Abstract
The title “physical education” (PE) is the traditional taxonomy used to represent the education discipline. Health and physical education (HPE) is regarded to be an all-encompassing health-dimensional title that has been recently embraced by various education systems around the world. Hence, it can be argued that PE and HPE are often used interchangeably by educationalists, portraying a similar meaning and understanding. This can be regarded as internationally confusing, as historically PE and HPE have represented different and at times paradoxical discourses and ideologies. Amongst the ambiguity of which title to use, PE or HPE, new terms of branding such as “physical literacy” and “health literacy” have re/emerged. The purpose of this interpretivist study is to identify if associated terms used for the original PE label are a help or hindrance to practitioners? Participants were asked an open-ended question relating to PE nomenclatures. The data gathered were analysed and findings confirmed that practitioner confusion does exist. It is suggested that children are first and foremost “physically educated”; therefore a strong, clear and comprehensive grounding in quality PE is essential for teachers and students.
DOI
10.1080/2331186X.2016.1217820
Publication Date
2016-08-05
Publication Title
Cogent Education
Volume
3
Issue
1
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
2331-186X
Embargo Period
2024-11-19
Additional Links
http://www.timothylyncheducation.com/
Keywords
curriculum improvement, education policy, health, health and physical education, health literacy, holistic education, nomenclature, physical education, physical literacy, well-being
First Page
1
Last Page
22
Recommended Citation
Lynch, T., & Soukup, G. (2016) '"Physical education", "health and physical education", "physical literacy" and "health literacy": Global nomenclature confusion.', Cogent Education, 3(1), pp. 1-22. Taylor & Francis: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1217820
