notice for paragraph 135zxa (a) of the copyright …...'physical education has been used for...

Commonwealth of Australia

Copyright Act 1968

Notice for paragraph 135ZXA (a) of the Copyright Act 1968

Warning

This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Charles Sturt University under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act).

The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act.

Do not remove this notice.

Reading Description:

Tinning, R., & McCuaig, L. (2006). Making a certain citizen : schooling and HPE. In R. Tinning, L. McCuaig, & L. Hunter (Eds.), Teaching health and physical education in Australian schools (pp. 3-8). Frenchs Forest, NSW : Prentice Hall. Reading Description Disclaimer: (This reference information is provided as a guide only, and may not conform to the required referencing standards for your subject)

TINNING AND LOUISE McCUAIG

K1Nl3 A CERTAIN

The education of future citizens is a primary focus of what schools do. Schools work with

young people who will be the citizens of the future. In Australia at the present time our

educational system is charged with the task of educating for a 'clever country' in which

future citizens are lifelong learners, multiskilled, competent with information technology,

literate, numerate and able to speak a language other than English in order to play a

productive part in a globalised economy. In addition citizens of the clever country should also

be healthy citizens who are self-regulating, informed, critically reflective and capable of

constructing their own healthy lifestyle and minimising risky behaviours. It is here that

Health and Physical Education (HPE) is seen to play a part. Health and Physical Education as

school subjects have always explicitly played a part in the making of certain types of citizen.

THE PURPOSES OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND THE MAKING OF CITIZENS In most countries physical education or its antecedent form of Physical Training (PT) has

been used, one way or another, for the development of a certain type of citizen. Separating

... --- ... ...._

<~&dJi) ........ ..,.. I - -...- - -, ' . ~

I

4 TEACHING HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS

health education from physical education may appear to be a somewhat dubious

endeavour as the two fields have been intimately entwined throughout the history of their

delivery in schools. With respect to physical education Anthony Laker (2000) argues that

'physical education has been used for the purposes of survival, social control, military

fitness, health, holistic development and citizen education from the time of the ancient

Greeks' (p. 14). School health education across the last two centuries has been justified on

similar bases; for example, in a Queensland primary school handbook entitled Subject:

Health (Queensland Health Education Council 1948), the foreword suggests that 'it is

mainly to the children, the citizens of to-morrow, that we must look in building up in the

community a new corporate consciousness of the inestimable value of good health as a

practical, effective insurance against disease' (p. iv). Notwithstanding these similarities,

the subject areas have demonstrated particular characteristics and rationalities resulting

from their specific contribution to the production of 'good' citizens.

In Australia there have been three main discourses that have shaped the physical

education curriculum since the early 1900s. They are the military, sporting and health

discourses. Importantly, although the dominance of particular discourses might have

changed over time, they all circulate in various forms within all Australian HPE curricula.

In other words the discourses of the past are still present in contemporary curriculum,

albeit in residual forms.

Military discourses dominated physical education around the time of the two world wars

of the last century. In essence, governments wanted school PT (as it was then called) to make

'fighting men'. The future citizens were to be fit male soldiers and PT had an important place

in the making of such men. David Kirk's history of the part played by physical training,

medical inspection, sport and games in schooling bodies explores the links between physical

training, militarism and public health (Kirk 1998). For example, in the late nineteenth

century the Victorian Public Instruction Minister of the day voiced his support for drilling

and exercising, stating that 'apart from the physical pleasure and healthful character of

military exercises, the lads should develop the smartness, the quickened attention, and the

prompt obedience which military discipline begets' (Kirk 1998: 31 ).

Sporting discourses arrived in Australian physical education after World War II when

the claimed benefits of sports and games participation were articulated in the new syllabus

of 1946. The fostering of masculine courage, strength, loyalty and aggression were offered

as the contribution of sports to the development of future male citizens. At that period

sports and games were considered injurious to females. The contemporary ideology

surrounding the place of sports in the Physical Education curriculum is captured in a

quote from Australian Olympic gold medal swimmer Ian Thorpe:

School sports are very beneficial. They build self-confidence and ideals of team spirit.

Being in team environments is vital for learning aspects of life which you have to adopt

CHAPTER 1 MAKING A CERTAIN CITIZEN: SCHOOLING AND HPE 5

in going into the workforce. It's not just about fitness but about getting the best out of

yourself.

The contributions of sports participation to the making of citizens who are self-confident

team players, who can work diligently for delayed rewards and who have a sense of nation

alistic pride in our sporting achievements remains a powerful discourse in the shaping of

Australian Physical Education.

American Daryl Siedentop (1994) talks of physical education developing physically

educated citizenry. The physically educated citizen will be competent (physical

performers), literate and critical. They will be critical consumers of the sports, fitness and

leisure industries. Health discourses have historically contributed to the achievement of

this physically educated subject. At the beginning of the twentieth century they were

manifest in the therapeutic exercise regimes of Per Henrick Ling. By the 1980s they took

the form of daily physical education as a preventative measure against hypokinetic

diseases such as coronary heart disease, and in 2001 they are clearly evident in the health

promotion messages that pervade the new HPE KLA.

