The work of educators includes grappling with the challenges of bringing theoretical concepts and approaches into day-to-day physical education practice for quality programmes and the betterment of student learning. One of our most exciting challenges is in capturing the potential the Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum (MoE, 1999) and the New Zealand Curriculum (MoE, 2007) present to us as physical educators. The curriculum has encouraged the development of socio-critical perspectives and inquirybased approaches to teaching and learning programmes (Culpan & Bruce, 2007; Fitzpatrick, 2010; Gillespie & Culpan, 2000; Wright, 2004). We (the writers) have tackled the theory to practice challenge of the development of student’s critical abilities from a range of positions within education. Our involvement in initial teacher education, teacher professional development, secondary physical education teaching and physical education advisory roles has meant we have needed to not only develop our own practice as educators, but also consider how to successfully enable secondary school students, teacher education students and practicing physical education teachers to understand and implement a socio-critical physical education curriculum. This paper focuses on processes, knowledge and understandings that support the development of student’s critical abilities.