2020/06/22 by Vaughan Cruickshank, Brendon Hyndman, Kira Patterson +1
Health Professions · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Children's Physical and Motor Development #Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport #Physical Education and Pedagogy
paper · doi:10.1177/0004944120934964
crossref issued 2020/06/22 · crossref published 2020/06/22 · crossref published-online 2020/06/22 · openalex publication_date 2020/06/22 · crossref created 2020/06/23 · crossref published-print 2021/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/28 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Subjects such as Health and Physical Education (HPE) can be marginalised in schools because they are construed as less academically rigorous and less important to the primary mission of education. Teachers of all subjects face challenges, yet, teaching a marginalised subject can result in additional challenges for HPE teachers. Previous research has noted these challenges; however, less is known about how these challenges vary according to student age and teacher experience. This study used quantitative survey methods to ascertain which challenges are the most difficult for Australian HPE teachers, and whether this difficulty varies according to their teaching experience and the ages of their students. Findings indicated that the year level of students taught by HPE teachers was significantly associated with student engagement and isolation within their schools. Years of teaching experience was significantly associated with challenges in teaching students with special needs, with more experienced teachers rating this area as less of a challenge than less experienced teachers.