28 Background 29Physical fitness testing is commonplace within schools and the Physical Education 30 (PE) curriculum, with advocates claiming one of the key purposes of testing to be 31 the promotion of healthy lifestyles and physical activity. Despite this, much 32 controversy has surrounded the fitness testing of young people. 33 34 Purpose 35This paper draws on selected findings of a recent 'fitness testing children feasibility 36 study' to explore the key issues, concerns and debates regarding fitness testing, 37 as they relate to encouraging a physically active lifestyle. 38 39 Research Design 40The feasibility study was commissioned by the National Assembly for Wales and 41 involved two main parts: a comprehensive review of literature (using metalib) to 42 establish the key findings/issues, and consultation with key 'stakeholders' and 43 'experts' to ascertain their views, understanding and experiences of fitness testing 44 children. The consultation was carried out via questionnaires and interviews. 45 46 3 Data Analysis 47The key issues and themes emerging from the literature from 1985 onwards were 48 identified and served as the evidence for the debate. The questionnaire and 49 interview data were analysed by quantifying the questionnaire responses and 50 identifying the common issues and themes emerging from the transcripts (and the 51 open items within the questionnaires). These were then used to reinforce, 52 substantiate and illustrate key points. 53 54 Findings 55The findings reveal that the role fitness testing plays in PE in promoting healthy 56 lifestyles and physical activity is questionable and cannot be taken for granted. For 57 example, little evidence was found to support the notion that fitness tests promote 58 healthy lifestyles and physical activity, motivate young people, and develop the 59 knowledge and skills that are important to the sustained engagement in an active 60 lifestyle. 61 62 Conclusion 63Based on the evidence, the paper concludes that much of the fitness testing 64 carried out in PE may well represent a misdirected effort in the promotion of 65 healthy lifestyles and physical activity, and that PE time could therefore be better 66 74). 88 89Physical fitness testing is commonplace within schools and the PE curriculum 90 (Harris, 1995; ACSM, 2000), with most secondary schools including it as a 91 compulsory component of their PE programmes (Ross et al., 1985;Harris, 1995; 92 5 Cale, 2000). Advocates claim that fitness testing in schools promotes healthy 93 lifestyles and physical activity, motivates young people to maintain or enhance 94 their physical fitness or physical activity levels, facilitates goal setting, self-95 monitoring and self-testing skills, promotes positive attitudes, and enhances 96 cognitive and affective learning (Whitehead, Pemberton & Corbin, 1990; Pate, 97 1994). Other reported purposes of testing include programme evaluation, tracking 98 of fitness over time, identification of children at risk or in need of improvement 99 and/or wi...

Critical discourse analysis was used to explore and discuss data on young people's knowledge and understanding of health, fitness and physical activity, selected from a wider study which focused on the role of secondary schools in effectively promoting physical activity. A mixed methods approach was utilised, involving an online survey to teachers in all state secondary schools in the United Kingdom (n=603 responding schools) and case studies centred on eight randomly selected state secondary schools from nine Government regions across England. Within each case study school, teacher interviews and pupil focus groups were conducted involving 17 teachers and 132 children aged 12-15 years respectively. The healthism discourse was evident in the way young people talked about health, fitness and physical activity and two key themes emerged, these being: i) issues with young people's knowledge and understanding of health, fitness and physical activity in the form of reductive, limited and limiting conceptions; conceptual confusion; a preoccupation with appearance, weight, fat, shape and size; limited progression in learning; and complexities in understandings; and ii) divides between young people's health knowledge and health behaviour, and dilemmas underpinning these divides. Improved understanding of issues with young people's knowledge and understanding of health, fitness and physical activity and of divides and dilemmas regarding associated behaviours should assist in developing critical pedagogies which challenge the dominance and stability of the healthism discourse and more effectively promote healthy, active lifestyles amongst young people.

This paper argues for a new direction in research on health education within physical education (PE). Governments are increasingly looking to schools as a convenient form of public health investment. PE is implicated in health because of its core focus on physical activity, but there is little evidence to suggest that PE improves health outcomes.Moreover, although there has been interest in health-focussed curriculum activities and interventions, there has been a surprising silence around the pedagogies to be used in the health dimension of PE practices. This paper critically reviews claims made about the role of PE in public health, and considers how health has been conceptualised in PE over time. The professional development needs of PE teachers in health are examined, and it is argued that the development of new, complex, evidence-based and personalised "PE-forhealth" pedagogies is the next major step to be taken in PE research.

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Background: Research on primary physical education (PE) in England and other countries has shown that it is an aspect of the curriculum that has suffered from sparse initial teacher training (ITT). As a consequence of 'insufficient' time spent on PE in ITT (PE-ITT), primary teachers often have low levels of confidence and competence with respect to teaching the subject. Evidence also points to inadequacies in traditional forms of professional development in PE (PE-CPD), leading to calls for more effective ways of developing teachers' competence to deliver high quality PE.Purpose: To explore primary school teachers' experiences of PE during ITT, the PE context in their schools prior to them engaging in a national PE-CPD programme, and teachers' perceptions of the immediate and longer-term effects of this programme. Setting and participants: Primary school teachers in five Local Education Authorities in England.Research design and data collection: A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches were adopted, including: pre-course audits, course evaluations, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The pre-course audits captured information about the teachers' experiences of PE-ITT and the PE context in their schools views prior to them engaging in the CPD. The course evaluations focused on initial impressions of the PE-CPD, and the focus groups and interviews captured the teachers' perceptions of its longer-term effects.Findings: For up to half of the teachers, their PE-ITT was 'insufficient' in terms of the time dedicated to it and the breadth of coverage of the subject. The PE-CPD programme, which was designed in the light of 'insufficient' PE-ITT, did demonstrate some features of effective CPD in that it was considered relevant to classroom practice and partially addressed a few of their many needs (especially in relation to content ideas and inclusive practice). However, its effectiveness was limited due to: its short time span and minimal engagement with teachers; a heavy reliance on resources; and the absence of follow-up support. In addition, it did not adequately address known areas of development for primary PE (such as medium to long-term planning and assessment) and was challenged in meeting the diverse needs of primary teachers of 5-11 year olds. Furthermore, inadequate PE time and reduced opportunities to teach PE in some schools limited implementation of learning from the PE-CPD. Conclusions:In summary, the findings of this study confirmed that PE-ITT continues to be 'insufficient' for many primary teachers and that the PE-CPD in question was not, and could never have been, the panacea for the inherent issues within and predicament of primary PE. In effect, PE-CPD programmes of limited duration and engagement with teachers, a heavy reliance on resources, and no planned follow-up support could not hope to compensate for long-term systemic weaknesses such as inadequate primary PE-ITT. These might be more effectively addressed through professional development programmes which...