Physical Education or Physical Entertainment? The hunt for Physical Evidence of learning in school

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical discussion about Physical Education (PE), which is largely informed by pupil-voice research. The authors will elaborate on a presentation which took place at the 12th FIEP European Congress in Luxembourg (Sprake, 2017; 2017a). Our aims are twofold. Firstly, we aim to challenge the rhetoric surrounding the myriad educational claims made by, or on behalf of, Physical Education in England. It is argued here that without any tangible, or physical, evidence to support such broad educational claims, the objectives of Physical Education continue to resemble ‘dreams’ or ‘dogmatic claims’ (Sellers and Palmer, 2007:191). Secondly, by way of sharing pupils’ work and relaying pupil-voice research, we point to some potential avenues for teaching and learning activities within Physical Education. Indeed, there is much to discover from the pupils themselves, but only if they are offered a platform on which to communicate their learning (see Sprake, 2014; Palmer, 2016; 2017).