However, as state syllabus documents such as the Queensland HPE KLA Years 1-10

syllabus (Queensland School Curriculum Council 1999a) demonstrate, the educational

outcomes aspired to in these new curricula move beyond the mere provision of physical

activity, games and exercise to maximise the physical health of the individual. In contrast,

the new explicit 'marriage' between health education and physical eduction endeavours

to achieve a broader vision for Australia's future citizenry:

The {HPEJ key learning area provides a foundation for developing active and informed

members of society, capable of managing the interactions between themselves and their

social, cultural and physical environments in the pursuit of good health (Queensland

School Curriculum Council 1999a: 1, emphasis added).

With the rise of new public health imperatives and a contemporary focus on health and

the body, the past two decades have witnessed considerable government attention to

health education (Kirk & Gray 1990). While health discourses have played a crucial role in

physical education, historically the subject area of health education has received varying

degrees of attention from both education authorities and research circles. Health

education since the late nineteenth century has comprised the delivery of ad hoc programs

of health lessons and presentations that have centred on hygiene, nutrition, puberty

{Mammino 1993), with more recent iterations consisting of issue-focused units, embedded

with personal skills training, that attempt to respond to certain national or state 'crises' in

the health of young people.

With the advent of the new HPE KLA, teachers in general, and physical education

teachers in particular, are now mandated to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes of


their students across a breathtaking range of 'health-related' areas. The National

Statement and Profile documents provide a framework for the delivery of material

pertaining to safety, sexuality, growth and development, sport, drug education, food and

nutrition, ethics, relationships, consumer health, health promotion, traffic safety, fitness

and recreation (Australian Education Council 1994a, b). Additionally, teachers are

required to deliver health education underpinned by a social view of health, one that

eschews an individualistic, 'victim-blaming' tactic for a sociocultural approach. This

'new' social view of health 'highlights the multi-dimensional nature of health, need for

individual and collective action and the influence of social, cultural and physical environ

ments on health, physical activity and personal development' (Queensland School

Curriculum Council 1999a: 25).

Nonetheless research would suggest that, in the absence of specific health education

professional development, narrow definitions of health are often adopted by teachers,

particularly physical education teachers, resulting in an uncritical acceptance of health

related philosophies that are counter to these sociocultural philosophies (Gard & Wright

2001 ). Within this context HPE ensures that young people are aware of the individual

responsibility they bear for the maintenance of their health, ultimately recognising that

those citizens who fail to experience good health have only themselves to blame as a result

of poor lifestyle choices. Health sociologist Deborah Lupton argues that in providing

specific prescriptions to individuals regarding how to live their lives, health promotion

strategies such as school HPE programs comprise a 'new morality', one that endeavours

to construct a particular subject. This subject is to be 'autonomous, directed at self

improvement, self-regulated, desirous of self-knowledge, a subject seeking happiness and

healthiness' (Lupton 1995: 11).

It needs to be noted that the focus on making the right type of citizens out of young

people is a serious issue in many countries. In Australia there is concern that, for

example, young people might be too heavily influenced by new information and commu

nication technologies (like Nintendo and web-based games). There are certain 'moral

panics' about what is to be 'done with' today's young people (Green & Bigum 1993).

These panics are fuelled by a concern that they might not be growing up or 'developing'

into the right sort of citizen. Of particular relevance to this discussion of HPE is the

concern that young Australians are 'at risk' of becoming the obese citizens of the future

(Bouchard & Blair 1999; Brown & Brown 1996). On this issue make sure you read Michael

Gard's chapter (Chapter 9).

Young people are future citizens in the making. The sorts of citizen they will become

will depend on a vast array of influences. School HPE plays a role especially related to the

making of the healthy active citizen and perhaps one that is conforming, docile and

disciplined. But powerful citizen-shaping work is being done by non-school agencies that

bear on the subject matter of HPE- namely the body, physical activity and health.

CHAPTER 1 MAKING A CERTAIN CITIZEN: SCHOOLING AND HPE 7

Obviously governments have a very clear interest in promoting health in populations

and HPE in schools remains a key site for such pedagogical work. One of the major reasons

is the cost of the national health or ill-health bill. Sick and injured citizens are unproduc

tive and cost millions of dollars annually in terms of their care and lost production from

the workforce.

However, as sociologist Nicholas Rose argues, 'schools have been supplemented and

sometimes displaced by an array of other practices for shaping identities and forms of life'

(1990: 1398, emphasis added). He suggests that advertising, TV soap operas and lifestyle

magazines have become the new regulatory techniques for the shaping of the self, thereby

replacing much of the traditional authority of education. As such, the role of popular

culture is seen to play an increasingly important part in the lives of the young, thereby

complicating questions about the relationships between the curriculum and the making of

citizens. This is a crucial issue for our profession in the twenty-first century, for in the

battle to win the hearts and minds of young people the influence of HPE is diminishing.

