Physical education within the Scottish context. A matter of policy

In 2010, schools in Scotland implemented a new curriculum, a Curriculum for Excellence, and for physical education (PE), this represented a move from the ‘Expressive Arts’ to ‘Health and Wellbeing’ (HWB). To understand this new position, we explored the thoughts of those who were directly involved in the construction of the policy text for PE within HWB (n = 10). All of the participants supported the position of PE within HWB, accepting that PE has an important role to play in improving pupils’ health and wellbeing, although there was some concern that teachers might misinterpret the role of PE within HWB. However, all of the participants believed that this new position for PE would encourage other professionals to value PE more highly. We conclude by suggesting that there should be a greater involvement of teachers in the reform process so that future curricular innovations are more closely aligned with the knowledge and practice of teachers. This may enable them to understand policy more clearly and implement policy more effectively.