Abstract:
In 1999, New Zealand’s new Health and Physical Education curriculum (HPENZC) marked a significant shift in philosophy and its professed socially critical perspective invited practitioners to rethink the purposes of physical education and modify their teaching practices. This paper reports the findings of a research project that sought to find out how practicing teachers understand and incorporate a socially critical perspective into their teaching. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with six practicing health and physical education (HPE) teachers. The content analysis reveals different understandings of socially critical pedagogy that represent varied interpretations of the curriculum document. We conclude that the HPE teachers’ interpretations may lead to a focus on individual student behaviours rather than a challenge to the social structures that influence these behaviours. This may serve to work in tension with the espoused aims of HPENZC by reinforcing healthism rather than challenging it.
