Physical Education at Preschools: The Meaning of "Physical Education" to Practitioners at Three Preschool Settings in Scotland

Autor/inn/en	McEvilly, Nollaig; Verheul, Martine; Atencio, Matthew
Titel	Physical Education at Preschools: The Meaning of "Physical Education" to Practitioners at Three Preschool Settings in Scotland
Quelle	In: Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20 (2015) 2, S.117-130 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1740-8989
DOI	10.1080/17408989.2013.798407
Schlagwörter	Physical Education; Preschool Education; Preschool Evaluation; Educational Policy; Discourse Analysis; Language Usage; Interviews; Preschool Teachers; Preschool Children; Participant Observation; Teacher Attitudes; Student Attitudes; Ambiguity (Semantics); Educational Practices; Definitions; Foreign Countries; United Kingdom (Scotland) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Körpererziehung; Sportunterricht; Pre-school education; Vorschulerziehung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Diskursanalyse; Sprachgebrauch; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschule; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Teilnehmende Beobachtung; Lehrerverhalten; Schülerverhalten; Bildungspraxis; Begriffsbestimmung; Ausland
Abstract	Background: Preschool physical education has been largely unexplored by researchers. This article examines the meaning of the term "physical education", in relation to preschool contexts, to 14 practitioners working at three preschool settings in Scotland. Our focus on preschool physical education reflects a change in the language associated with young children's physical education in Scottish educational policy. The recently implemented "Curriculum for Excellence" refers to "physical education" in relation to preschool education, whereas the previous Scottish preschool curriculum referred to "physical development and movement". Methods: The study employed a poststructural type of discourse analysis concerned with identifying patterns in language use. Research methods employed were observations and interviews. Findings: Practitioners generally indicated that they were uncomfortable with the term "physical education" in relation to preschool contexts. Terms they preferred included "physical play", "exercise" and "health and wellbeing". Drawing on developmental discourses, they tended to associate "physical education" with schools, positioning it as something more formal and structured than what preschool children would (or should) experience. It seemed that, for some practitioners, their privileging of play clashed with the notion of "physical education". Conclusion: We suggest that researchers and policy-makers need to be aware that using the terms "physical education" or "PE" with preschool practitioners may be a problematic endeavour. Consulting with preschool practitioners is important for understanding why particular language, discourses and practices associated with physical education may be supported or resisted in preschool contexts. Furthermore, we suggest that preschool practitioners should critically reflect on taken-for-granted developmental discourses that position preschool children as "too young" for particular experiences. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01