‘No one wants to be taught from a textbook!’: pre-service health and physical education teachers’ reflections on skill acquisition and a new curriculum

Changes to the purpose and scope of health and physical education (HPE) in schools have prompted revisions in teacher education degrees within Australia. Using a qualitative approach, this study explored HPE teachers’ perceptions of these changes. Of particular interest was pre-service HPE teachers’ reflections on the importance of skill acquisition (also referred to as motor learning) content in their university degree, which focuses on the theories and practices involved in learning movement and perceptual skills. Findings were based on the thematic analysis of four semi-structured focus groups with 25 pre-service HPE teachers at one Australian metropolitan university. Analysis suggests that the importance of skill acquisition and the imperative to increase physical activity without a focus on competence are contradictory priorities within pre-service HPE curricula. The goal of promoting enjoyment of physical education sustained this tension, implying that there is a new discourse in HPE and suggesting the need for further research into the self-reflection and emotional dynamics of pre-service HPE teachers’ reflections on curricula