This book outlines an approach to teaching and learning in physical
education that prioritises meaningful experiences for pupils, using case
studies to illustrate how practitioners have implemented this approach
across international contexts.
Prioritising the idea of meaningfulness positions movement as a primary
way to enrich the quality of young people's lives, shifting the focus of
physical education programs to better suit the needs of contemporary
young learners and resist the utilitarian health-oriented views of
physical education that currently predominate in many schools and policy
documents. The book draws on the philosophy of physical education to
articulate the main rationale for prioritising meaningful experiences,
before identifying potential and desired outcomes for participants. It
highlights the distinct characteristics of meaningful physical education
and its content, and outlines teaching and learning principles and
strategies, supported by pedagogical cases that show what meaningful
physical education can look like in school-based teaching and in higher
education-based teacher education.
With an emphasis on good pedagogical practice, this is essential reading
for all pre-service and in-service physical education teachers or
coaches working in youth sport.