The jagged edge and the changing shape of health and physical education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Primary Objective: This paper critically examines the influence neoliberalism has had on education in general and health and physical education (HPE) in particular in Aotearoa New Zealand. Main Outcomes and Results: Two of the most significant changes fall under the rubric of provision. First, recent government strategy has seen the amalgamation of colleges of education with universities and an associated pressure to rationalise professional programmes to academic options. For many teacher educators this widespread re-ordering of job descriptions, coupled with institutional responses to a national drive towards literacy and numeracy attention, has placed several HPE initial teacher education programmes in a precarious position. The second change has been the marked appearance of agencies and organisations that have assumed a right to deliver parts of curriculum and co-curriculum within many schools. Conclusions: While HPE has retained its status as a component of the most recent National Curriculum of Aotearoa New Zealand, a casting eye across the education landscape would reveal a series of changes that are having direct and indirect influences on this area of learning. These acknowledged changes, among others, are gradually eroding the political and professional autonomy of HPE.