In this context, those of you who will teach HPE in schools face a big challenge. Part

of that challenge is to understand better the role that schooling and other cultural players

such as commercial interests and the media play in shaping future citizens. Although we

have identified a number of concerns regarding HPE's role in constructing future citizens,

it may be an opportune time to reflect on our role as teachers in this project. As Michel

Foucault, a French philosopher of the twentieth century, comments, '[m]y point is not that

everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad.

If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do' (Foucault 1994: 256). An

excerpt from popular novelist John Lescroart's The Hearing will serve to highlight the

potential for 'dangerous practices' in HPE:

Frannie gave him a signal to hold his temper, but he couldn't do it. This [suicide

workshop] was at least the fifth such workshop in the past couple of months, and each

one had traumatized his already fragile daughter. Since Thanksgiving, in the name of

God knew what, the Beck's school had subjected her and apparently the rest of its

students to perhaps forty hours of 'awareness training', and it was playing havoc with

her life.

She was, Hardy hoped, still a good five or six years away from sexual activity, but

her school had given a five-day course on every possible malady and consequence that

could ever be associated with sex. A few weeks later, all the girls had been enlightened

on the growing incidence of anorexia and bulimia in the age group. Rebecca tended to

pick' at certain foods, and the fact sheet that the school had sent home with her listed

this as a possible indicator of trouble. Although Beck weighed ninety-odd pounds and

ate with a healthy appetite, the eating disorder bug had even infected Frannie over the

holidays, and that had been a lot of fun. Then, in January, came the drills in case a


group of terrorists, or some of their fellow students, broke into the school and started

shooting or throwing bombs - how they should pile their desks a certain way, strategies

for exiting the campus ...

Maybe, Hardy thought, because all these awareness courses made kids so fearful that

they no longer had the guts to live, or even wanted to in such a treacherous and unstable

world (Lescroart 2000: 285).

Interrogating the role of HPE in constructing healthy citizens, physically educated

citizens or lifelong learners can allow us as educators to question the 'taken-for-granteds'

that may be embedded in our teaching and learning practices. Such interrogation

strategies can ensure we limit where possible those 'dangerous practices' which can result

in unintended negative outcomes for the health and wellbeing of our students, while

allowing us to articulate clearly and defend the roles we play in the lives and futures of

our young citizens.

END NOTE 1 This chapter draws in part on Chapters 2 and ll of R. Tinning, D. Macdonald, J. Wright

& C. Hickey (2001 ), Becoming a Physical Education Teacher: Contemporary and Enduring

Issues. Sydney: Prentice Hall.

MAREE DINAN•THOMPSON

WHYTHE KLA? ANDWHYNOW?

This chapter contextualises the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Key Learning Area

(KLA) within a national framework, and puts forward the proposition that construction

and implementation of this KLA remains a contested political process.

Before responding to why the KLA and why now, we need to understand just what

a KLA is. KLA is an acronym for the phrase Key Learning Area. In 1989, Ministers of

Education across Australia (Commonwealth, state and territory) as participants of the

newly formed Australian Education Council (AEC) developed the Hobart Declaration on

Schooling- National Goals ( AEC 1989) that stated curriculum for Australian schools in the

compulsory years would encompass eight key learning areas including:

• The Arts • English • Health and Physical Education (HPE) • Languages other than English (LOTE) • Mathematics • Science • Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) • Technology

The Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century

(MCEETYA 2004) reaffirmed these with the added notion of exploring the interrelation

ships between the eight KLAs.

In 1991 the Australian Education Council commenced national curriculum projects for

the development of eight KLAs. As a result of the national collaboration, in 1994 the

Australian Curriculum Corporation produced a 'statement' document as part of the

national curriculum guidelines in HPE for all Australian schools. This statement outlined

the HPE KLA content including the strands (conceptual bases) and bands of schooling

(lower primary, upper primary, junior secondary and post-compulsory). The document to

follow the statement, Health and Physical Education- A Curriculum Profile for Austruliun


Schools (Curriculum Corporation 1994b), outlined essential learning outcomes for

students. This aimed at improving teaching and learning and providing a common

language to monitor and report student learning across eight levels.

This KLA framework has influenced the development of the HPE curriculum at the

state/territory level in Australia. Terminology applied in each of the state/territory

documents differs slightly; for example, some use the term KLA while others refer to a

Learning Area or Area of Learning. Additionally, states/territories have modified the titles

of HPE documents to suit their needs and the terms curriculum, syllabus, outcomes,

standards and accountability frameworks tend to be used interchangeably. The acronym

KLA in this chapter will be used to represent summarily all of these. Importantly though,

there is common agreement such that the KLA framework defines the parameters of a body

of knowledge that further defines intentions for student learning.

Issues surrounding the political manipulations involved in the development and imple

mentation of the KLA, the name of the KLA, the conceptual bases of the KLA and hence

the strands will be explored in the following sections of this chapter to highlight the

complex and evolving nature of the HPE KLA.

