Learning through sport - Play with Purpose

In the mid-1990s there was an attempt to standardise school curricula in Australia. This involved a shift from subjects to learning areas, drawing on a collection of subjects to form a syllabus (Brooker et al., 1998). In the process, Physical Education (PE) was initially marginalised and a draft curriculum document was developed for a ‘key learning area’ entitled ‘Health’. Following strong feedback, particularly from the field of sport (Pill, 2012; Swabey, 2006), the redrafted curriculum document came to be named as ‘Health and Physical Education’ (HPE). Skills and concepts were included in a statement and profile of the HPE learning area (Curriculum Corporation, 1994; Dinan-Thompson, 2006; Pill, 2012; Swabey, 2006). This marked the beginning of a blurring of the boundaries between Health Education (HE) and PE as academic disciplines, or subject areas, with their previously distinctive content and pedagogical traditions (Dinan-Thompson, 2006; Pill, 2012).
The HPE Statement and Profile…