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The HealthLit4Kids program aims to build health literacy in a participatory and contextually relevant way. Whole-of-school and curriculum strategies aim to empower and build capacity to make informed health choices amongst students, teachers, parents, and their local community. The aim of this study was to evaluate the HealthLit4Kids program from the perspective of parents, using a Self-Determination Theory framework. This is one component within a larger evaluation of the program. Parents at four Australian primary schools were interviewed post-program. Qualitative data collected through parent interviews were analyzed thematically to identify themes, and coding checks were completed by experienced qualitative researchers. The three key themes identified were student engagement, behaviour change, and parent engagement. Findings also indicated that parents placed a high value on effective communication from schools and raised a range of health areas such as food and nutrition, physical activity, and mental health with the interviewer. Parent opinions of the HealthLit4Kids program were positive, with many reporting a perceived increase in their children's ability to understand, communicate and act on health-related knowledge at home. The HealthLit4Kids program requires further research to determine its viability as an optimal pedagogical strategy for the health literacy development of primary school-aged children.

This project investigated how Australian Capital Territory (ACT) teachers of physical education (PE) assess games and sports as a Focus Area in the "Australian curriculum health and physical education" (AC: HPE). Figurational sociology, including the concept of habitus was used to inform the study and make sense of the findings. The figuration we examined was ACT primary and secondary school teachers across the government, independent, Catholic and private sectors who are mutually oriented towards assessing their students in PE. There were two sources of data: Semi-structured group interviews and current and historical PE curricula. Interview data were collected by each of the authors, from 19 teacher participants split into three groups, comprising two groups of six participants and one of seven participants. Our other data sources were the current AC: HPE curriculum and four historical ACT PE curricula. We used the interview data and the said curriculum documents to reconstruct the macro, micro and sociogenesis levels of the figuration and thematic and content analysis were used to analyse the data. We found that participants used approaches to assess games and sports that were not fit for purpose, were not evidence-based and that were typically based on subjectivity. Further, participants had limited understanding of how to authentically assess games and sports, with the assessment of skills emphasised at the expense of other criteria. This prioritising of skills assessment was also identified as a long-term process within ACT PE teaching. An over-emphasis on skills assessment contrasted with the assessment of game strategy, which although a requirement in the AC: HPE and the historical curricula, received little attention. Our findings are important, because the gap in teacher knowledge we revealed, led to teacher professional learning to upskill ACT teachers in the use of evidence-based approaches to assessing games and sports.

This article describes the concept of "driveway tennis" as a construct for student games making in physical education as an option for teaching sport for understanding. We connect the notion of games making in PE with a game-based teaching approach using the example of the Game Sense approach. We demonstrate how the concept of driveway tennis, and games developed by children and young people generally, aligns well with PE curricula expectations internationally.

This paper focuses on the significance of physical education teacher education (PETE) in the diffusion of "new" thinking about sport teaching in physical education. It explores issues arising from a case study investigation that sought to respond to the critical commentary about the form and substance of sport teaching in physical education by supporting innovation in school curriculum and pedagogy through pre-service teacher education. The study was designed to challenge PETE pre-service teachers' thinking about sport curriculum and pedagogy in physical education, introduce them to new thinking about models and specifically, the sport literacy model (Drummond & Pill, 2011; Pill, 2009, 2010). Details of the research design are presented and the insights that the data have provided in relation to challenges and opportunities that teacher educators and teacher education courses confront in seeking to promote and support curriculum and pedagogical innovation are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

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.

