them health and life-long physical activity were areas which were absent from their CPD profiles and as such, they seem to be relying on their own personal philosophies to guide their practices.
“Even the £18m National PE and School Sport CPD programme which contains modules for teachers on health-based physical education, appears to have limited impact. Of the teachers we surveyed, only 7% had accessed the national CPD programme, and less than half knew about it, which points to a lack of awareness of all training opportunities.”
Miss Ward is presenting her research at the annual British Educational Research Association at its annual conference in Edinburgh today (Friday 5 September).