POWER AND POLITICS IN KLA DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION When the terms 'power' and 'politics' are raised for discussion people often think of

polit ic.JI parties, elections and raucous behaviour. The issue is deeper than this and often

rTnJ.Jins uncxamined. Power exists only in action and is practised rather than possessed

lt ion· 111111 ). Every interaction in context determines ability to influence others and the

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE KLA? AND WHY NOW7 27

control of resources, including knowledge. The power plays are political in that the

interaction involves negotiation, contestation and struggle between groups (Ozga 2000).

Political power is manifested in education and pertinent to curriculum construction.

There are many stakeholders in curriculum (Brady & Kennedy 1998) due to it serving '!-s a

guideline to develop essential knowledge and skills in a democratic society. Thus,

curriculum cannot be neutral as it represents (circumscribed) consensus between

competing groups. To explore this interplay of political groups in curriculum, Penney and

Evans (1999) pose a hierarchy of macro, meso and micro levels. At each of these levels

there are specific agendas operating and power plays shape what is encompassed in a KLA.

This is relevant to HPE KLA developments in Australia.

At a macro level, the Commonwealth government and statejterritory governments of

Australia have proven to be active stakeholders in curriculum construction and implemen

tation. This is evidenced in the establishment of organisations at the national level, such

as the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) in 1987 (now

Department of Education, Science and Training - DEST) and the Curriculum Corporation

in 1989. Following their establishment, the national statement and profiles in each of the

eight KLAs were developed in the mid-1990s. The Commonwealth government has an

economic interest in the curriculum ensuring it provides students with the knowledge

and skills that will enhance the earning capacity of future generations in the workplace.

The present-day importance of literacy and numeracy and the subsequent introduction

of national benchmarks and testing regimes is an indication of this. In addition, the

Commonwealth government is interested in the schooling providing a foundation for

several social qualities that contribute to a democratic society- for example, social skills,

cultural understanding, tolerance and justice (Brady & Kennedy 1998). This has been

evident in the promotion of civics and citizenship education.

However, all that said, it is the state/territory governments that have constitutional

responsibility for schooling and, therefore, curriculum construction in Australia. The

curriculum is open to differences between states/territories because they operate individu

ally. This is obvious in the title changes to the KLA mentioned earlier. Curriculum is also

open to contestation among political parties. For instance, Wiltshire, McMenamin and

Tolhurst's (1994) report, Shaping the Future, proposed significant changes for Queensland

schools but because the Queensland state government changed hands, proposed strategies

were modified or dropped altogether. It is the government that allocates resources, funds and

establishes structures for curriculum implementation. For example, the National Profes

sional Development Program (NPDP) was funded by the Commonwealth government to

support the 'statement and profile' implementation. This brought together teachers,

education departments, curriculum writers and teacher educators to produce materi.1ls liH·

the HPE KLA implementation. However, it is the Minister of Education in each of the

states/territories who has the final say in curriculum construction and implemcnt.Jt ion.

JB rEACHING HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS

At the meso level, boards of studies, education systems, curriculum writers and lobby

groups are involved. Meso-level politics are evidenced at the syllabus development level

where various persons, usually representing systems or organisations, bring different

values and points of view or assumptions to a KLA. This usually brings negotiation and

struggle across the groups and, when necessary, the realignment of groups to enact

particular points of view. An example is the inclusion of 'sport' in the Queensland Years

1-10 HPE KLA syllabus. Curriculum writers were forced to include 'sport' in various

sections of the Years 1-10 HPE syllabus due to pressure from sport lobby groups which

had threatened to take their argument to the minister. The curriculum writers were able

to manipulate the wording to be more inclusive by using the term 'sport education' and

emphasising sport as a vehicle for learning in HPE rather than meaning to concentrate on

the teaching of particular sports. This example demonstrates the power of lobby groups

and yet at the same time the power given to curriculum writers to appropriate meaning in

the text (Dinan-Thompson 2002).

Meso politics can also impact on administration decisions surrounding implementation

within schools. A hierarchy of power and control exists within education systems and then

further within the school administration. This is commonly represented in top-down

delivery of curriculum. Structures can be established to control teachers' actions, for

example middle management structures, timetabling, budget allocations, resources,

provision of time for dialoguing about curriculum and professional development. These

structural issues can further complicate the integrity of curricular implementation.

At the micro level, stakeholders include teachers, students and parents. Teachers are

individual political entities at the forefront of determining the curriculum and how it is

shaped in their classrooms. Teachers may choose to work in isolation. On the other hand,

they may collaborate to make curriculum decisions and share their ideals for student

learning. Further, they may invite parent input and ask students to negotiate the

curriculum to connect it to real-life experiences. Needless to say that while macro- and

meso-level decisions appear to control KLA construction and some technical aspects

of implementation, teachers exert power to make decisions about curriculum at the

chalkface. Indeed Walmsley's (1998) research suggests that macro- and meso-level

decisions appear to have very little impact in classrooms as he found limited evidence of

larger policy decisions in practice.

