Classroom Teachers and the Challenges of Delivering Quality Physical Education

The authors investigated the quality of physical education at 2 elementary schools—1 in which generalist instructors taught physical education and 1 in which a physical education specialist delivered a schoolwide program. Set within the context of increasingly marginalized public school physical education, the discussion incorporates ethnographic data that illustrate the differences in program quality at both schools. The authors present notional support for physical education and practical challenges faced by classroom teachers at the generalist school. Features of the specialist program illustrate how children benefit from educationally sound and well-planned programs.