Physical Education in the National Curriculum: Its Purpose and Meaning for Final Year Secondary School Students

Despite the dearly presented objectives and general requirements of physical education within the National Curriculum in England and Wales, doubts have emerged as to whether these are fully appreciated and understood by those for whom it is designed. The purpose of this study was to investigate this issue through exploring pupils’ perceptions of their physical education programme, specifically in terms of what meaning, if any, they derived from the subject. The respondents within the study comprised 10 secondary school pupils who were divided into three focus groups. The resulting data yielded findings related to a general dislike of health related exercise, the continuing perception of physical education as recreation, the perception of the subject as being synonymous with sport and a general lack of understanding as to its educational purpose and value as stated in the National Curriculum.