Hence, HPE KLA documents are political documents. They involve negotiation, contes

tation and struggle between groups. These curriculum documents may state 'rules of the

game' (Goodson 1988) and 'convey particular meanings and values' (Codd 1988) and hence

marginalise particular persons or groups of people. It will always be difficult to satisfy the

agendas of the many stakeholders in the curriculum and this will be reflected in

the contrived and convoluted nature of curriculum construction and implementation

described below.

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE KL/\ i /\NI 1 Wll\ I it 1W' 29

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Is it Health? Health and Physical Education? Personal Development, Health and Physical

Education (PDHPE)? Physical and Health Education (PHE)? Health Education (HE)?

Personal Development (PD)?

The naming process for this KLA has certainly been intriguing, and indeed national

and state titles do differ according to education systems' decisions. Nationally, the KLA

was entitled Health (incorporating physical education and personal development) by the

AEC in 1991. The AEC Curriculum and Assessment Committee (CURASS) was established

in August 1991 to oversee the development of the national guidelines in the eight KLAs.

Understandably, much debate occurred around the naming of the KLA considered here,

which led to a foundational writer for the national statement saying:

The name of the learning area Health is a real issue. Not having the name Physical

Education in the title puts a subject area that is well established in almost all schools

on the periphery. PE has been marginalised even before we read a word of the Statement

(Taggart, Alexander & Taggart 1993: 22).

Under the direction of CURASS this title was changed in 1993 to Health and Physical

Education (HPE), largely due to lobbying from the Confederation of Sport and support

from the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (Irwin 1993;

Kennedy 1998). The nature of this particular naming process proves that curriculum is

always open to the competing interests of sectional groups.

At statejterritory level the name of the HPE KLA demonstrates the contested nature of

the name. The majority of the syllabuses are titled HPE; however, New South Wales in

particular chose Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE). At a

post-compulsory level (Years 11 and 12) there appears to be a common splitting of the KLA

into the traditional PE and HE. Furthermore, at a tertiary education level the title Physical

and Health Education has been established to pose the importance of the physical element.

The inclusion of the traditional subject areas encompassed in the KLA has also caused

some discussion with several states; for example, should drug education be embedded

in HPE?

The constant division and rejoining of the disciplines denotes continuing deb,llc

about the specific intention(s) of the learning area. Reconfigurations of titles have posed

challenges to existing identities. Different groups, represented by the names they 1.1 k,·

('sports people', 'physeders', 'home economics', 'health educators') have vested intt·n·sts

in the naming of the KLA. Not only does this determine their status, but it inlltt<'ll<'<·s

their and others' perceptions of value of their expertise and allocation ol' n·sottn t·s t"

their respective areas. Kirk (1994: 60) contends that the status crisis exists "'t!V l"r 1'1·.

because it was being subsumed by the discourses of health, sport and conqwt it i"n, .tnd


fitness. He also states that the crisis in physical education was due to the discipline being

'appropriated entirely by lobbyists for sport and health' and suggests the need for public

debate on physical education in the broader educational discourse (Kirk 1994: 61 ).

Lobbyists, including curriculum writers and professional associations, have in the past

and continue to mould HPE. State political initiatives and interruptions have assisted

these formations. Great debate still exists on the interpretations assigned to the terms

'health', 'health education', 'physical education' and 'health and physical education'.

Not only has this been evident in the naming of the learning area but also in the place

and purpose of HPE.

WHY THE KLA? Australia was influenced by educational developments in the United Kingdom, America,

Denmark and New Zealand when it first chose to generate and implement the KLA

approach. Key factors that instigated the change to KLAs were the proliferation of separate

subjects (a crowded curriculum); the demand for more visible accountability across

schools and states; the labelling attached to agefgradefobjectives promotion and the need

for a more just system that allows individuals to progress at different rates for different

skill areas (social justice rhetoric); and increased awareness of education as a marketable

product driven by economic rationalism and consumerism. In particular, the development

of a national curriculum would align states and territories, provide a common language

and not hinder the itinerant population of Australia, particularly those in the Defence

Force, and provide accountability and comparability mechanisms. In October 2003

Dr Brendan Nelson, Commonwealth Minister of Education, again raised the national

curriculum agenda, though only in English, Maths, Science and Civics and Citizenship

Education. HPE is not recognised here.

To satisfy the previous key factors contextualising the change to KLAs, it was

important that KLAs were developmental and conceptually based. They were not (and

are not) intended to be content based but rather to look at the development of concepts

across levels, from early childhood to adolescent years. A concept can be defined as a

general notion or thought. An example of this is the change from the conceptual focus

on safety, risk and challenge that is ego centred in preparatory years to a more specific

focus on behaviours, actions and risk management at both personal and community levels

in the latter years. Alternatively, a content focus would concentrate on the disparate

areas of road safety, bike safety, camp safety and first aid. Conceptual development aligns

more closely with outcomes-based education (OBE).

