Understanding Physical Education

8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page i Understanding Physical Education 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page ii 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page iii U N D E R S TA N D I N G P H Y S I C A L E D U C AT I O N Ken Green 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page iv © Ken Green 2008 First published 2008 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction ouside those terms should be sent to the publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver's Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, Post Bag 7 New Delhi 110 044 SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 33 Pekin Street #02-01 Far East Square Singapore 048763 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007931044 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-4129-2112-1 ISBN 978-1-4129-2113-8 (pbk) Typeset by Dorwyn, Wells, Somerset Printed by Replika Press Pvt., India Printed on paper from sustainable resources 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page v For my parents, Betty and Stanley 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page vi 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page vii Contents Introduction 1 The Nature and Purposes of Physical Education 1 7 2 Policy and Physical Education 23 3 The ‘State’ of Physical Education 45 4 Extra-Curricular Physical Education 62 5 Assessment and Examinations in Physical Education 78 6 Health and Physical Education 96 7 Youth Sport and Physical Education 117 8 Gender and Physical Education 137 9 Social Class and Physical Education 154 10 Ethnicity and Physical Education 167 11 Disability, Special Educational Needs and Physical Education 187 12 Teaching Physical Education 207 Conclusion 227 References 236 Index 269 vii 8682green.qxd 12/10/2007 17:08 Page viii 8682green.qxd 18/10/2007 11:32 Page 1 Introduction In very many countries worldwide, young people between the ages of approximately 5 and 16 experience physical education (PE) on a reasonably regular basis. This is, then, a book about something almost everyone is familiar with and about which many people – including politicians, sportsmen and women, the media, parents and pupils, as well as physical educationalists themselves – hold deeply felt, often polarized views. Indeed, because they are students or practitioners of PE and sport, readers of this book are far more likely to be ‘true believers’ than sceptics in the value of PE and sport. With that in mind, it is worth establishing at the outset what the book is and is not trying to do. The book is primarily intended for those either studying PE or training to be teachers. It is not a book about how to teach PE. Rather, it represents an attempt to understand PE by examining some of its most fundamental issues