Primary physical education specialists and their perceived role in the explicit/implicit delivery of health education

Children’s health and wellbeing are crucial to a prosperous Australia and are at the centre of health-related policy-making. Schools are considered as ideal sites to promote health and wellbeing and thus some of the responsibility of children’s health and wellbeing has been assumed by schools beyond the obligations of the health and Physical Education (PE) curriculum. Notwithstanding the importance attached to schooling as a key mechanism for enhancing and maintaining positive health and wellbeing, there is little research exploring the extent to which primary PE specialists (such as in Queensland) currently undertake health work. This paper is to provide an insight into the health work currently undertaken by Queensland primary school PE specialists. Utilising a grounded theory approach, this study examines PE specialists’ roles as health workers and their engagement in the explicit/implicit delivery of health education in primary schools. The study adds to the evidence of the public health role played by PE teachers beyond simple motor skill development and exercise. Four categories of health work were identified from the data, these are: curriculum work, curriculum-related work, policy work, and health-related caring teaching. This research was undertaken as part of a higher degree by research program.