The change to OBE was difficult and contentious but significant to the new national

accountability and mobility policy. This outcomes movement, a priority for many Western

countries, was initiated through discussions on performance standards at both national

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE KLI\! !\NI I Wll r I Jr rV, · 11

and international levels (Brady & Kennedy 1998). OBE is 'not a program but a way of

designing, delivering, and documenting instruction in terms of its intended goals and

outcomes' (Spady 1988: 5). These outcomes provide:

coherence between curriculum, assessment and reporting;

assistance for teachers and parents to develop and apply explicit teaching and

learning strategies; and

a common language to improve communication between professionals and to focus

system support for teachers and schools (Eltis 1995: 21-2).

OBE required a change from objectives and content-based curricula; it was concerned

with creating individual pathways of learning and accountability. The accountability

phenomenon emphasised the measurability of demonstrated performance and the

expectation that the 'public' be kept informed of services provided, their purposes, their

beneficiaries and how outcomes would be measured (Goodwin 1996: 70). Hence, for HPE

the profile document openly stated the essential (and expected) outcomes for all

Australian children. However, the statement and profile were not seen to be syllabuses or

programs as these were to be developed at a statejterritory level. All state/territory

documents demonstrate an outcomes approach to curriculum planning and monitoring of

student achievement with some conflation of terminology.

The conceptual bases of the HPE KLA are many and varied. These concepts have been

drawn from many previously taught segregated subjects, such as PE, HE, PD, outdoor

education, sport, sport education, home economics and religious education, and

encompass several concepts previously thought to be 'taboo', such as sexuality and drugs.

The previous chapters have raised the educational debate surrounding movement in

education and health and personal development in education. The HPE KLA brings these

together along with other 'disciplines' and hence is a diverse area of study. Figure 4.1

outlines the array of concepts embedded in HPE.

Of key significance (and contestation) is the positioning of 'physical activity' andjor

'physical education'. As previously stated in the nomenclature debates surrounding this

KLA, the choice of conceptual bases and how they were to be represented and developed

within syllabuses (usually in strands) has been controversial. Most agreed that the

uniqueness of physical activity to the KLA was to be valued and highlighted, but how? In

the Victorian Health and Physical Education Curriculum Standards and Framework II (CSF

11) (Board of Studies Victoria 2000) the concepts have been organised within three strands

Health of Individual and Populations, Self and Relationships, and Movement and

Physical Activity. In Queensland's HPE KLA syllabus (Queensland School Curriculu111

Council 1999a) there is a similar clustering - Health of Individuals and Communi! it·s,

Developing Concepts and Skills for Physical Activity, and Enhancing l'ns(>IJ.Ii

Development. At a surface level it appears as though the identity ofphysic.li .wtivitv ILJ';


Sexuality

Motor skills in games and strategy/ ---. tactic development

Figure 4.1 Conceptual frame of the HPE KLA

Spirituality

I nterpersona I

Growth and skills

Environmental health

Safety, risk and challenge

,--__ Movement

patterns

Participation and influences on

participation in physical activity

been subsumed into one strand in each document. For Western Australia, there are four

strand arrangements- Concepts for a Healthy Lifestyle, Skills for Physical Activity, Self

management, Skills and Interpersonal Skills (Education Department of Western Australia

1998). Although again it appears that only one strand contains physical activity, there is a

strong emphasis in the remaining three strands to integrate physical activity (as described

in the descriptions of outcomes). The NSW PDHPE syllabus (Board of Studies NSW 1999)

organises the conceptual base differently in that it aligns it with content or subject matter

under the titles of Active Lifestyle, Dance, Games and Sports, Growth and Development,

Gymnastics, Interpersonal Relationships, Personal Health Choices, and Safe Living. Here

there is an obvious focus on physical activity but within selected sports.

Another way of determining the prominence given is the time allocated. This is

important to maintain the 'position' of physical activity in HPE. The Tasmanian document

(Department of Education Tasmania 1998) represents the emphasis for physical activity in

pie and area graphs. Both Queensland (Queensland School Curriculum Councill999a) and

New South Wales (Board of Studies NSW 1999) syllabuses use the words 'significant

contribution or amount of time' with reference to physical activity to reinforce this point

of view.

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE KLAI AND WilY r"1 lW ' I I

NEGOTIATING THE RELATIONSHIP OF CONCEPT, STRANDS, LEARNING OUTCOMES AND CONTENT The notion that concepts underpin a KLA has been raised earlier and yet the title of this

section suggests some lingering and tenuous problems with terminology. These terms are

social constructions and everyone brings to them whatever meaning suits their purposes.

It is obvious in state/territory KLA documents that there are multiple meanings of these

terms which can pose confusion for teachers in dialogue and implementation.

OBE strongly emphasises a movement away from content-driven curriculum to

learning outcomes that are developmentally and conceptually based. While the outcomes

approach is evident in the structure of the HPE KLA documents, such terms as 'concept',

'content', 'subject matter' and 'main idea' have been used in rather confusing ways.

Figure 4.2 attempts to outline a very basic understanding of the interrelationships

between the terms.

