A Post-Berlin Summit Update on School Physical
Education:
A European Union Perspective1
J. Joe Marshall, United Kingdom |
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Introduction
Across the European Union a number of positive political commitments
have been made to physical education since the Berlin Summit in 1999
but surveys suggest that concerns are still being raised over the actual
provision and delivery taking place in schools. This paper draws upon
findings from a survey carried out in the European Union (EU) (as a
follow-up to the world-wide survey (Hardman and Marshall, 2000), which
sought to examine how both the statutory provisions for, and the actual
delivery of, physical education in schools across the EU complied with
the principles of the UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education
and Sport (1978). Concentrating specifically on a smaller continental
region such as Europe allowed for a more in-depth investigation to be
carried out.
Access to Physical Education
The UNESCO International Charter makes a clear and unambiguous commitment
that access to physical education and sport should be: “…assured
and guaranteed for all human beings” (UNESCO, 1978, p.1). All
EU member states either have legal provision for obligatory lessons
of physical education or the subject is taught as a matter of general
practice throughout the compulsory education years. Nevertheless, despite
official statements assuring guaranteed access to physical education,
in some countries (for example, Scotland and Spain) a small number of
schools surveyed indicated that in the final school years compulsory
lessons are replaced by optional lessons in physical education. Within
Scandinavia, concerns were raised in both Finland (Heikinaro-Johannsson,
1998) and Sweden (Ericsson, 2001) that devolving responsibility to the
school level has meant widespread inconsistencies in the amount of time
being given to physical education. Guaranteed access does not equate
to equal amounts of access. Officially, a pupil in the first year of
school in Denmark should receive a single lesson of physical education,
compared with five lessons theoretically in France in the same school
year. With the exception of Belgium, all EU countries vary the number
of lessons allocated to physical education according to school year.
In most instances the number of lessons of physical education per week
reaches a peak in the middle school years, a finding replicated globally
in the Hardman and Marshall (2000) world-wide survey.
Resource Provision – Facilities
UNESCO Charter policy principles require that physical education and
sport should be provided with adequate and sufficient material resources
in schools. At a statutory level, commitments made within EU member
states range from formalised requirements for each school through to
the responsibility being left with individual schools to establish appropriate
facility standards. There are no consistent policies across the EU for
the provision of facilities. However, political commitments to improve
resource provision have recently been made in Ireland and Britain. In
Ireland €183.7 million was invested in 2002 (Woods, 2002) and a
£686 million in England has been allocated to improving facilities
in schools in 2004 (DCMS/DfES, 2003).
In practice, mixed messages were uncovered from schools. Encouragingly,
most schools across surveyed countries had an indoor space dedicated
solely to physical education. However, approximately half of the schools
surveyed in Scotland and Spain indicated problems with the reliance
on the use of general hall space in the school in order to deliver physical
education. In Germany, Italy and Sweden close to half of the teachers
surveyed indicated disappointment at the inadequacies of facility provision
for physical education in their school.
Curriculum Design and Content
The UNESCO Charter calls for pupils’ exposure to as broad, balanced
and diverse range of activities through physical education programmes.
Expressions made in curricula across all EU countries would suggest
there are official commitments to physical education offering a diverse
and broad range of activities. However, in practice the content of physical
education programmes appeared in most countries to be dominated by competitive
sport/games-based activities. Most schools surveyed in all countries
did indicate that a range of activities were being offered but the most
commonly occurring were games and team games in particular. The limited
range of areas of activity was most apparent in Italy, where a number
of schools did not offer outdoor adventure-based activities or swimming
and in all of the schools surveyed in Spain swimming was not offered.
Subject Status
A clear message articulated in the world-wide survey was the perceived
marginalized and undervalued position physical education held in schools.
Findings from the EU survey highlight a discrepancy between the legal
and academic status given to physical education. Despite the majority
of teachers indicating that at a legal level, at least, physical education
had equal status to that of other subjects, this contrasts with the
perceived academic status in which teachers were less convinced their
subject had equal status. In Scotland, for example, close to three-quarters
of the teachers in the survey perceived that physical education was
awarded lower academic status than other curriculum subjects. This perception
was mirrored in other countries such as Finland, Germany and Luxembourg.
Underpinning the discrepancy between the legal and the academic status
of physical education appears to be a greater commitment to more obviously
academic subjects as well as a general disregard for physical education.
Comments made by teachers as part of the investigation reaffirmed the
view that academic subjects hold the prime position in the curriculum
pecking order. A teacher from Luxembourg commented that: “…Our
academic programme is so heavy that all other lessons (gym, music, painting)
are considered secondary”.
In addition to the higher priority given to academic subjects, (mis)conceptions
and attitudes towards physical education also appear to place the subject
in a disadvantaged position relative to other subjects. Views are expressed
that because it is a practical subject, it is subservient to academic
traditions. From such a perspective, physical education is regarded
as being more concerned with the improvement of mere practical performance
skills. One Italian teacher commented: “…PE is [considered]
as recreation, no school time or wasted time…”. In Belgium,
a teacher observed: “…Physical education could be seen as
pursing only recreational objectives by pupils, parents and sometimes
by school authorities.”
Concluding Comments
Positive messages continue to emanate from government sources. The assessment
of information or policies from EU countries showed a high degree of
compliance with the principles of the UNESCO Charter. Encouraging commitments
have been made in a number of countries to reverse the negative trends
in the provision and delivery of physical education. However, it remains
to be seen whether these commitments have much impact in practice especially
as findings from the EU survey suggest that a credibility gap exists
between the rhetoric of policy and the actualities of practice. Unlike
the examination of policy statements, findings from the practice investigation
into the realities of provision and delivery revealed that compliance
with the principles of the UNESCO was less assured.
Note
1. The survey was carried out between January 2000 and December 2002
when there were fifteen member states of the European Union.
References
DCMS/DfES, (2003). Learning through PE and
Sport. London, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport with
the Department for Education and Skills.
Ericsson, S. (2001). Finnish national report
submitted to EUPEA board meeting, 11-13 May, Madrid, Spain.
Hardman, K. and Marshall, J.J. (2002). World-wide
Survey of the State and Status of School Physical Education. Final Report.
University of Manchester, Campus Print Ltd.
Heikinaro-Johansson, P. (1998). Curriculum Reform
and Secondary School Physical Education in Finland. Education for
Life. pp. 188-96
UNESCO (1978). The International Charter for Physical
Education and Sport. The General Conference, 20th Session,
Paris: UNESCO
Woods, M. (2002). Speech by Minister of Education
and Science at the launch of the Template Architectural Design for Physical
Education Halls in Secondary Schools on 15th May. Department
of Education and Science, Dublin.
Dr Joe Marshall
Liverpool Hope University College, Liverpool, UK
Email: marshaj@hope.ac.uk

http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-may2005.htm
A Post-Berlin Summit Update on School Physical
Education:
An European Union Perspective
J. Joe Marshall, United Kingdom
|