Can't go over it! Can't go through it! Must go around it!

Abstract

Government staffing policy has shaped the implementation of the current PDHPE syllabus in NSW primary schools. After the first 5 years, it appears timely to revisit and enliven the debate about the provision of specialist Physical Education teachers. What are some of the strategic interventions that providers of teacher education have in place to address the systemic need for generalist teachers to be more specialised? This paper reports on the progress of one such strategic intervention: the University of New England's Model of Specialization in PE within the Bachelor of Education (Primary) course through the lens of a research question: Does increased specialization in Physical Education during initial teacher education translate to greater opportunity for students in primary schools to realise PDHPE outcomes?