To simplify, the concepts defined in the national statement and profile (Curriculum

Corporation 1994a, b) have informed the development of strands. These strands are

curriculum organisers that state major knowledge and skills and act as a tool for planning

and monitoring student achievement. Learning outcomes state more specific details of

what students need to 'know and do' to demonstrate learning. Content or subject matter,

defined as a field of study, is applied to inform teaching and serve as a medium for

learning in the targeted outcomes. However, in saying this, there are identifiable

differences in state/territory documents. Northern Territory (Department of

Employment, Education and Training Northern Territory 1999), Western Australian

(Education Department of Western Australia 1998), Queensland (Queensland School

Curriculum Council 1999a) and South Australian (South Australian Department of

Education and Children's Services 2001) documents align in that they openly state

Learning Content

Concepts Strands outcomes

informs written at

levels teaching

Figure 4.2 The relationship of concepts, strands, learning outcomes and content


concepts have informed the strands. The ACT HPE curriculum framework (Department

of Education and Training ACT 1993) states that the HPE content has been organised into

strands; the Victorian HPE CSF II (Board of Studies Victoria 2000) states that traditional

subjects (such as home economics) are conceptual areas; and the Tasmanian core HPE

curriculum (Department of Education Tasmania 1998) has constructed 'main ideas'

saying that they have been generated from statement and profile strands into a more

manageable approach. The choice of words here illuminates the hotly contested debates

that have occurred at multiple levels. However, there is some agreement in that the

strandsjmain ideas are typically aligned with year levels, though some documents refer

to them as levels while others use the term bands or stages.

Table 4.1 outlines a map of the conceptual bases (as per Figure 4.1) across a sample

of statejterritory documents. It is interesting to note the location of concepts and the

emphasis placed on physical activity within these. Largely, like-concepts have been

amalgamated into a reduced number of strands for teacher manageability. The ACT

document (Department of Education and Training ACT 1993) is most like the national

statement and profile and the date of publication is relevant here. Queensland

(Queensland School Curriculum Council 1999a) displays a 'static' allocation of concepts

in strands although emphasis in planning is on integration across strands. The

Tasmanian document (Department of Education Tasmania 1998) illuminates the

complexity in integrating concepts across levels. In the upper levels (7-8, 9-10) there is

significant cross-fertilisation of concepts and hence strands. The NSW PDHPE syllabus

(Board of Studies NSW 1999) outlines all concepts from the national statement and

profile and strongly reinforces the role of 'physical activity' in that four out of eight

strands involve participation in physical activity. Other states/territories (notably

Western Australia and Tasmania) attempt to reinforce the role of physical activity by

integrating physical activity within strand descriptions or indicators.

While content or subject matter is intended to provide the context or medium for

learning the concepts/strands, the multiple meaning attached across state/territory

documents poses problems. Queensland (Queensland School Curriculum Council 1999a)

and the ACT (Department of Education and Training ACT 1993) respectively state 'core

content' and 'criteria for the selection of content' over the compulsory years of schooling.

Conversely, the NSW PDHPE syllabus refers to the content areas of dance, gymnastics and

games and sports as strands, and identifies motor skills development, strategies, partici

pation and fitness as subject matterfcontent.

The mixed interpretation of terms continues when exploring learning outcomes.

Table 4.1 summarises, in Kirk's (1994) terms, 'crucial episodes' in the history of the

HPE KLA. The deconstruction of these episodes has outlined the 'vested interests' of

various competing groups that have shaped the meaning and identity of HPE.

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE KL/\1 /\NIJ Wll', I 11 11/1 1',

Table 4.1 Map of conceptual bases of strands/main ideas from a sample of states/territories

~-

Curriculum ACT (1993)- QLD (1999)- WA (1998)- VIC (2000)- TAS (1998)- NSW (1999) -Corporation's 7 conceptual 3 strands 3 strands 3 strands 7 main ideas 8 strands statement and strands profile (1994) (original strands (italics show (italics show shown in sub-strands) sub-strands) parentheses)

Growth and Human Enhancing Concepts for a Health of Under- Growth and Development Development Personal Healthy Individuals standing the Development (Human -growth and Development Lifestyle and Body Development) development Populations

J i

Sexuality Human Concepts for a Self and (Human Development Healthy Relationships Development) -sexuality

l Lifestyle Self Manage-ment Skills

Movement Human Developing Skills for Movement Developing Games and Patterns Movement Concepts and Physical and Physical and Applying Sports (Human -movement Skills for Activity Activity Movement Gymnastics Movement) concepts Physical -movement Skills in all Dance

and skills Activity skills Environments

Manipulative Human Skills for Developing (Sporting) Movement Physical and Applying Skills - strategies Activity Movement (Human and tactics - activity and Skills in all Movement) in physical games Environments

activity strategies

Fitness Physical Concepts of a Developing /\< t iv•· (Physical Activity Healthy and Applying I if••\tyl<· Activity and -fitness Lifestyle Movement the Skills in all Community) Environrn<·nt·.

