People power: Active role models at the core of active secondary school cultures

Abstract

With the increasing costs and time associated with community-based sport, it is essential that schools be active environments for students.  At the core of active school cultures are the teachers and administrators who devise and defend the physical activity practices and policies that guide students.  In order to explore the gravity of influence school leaders have on a secondary school’s culture of physical activity, eight teachers and four administrators were asked their beliefs regarding this relationship. Participants believed that the challenges of the current, daily timetable, the increasing focus on legal liability and diminishing teacher interest in extracurricular leadership could be overcome by teacher mentors who consistently modeled healthy behaviours to students and staff.  However, the lack of active role models and scattered lines of communication between administration, teachers and students restricted the high value of daily physical activity to a select few rather than a cultural expectation.