Abstract
M.Ed.
Despite the proven benefits of activity, people today are living sedentary lifestyles, resulting
in a decline in the general health of the population. At the World Summit on Physical
Education held in 1999 in Berlin, international delegates presented research evidence on
the benefits of Physical Education (PE) and its important role in developing healthy, active
children. However, the assumption that the ineffective implementation of PE in many of the
schools in the past compromised the value of the subject and its status was lost. PE was a
subject in need of review. Change was essential in order to ensure that the holistic benefits
of PE were realised and that the knowledge, skills and values necessary to encourage
lifetime physical activity participation were developed.
In the new democratic South Africa, the need to establish curriculum principles founded on
the fundamental values of the Constitution was essential for the growth of individuals,
communities and the country as a whole. Although these principles are considered across
the curriculum, the development and implementation of a new Learning Area (LA) known as
Life Orientation ensured these principles were also entrenched in a specific programme. Of
particular interest was the positioning of the PE outcome in the Further Education and
Training (FET) phase. As a PE specialist who believes in the value and worth of PE,
especially in its new guise within Life Orientation, the researcher noted, with concern, the
apparent lack of commitment in many schools to uplift the state and status of this vitally
important outcome within Life Orientation. Although the new curriculum was only
implemented in Grade 10 in 2006, Grade 11 in 2007 and came into effect in Grade 12 in
2008, there were already noticeable gaps developing between policy and practice in some
of the schools in South Africa. This study gave the researcher the opportunity to investigate
the implementation of the PE outcome in the FET phase in rural schools in Mpumalanga
Province where the gap between policy and practice had already been expressed.There were many implementation problems identified by the findings. The lack of the
teachers’ relevant knowledge, skills and experience, the poor support received from the
district and the schools, insufficient teaching and learning material, the almost non-existent
facilities and equipment available and the large class sizes all contributed to implementation
difficulties. A comprehensive picture of the many inter-dependent aspects affecting the
implementation of PE programmes was acquired. The research conducted gave the
researcher the framework to establish both the current level of implementation and the ideal
level of implementation to which the schools could aspire.