This paper provides a rationale for The Spectrum of Teaching Styles (The Spectrum) as a pedagogical model in teaching physical education (PE). Building on prior discussions/debates (SueSee et al., 2021), we will contest the view that the concept of teaching styles is different from that of a pedagogical model. In doing so, we highlight the most central aspects of The Spectrum and explain fundamental characteristics that warrant its representation with existing pedagogical models. The paper demonstrates for teachers how The Spectrum details the 'how', 'when' and 'why' of their pedagogical decisions, in understanding how they may meet educational outcomes for increased curriculum alignment, or successful enactment of models-based practices. The contention we present is The Spectrum is valuable to PE teachers in understanding the context-specific realities of teaching episodes and therefore improving teaching and learning practices in PE by helping teachers align their pedagogy with their desired learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2020a) requires all teachers to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples', culture and history where there is scope to meaningfully do so. However, there is a general absence in Australia and internationally of understanding culturally responsive pedagogy for those perspectives in teaching Physical Education (PE). This concept paper proposes an educational framework comprising Yunkaporta's (2009) 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogy and the Game Sense approach (GSA) (Australian Sports Commission [ASC], 1996). for games and sport teaching in PE to move towards a culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. We provide an empirical argument that curricula are instruments of colonisation and explain the creation of a cultural interface through games and sport as one approach for decolonising PE. We present an opportunity to 'close the gap' between Western and Aboriginal knowledge through the purposeful design of engagement in reconciliation, respect and recognition of continuous living Aboriginal cultures. We use the game Parndo (ASC, 2000) to illustrate an example of how Yunkaporta's (2009) framework and the GSA become a solution for closing our identified gap. By proposing a culturally responsive curriculum, we focus on the importance of identity for all people and how curricula must be relevant and meaningful for all Australians. Importantly, Yunkaporta's (2009) 8 Ways is a product of 'cultural interface', co-created through dialogue between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educators. Our findings, although not transferable to other settings, nonetheless have relevance to other countries where there is a similar move to decolonise PE curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project investigated how Australian Capital Territory (ACT) teachers of physical education (PE) assess games and sports as a Focus Area in the Australian curriculum health and physical education (AC: HPE). Figurational sociology, including the concept of habitus was used to inform the study and make sense of the findings. The figuration we examined was ACT primary and secondary school teachers across the government, independent, Catholic and private sectors who are mutually oriented towards assessing their students in PE. There were two sources of data: Semi-structured group interviews and current and historical PE curricula. Interview data were collected by each of the authors, from 19 teacher participants split into three groups, comprising two groups of six participants and one of seven participants. Our other data sources were the current AC: HPE curriculum and four historical ACT PE curricula. We used the interview data and the said curriculum documents to reconstruct the macro, micro and sociogenesis levels of the figuration and thematic and content analysis were used to analyse the data. We found that participants used approaches to assess games and sports that were not fit for purpose, were not evidence-based and that were typically based on subjectivity. Further, participants had limited understanding of how to authentically assess games and sports, with the assessment of skills emphasised at the expense of other criteria. This prioritising of skills assessment was also identified as a long-term process within ACT PE teaching. An over-emphasis on skills assessment contrasted with the assessment of game strategy, which although a requirement in the AC: HPE and the historical curricula, received little attention. Our findings are important, because the gap in teacher knowledge we revealed, led to teacher professional learning to upskill ACT teachers in the use of evidence-based approaches to assessing games and sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the challenge of addressing student diversity in secondary physical education (PE) classes. Contemporary curriculum documents and teacher standards emphasize differentiated pedagogy in order to engage and challenge all learners. However, the reality of designing effective learning experiences for diverse students represents a departure from traditional approaches to secondary PE teaching, and research indicates that secondary teachers often feel ill-prepared to make the necessary adjustments to plan and teach in a differentiated manner. This article employs the example of a team sports unit (volleyball) to make plain a general approach to planning for and teaching diverse learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a conceptual model for work-integrated learning (WIL) in a multidisciplinary sports degree program. Two examples of WIL in sport will be used to illustrate how the conceptual WIL model is being operationalized. The implications for practice are that curriculum design must recognize a highly flexible approach to the nature of placements and, as a result, emphasize the necessity to conduct a post-practicum debriefing to support the valuable learning and to continue the duty of care towards the student. We propose the expansion of Martin, Rees, and Edwards model to include both a partnership and debriefing component for sport WIL in Australia. This inclusion will not only provide a sustainable model for sport partnership WIL programs in Australia, but ensure that a focus on duty of care towards students is a core responsibility and moral obligation for universities and placement organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian physical education (PE) is experiencing its second national curriculum reform attempt, with schools around the country at various stages of exploration and implementation of the Curriculum for Health and Physical Education (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2014). This paper explores some of the challenges in physical education curriculum implementation past and present. The PE teacher is explained as the key architect of curricula at the school level and therefore the challenge of new curriculum implementation is not so much in the 'rolling out' of the artefact but in developing the subject expertise of PE teachers to be able to bring to life the curriculum expectation in the situated realities of the everyday pragmatics of the PE teacher. Principally, I argue the PE teacher must see their role as that of educational designer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching games for understanding (TGfU) and sport education were developed as pedagogical responses to the perceived shortcomings in the design, enactment, and learning outcomes emerging from sport teaching and learning in secondary physical education (PE). Despite the development of these pedagogical models, and their nuanced interpretation as game sense and sport education in physical education (SEPEP) in Australia, Australian PE continues to be discussed in terms of its shortcomings and unrealized potential. Sport literacy brings the pedagogical tenets of both TGfU-game sense and SEPEP models into a single educational design for sport teaching in secondary PE. This paper will outline the need for the rethinking of sport teaching in Australian PE that leads to the framing of sport literacy. The "organizational musculature" required to achieve the objective of sport literacy will be explained. Sport literacy will thus be presented as both a praxis and design framework for sport teaching in PE to achieve education in, through, and about sport to address the continuing challenge of constructing a secondary PE curriculum for sport that meets the standard as defensible, rigorous, relevant, and legitimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]