School Centres for Teaching Excellence (SCTE): understanding new directions for schools and universities in Health and Physical Education

This paper critically analyzes a community collaborative approach for implementing Health and Physical Education (HPE) lessons within Gippsland primary schools (Victoria, Australia). The rural community collaborations reflected upon are embedded within the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) ‘School Centres for Teaching Excellence’ (SCTE) initiative and are timely with the current curriculum reform in Health and Physical Education. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on and share the experiential learning offered where the curriculum is relevant, engaging, contemporary, physically active, enjoyable and developmentally appropriate for all stakeholders; namely university pre-service teachers, primary school children and primary teachers. It is envisaged that through sharing the various dynamics involved in a SCTE program, educators may benefit and subsequently consider the suitability and possibility of establishing similar collaborations within their context

Run, Jump, Throw and Catch: How proficient are children attending English schools at the Fundamental Motor Skills identified as key within the school curriculum?

This study examined proficiency levels in fundamental motor skills (FMS) in children within Key Stage 1 and 2 of the English school system. Four hundred and ninety-two children aged 6–9 Years old (245 boys, 247 girls) from school Years Two (n = 130), Three (n = 154) and Four (n = 208) participated in this study. FMS for the run, jump, throw and catch were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development – 2. The proportion of children who achieved mastery or near mastery of the skills was determined. For the whole sample, 18.5% (n = 91) did not achieve mastery in any of the four skills. A similar proportion (18.7%, n = 92) achieved mastery in all four of the FMS examined in this study. The proportion of children achieving mastery of all four skills was lower for Year Two children (0%) compared to children in years Three (24%) and Four (25%). More boys (25.7%) achieved mastery in all four of the FMS compared to girls (11.7%). Individual behavioural components in skill performance were also examined. The results of the present study highlight that less than one-fifth of children aged 6–9 years old have mastered the four key FMS identified by the physical education (PE) curriculum despite having the developmental potential to become fundamentally competent by six years of age. Fostering positive trajectories of FMS development presents a challenge for PE specialists given the association between FMS mastery in childhood and physical activity, weight status and health.N/

'Language Background Other Than English': a problem NAPLaN test category for Australian students of refugee background

Since 2008 Australia has held the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (known as NAPLAN) for all students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Despite the multilingual character of the Australian population, these standardized literacy and numeracy tests are built on an assumption of English as a first language competency. The capacity for monitoring the performance of students who speak languages other than English is achieved through the disaggregation of test data using a category labelled Language Background Other than English (LBOTE). A student is classified as LBOTE if they or their parents speak a language other than English at home. The category definition is so broad that the disaggregated national data suggest that LBOTE students are outperforming English speaking students, on most test domains, though the LBOTE category shows greater variance of results. Drawing on Foucault’s theory of governmentality, this article explores the possible implications of LBOTE categorisation for English as a Second Language (ESL) students of refugee background. The article uses a quantitative research project, carried out in Queensland, Australia, to demonstrate the potential inequities resultant from such a poorly constructed data category

The contribution of general language ability, reading comprehension and working memory to mathematics achievement among children with English as additional language (EAL): an exploratory study

An increasing number of high-stakes mathematics standardised tests around the world place an emphasis on using mathematical word problems to assess students’ mathematical understanding. Not only do these assessments require children to think mathematically, but making sense of these tests’ mathematical word problems also brings children’s language ability, reading comprehension and working memory into play. The nature of these test items places a great deal of cognitive demand on all mathematics learners, but particularly on children completing the assessments in a second language that is still developing. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study on the contribution of language to mathematics achievement among 35 children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) and 31 children with English as their first language (FLE). The findings confirm the prominent role of general language ability in the development and assessment of mathematical ability. This variable explained more variance than working memory in word-based mathematics scores for all learners. Significant differences were found between the performance of FLE learners and EAL learners on solving mathematical word-based problems, but not on wordless problems. We conclude that EAL learners need to receive more targeted language support, including help with specific language knowledge needed to understand and solve mathematical word problems

Investigating Children’s Spiritual Experiences through the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Learning Area in Australian Schools

The purpose of this study is to explore spirituality within the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area, through investigating children’s experiences within three Brisbane Catholic Education primary schools (Queensland, Australia). There are seven dimensions of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, environmental, and occupational, which are all strongly connected (Robbins et al. in A wellness way of life, 9th edition, McGraw Hill, USA, 2011). It is logical that HPE, which promotes students to adopt lifelong health and well-being, offers opportunities for spirituality to be experienced and warrants investigation. Data gathered in this qualitative research suggest that regular quality inclusive HPE lessons increased students’ potential for spiritual experiences

"Physical education", "health and physical education", "physical literacy" and "health literacy": Global nomenclature confusion.

