Physical Literacy: From Theory to Practice. Exploring New Teachers' Early Experiences in Physical Education

Abstract

School health and physical education (H&PE), alongside school-based interventions can be a vehicle to enhance children’s health and development, and potentially combat the current obesity crisis (McGoey, Root, Bruner, & Law, 2015). Physical literacy (PL) was recently introduced into Ontario’s H&PE curriculum, to raise program quality and provide students with the skills and confidence for lifelong activity (McKean, 2013; Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). The purpose of this study was to examine new H&PE teachers’ early experiences in relation to PL, specifically focusing on their education/training, perceptions, and implementation of PL into school settings. Ten new H&PE teachers engaged in semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed, informed by a grounded theory approach (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Results suggest various breakdowns within three major educational components (i.e., formal teacher education, curriculum, and teaching practicum), hindering the successful implementation of PL. Practical implications and future directions are discussed through the lens of the three aforementioned themes.