Physical Education & Outdoor Education: Complementary but Discrete Disciplines

Overview & Synopsis

The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) includes Outdoor Education (OE) as a component of Physical Education (PE). Yet Outdoor Education is clearly thought of by many as a discrete discipline separate from Physical Education. Outdoor Education has a body of knowledge that differs from that of Physical Education. This in turn has mandated that OE teachers be trained differently to PE teachers. Some teacher registration boards acknowledge this. Most importantly, the socio-cultural imperatives that are shaping the contributions of Physical Education in schools differ from those of Outdoor Education. In this paper we examine the differences between Outdoor Education and Physical Education. We argue that an inclusion of Outdoor Education as a component of Physical Education is misleading and demonstrates a lack of contemporary understanding of the distinctive contributions made by these two separate disciplines to education. In light of Physical Education's inclusion in the Australian National Curriculum, clarity of the respective contributions of PE and OE is even more compelling. Clarifying the respective roles of PE and OE will ultimately benefit curriculum planners, teachers, students and the wider community. (Contains 1 figure.)