The title “physical education” (PE) is the traditional taxonomy used to represent the education discipline. Health and physical education (HPE) is regarded to be an all-encompassing health-dimensional title that has been recently embraced by various education systems around the world. Hence, it can be argued that PE and HPE are often used interchangeably by educationalists, portraying a similar meaning and understanding. This can be regarded as internationally confusing, as historically PE and HPE have represented different and at times paradoxical discourses and ideologies. Amongst the ambiguity of which title to use, PE or HPE, new terms of branding such as “physical literacy” and “health literacy” have re/emerged. The purpose of this interpretivist study is to identify if associated terms used for the original PE label are a help or hindrance to practitioners? Participants were asked an open-ended question relating to PE nomenclatures. The data gathered were analysed and findings confirmed that practitioner confusion does exist. It is suggested that children are first and foremost “physically educated”; therefore a strong, clear and comprehensive grounding in quality PE is essential for teachers and students

The Educational Intelligent Economy – Lifelong Learning – A vision for the future

Almost every detail of our lives, where we go, what we do, and with whom is captured as digital data. Technological advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and data analytics offer the education sector new ways not only to improve policy and processes but also to personalize learning and teaching practice. However, these changes raise fundamental questions around who owns the data, how it might be used, and the consequences of use. The application of Big Data in education can be directed toward a wide range of stakeholders, such as educators, students, policy-makers, institutions, or researchers. It may also have different objectives, such as monitoring, student support, prediction, assessment, feedback, and personalization. This chapter presents the nuances and recent research trends spurred by technological advancements that ave influenced the education sector and highlights the need to look beyond the technical boundaries using a socio-semiotic lens. With the explosion of available information and digital technologies pervading cultural, social, political as well as economic spaces, being a lifelong learner is pivotal for success. However, technology on its own is not sufficient to drive this change. For technology to be successful, it should complement individual learning cultures and education systems. This chapter is broadly divided into two main sections. In the first section, we contemplate a vision for the future, which is deemed possible based on ongoing digital and computing advancements. The second section elaborates the technological, pedagogical, cultural, and political requirements to attain that vision

Experts\u27 views regarding Australian school-leavers\u27 knowledge of nutrition and food systems

Objective: To explore Australian experts\u27 views regarding strengths and gaps in school-leavers\u27 knowledge of nutrition and food systems ( N & FS) and factors that influence that knowledge. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 highly experienced food-related experts in Australia. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using Attride-Stirling\u27s thematic network framework. Results: Two global themes and several organising themes were identified. The first global theme, \u27structural curriculum-based problems\u27, emerged from three organising themes of: inconsistencies in provided food education programs at schools in Australia; insufficient coverage of food-related skills and food systems topics in school curricula; and the lack of trained school teachers. The second global theme, \u27insufficient levels of school-leavers knowledge of N & FS \u27, was generated from four organising themes, which together described Australian school-leavers\u27 poor knowledge of N & FS more broadly and knowledge translation problem for everyday practices. Conclusion: Study findings identified key problems relating to current school-based N & FS education programs in Australia and reported knowledge gaps in relation to N & FS among Australian school-leavers. Implications: These findings provide important guidance for N & FS curriculum development, to clearly articulate broadly-based N & FS knowledge acquisition in curriculum policy and education documents for Australian schools

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extra-curricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of year six-eight (11-14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (i) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (ii) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and, (iii) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school

PREDICT-CP: study protocol of implementation of comprehensive surveillance to predict outcomes for school-aged children with cerebral palsy

Objectives: Cerebral palsy (CP) remains the world’s most common childhood physical disability with total annual costs of care and lost well-being of $A3.87b. The PREDICT-CP (NHMRC 1077257 Partnership Project: Comprehensive surveillance to PREDICT outcomes for school age children with CP) study will investigate the influence of brain structure, body composition, dietary intake, oropharyngeal function, habitual physical activity, musculoskeletal development (hip status, bone health) and muscle performance on motor attainment, cognition, executive function, communication, participation, quality of life and related health resource use costs. The PREDICT-CP cohort provides further follow-up at 8–12 years of two overlapping preschool-age cohorts examined from 1.5 to 5 years (NHMRC 465128 motor and brain development; NHMRC 569605 growth, nutrition and physical activity). Methods and analyses: This population-based cohort study undertakes state-wide surveillance of 245 children with CP born in Queensland (birth years 2006–2009). Children will be classified for Gross Motor Function Classification System; Manual Ability Classification System, Communication Function Classification System and Eating and Drinking Ability Classification System. Outcomes include gross motor function, musculoskeletal development (hip displacement, spasticity, muscle contracture), upper limb function, communication difficulties, oropharyngeal dysphagia, dietary intake and body composition, participation, parent-reported and child-reported quality of life and medical and allied health resource use. These detailed phenotypical data will be compared with brain macrostructure and microstructure using 3 Tesla MRI (3T MRI). Relationships between brain lesion severity and outcomes will be analysed using multilevel mixed-effects models. Ethics and dissemination: The PREDICT-CP protocol is a prospectively registered and ethically accepted study protocol. The study combines data at 1.5–5 then 8–12 years of direct clinical assessment to enable prediction of outcomes and healthcare needs essential for tailoring interventions (eg, rehabilitation, orthopaedic surgery and nutritional supplements) and the projected healthcare utilisation