Re-imagination and re-design in physical education: implicit and explicit models in England and Wales

Starting with the questions “does physical education (PE) achieve desirable outcomes for the majority of youngsters who experience it?” and, as a corollary, “does it need to be re-imagined and re-designed?”, this chapter explores what we refer to as explicit and implicit models of PE past and present, including the alleged shortcomings of the subject that each model is intended to address. In the process we note that one implicit model–the so-called (sport-based) multi-activity model revolving around various “activity areas”, such as games, athletic activities, gymnastic activities, swimming, dance, and outdoor and adventurous activities, but dominated by games–continues to dominate the practice of PE, having seen off almost all competitors, with the notable exception of another implicit model in the form of health-related exercise. That said, to the extent that models such as TGfU, Sport Education and Co-operative Learning are being advocated at various physical education teacher education (PETE) institutions, attempts to re-imagine and re-design remain current, despite the changing neo-liberal landscape of PETE itself. Nevertheless, when reflecting upon the fortunes of the various explicit and implicit models of PE, it seems that, while these have increasingly been the subject of research and by degrees have taken root in academic PE, they largely have failed to do so in schools, much beyond the sphere of influence of academic institutions advocating particular models with their students and beyond individual units of work.