J Pert<•ptiom of BPinq H••.llthy

11> rEACHING HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS

Leisure and Physical Self Health of Developing Recreation Activity Management Individuals and Applying (Physical -factors Skills and Movement Activity and influencing Populations Skills in all the participation Environments Community) in physical Perceptions of

activity Being Healthy

Influence on People and Promoting Concepts for a Health of Perceptions of Personal Food Choice Food Health of Healthy Individuals Being Healthy Health Choices (People and - nutritional Individuals Lifestyle and Awareness of Food) influences and

''" ~ Populations Factors Used

Communities t in the

! Maintenance of a Healthy

Management Self and Lifestyle Skills Relationships

Selecting, People and (Nutritional (Nutritional Perceptions of

Planning and Food Promoting Planning) Influences) Being Healthy

Evaluating -nutrition Health of

~ Awareness of

Food planning Individuals Concepts for a Factors Used (People and and Healthy in the Food) Communities Lifestyle Maintenance

Health of of a Healthy Individuals Lifestyle and Under-Populations standing the

Body

Health Health of Making Personal Promotion Individuals Health Health Choices (Health of and Decisions Individuals Populations Perceptions of and -health Being Healthy

1 Populations) promotion

Consumer Health of Perceptions of Health Individuals Being Healthy (Health of and Individuals Populations and -consumer Populations) health

Environmental Health of Perceptions of Health Individuals Being Healthy (Health of and Individuals Populations and - environ-Populations) mental

health

Safety Safety (Challenge and Risk)

Interaction, Human Enhancing Relationships Relations Personal and Groups -inter- Development (Human personal Relations) relationships

~ Ethics and Human Values Relations (Human -ethical Relations) behaviour

Personal and Human Cultural Relations Identity - identity and (Human self-esteem Relations)

CHAPTER 4 WHY THt Kt/\ i /\Nil Wll, 11, ''.·.

Interpersonal Self and Skills Relationships

Self Manangement Skills

~ Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Perceptions of Being Healthy Respecting and Caring for Self and Others

Interacting and Communi-eating with Others Respecting and Caring for Self and Others



Safp liVIIl'l

lnterperson al ps Relationshi

~

1/

This table summarises, in Kirk's (1994) terms, 'crucial episodes' in the history of the HPE KLA The de-construction of these episodes has outlined the 'vested interests' of various competing groups that have shaped the meaning and identity of HPI .

It might be useful to pause a moment here and debate with a friend the implications of'

these differences for status, power relationships and teacher identity. Also think about the

differences in teaching and time allocations that would occur as a result.

WHAT ABOUT LEARNING OUTCOMES? Learning outcomes across all documents agree on the 'demonstrable' com!HIIl!'lli •d

learning and are developmental. Nevertheless to add to the confusion then··"'' dJ!I,.,,."J

titles according to state/territory decisions. In addition to these different tit l,·s. '·:-;·""I ,j, ··•

of evidence of achievement have also been stated in various ways. T.Jhlc 11 .' ""illlw'. tlw

differences across the documents.


Table 4.2 Terms to describe learning outcomes and examples of evidence in state/territory documents

Statefferritory Title Examples of evidence

Western Australia Strand outcome Pointers statement

Queensland level statement and Professional elaborations core learning outcomes

Northern Territory Outcomes Indicators

Victoria learning outcomes Indicators

Tasmania Focus questions Indicators and outcomes

Australian Capital Outcomes Descriptors Territory

South Australia Key ideas and standards Evidence

New South Wales Outcomes Indicators

Learning outcomes provide the more detailed information about what students 'know

and can do' following planned learning experiences. Further detail about planning from

outcomes and assessment and reporting of outcomes in HPE will be described Part 4.

WHERE TO FROM HERE? - POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES The aim of this chapter has been to provide an understanding of 'Why the KLA? And

why now?' At the same time, it is hoped that the discussions presented have raised

your knowledge and critique of the political nature of KLA construction and imple

mentation and more specifically some of the contested issues surrounding

nomenclature, concepts, content, strands and learning outcomes. What has proved illu

minating is the multiple meanings attached to terms associated with KLAs and OBE.

Blyth (2002: 21) provided an interesting analysis of the convoluted messages teachers

are working with surrounding outcomes, levels and benchmarks and stated that the

use of the terms is 'vague and indiscriminate'. Additionally, what will be important to

further HPE KLA construction and implementation is the role of OBE and whether in

fact there will be a demise of outcomes as described by Wilson (2003: 3), who sees

'conceptual inadequacies and practical difficulties' which have led to the burial of 'key

content and skill areas within broader categories'. He cites physical education within

HPE as one of those.

CHAPTER 4 WHY THE Kl f\1 ANI 1 Wl I, if''-'· I'•

The KLA structure is one method for framing a particular body of knowledge. Necdll's.s

to say it may not be the most appropriate or effective method (as demonstrated in the

various adaptations described in this chapter). Chapter 5 will expand on other possibili

ties for shaping HPE curriculum.

notice for paragraph 135zxa (a) of the copyright …...'physical education has been used for...

Documents