Situation and Sustainability of Physical Education in Schools: a Global Perspective

This paper draws from a number of international and national surveys of the situation of physical education in schools and will report on the worldwide situation of school physical education as well as developments since the Physical Education World Summit held in November 1999 in Berlin. The data generated from the surveys provide an indication of patterns and trends in school physical education in countries and regions across the world.The evidence indicates that positive developments and policy rhetoric are juxtaposed with adverse practice shortcomings. Thus, the overall scenario is one of ‘mixed messages’ with intimations that national and/or regional governments have committed themselves through legislation to making provision for physical education but some have been either slow or reticent in translating this into action through actual implementation and assurance of quality of delivery. Essentially, the situation especially in economically under-developed and developing regions has changed little since the 1999 Berlin Physical Education Summit. Continuing concerns embrace: insufficient curriculum time allocation, inappropriate curricula, perceived inferior subject status, insufficient competent qualified and/or inadequately trained teachers (particularly in primary schools), inadequate provision of facilities and equipment and teaching materials frequently associated with under-funding, large class sizes and, in some countries, inadequate provision or awareness of pathway links to wider community programmes and facilities outside of schools as well as barriers to full and equitable gender and disability inclusion. However, current intergovernmental agencies’ initiatives (e.g. UNESCO (advocacy) and European Parliament (2007 Resolution) have placed physical education on the political agenda. With inter-governmental commitments to policy principles and action advocacy, a secure and sustainable future for physical education appears to be realisable. The paper concludes with suggestions for securing that sustainability.