The whole purpose of school PE is that it is supposed to prepare you to be active for life. Given that we know lots of people are not sufficiently active we thought it would be fascinating to ask people about their school PE experiences. So in 2014 we launched the BIG PE Conversation survey and here are the results.

1. The BIG
PE Conversation
#OpenCPD

2. Physical inactivity is
frequently in the news

3. HEADLINES

4. HEADLINES

5. HEADLINES

6. HEADLINES

7. HEADLINES

8. HEADLINES

9. So what does
this all mean
for PE?

10. So what does
this all mean
for PE?
If PE’s aim is
to promote
physical
activity

11. The whole purpose of school PE is
that it is supposed to prepare you to
be active for life. Given that we know
lots of people are not sufficiently
active we thought it would be
fascinating to ask people about their
school PE experiences
Professor Kathleen Armour

12. So in 2014 we
launched….

14. Shared through
varying social media channels using the
hashtag #BigPEConversation

15. Shared through
varying social media channels using the
hashtag #BigPEConversation
Retweeted
and shared with a wide
international audience
#BigPEConversation

16. Our aim was to find out if and how
PE had any influence on preparing
young people to be physically active
and what types of PE experiences
people loved or hated
Dr Kyriaki Makopoulou

17. 1,800 people
completed the
survey

18. 1,800 people
completed the
survey
and this is what we
found….

19. • 37% of women rarely or
never enjoyed PE

20. • 37% of women rarely or
never enjoyed PE
• 26% of men rarely or never
enjoyed PE

21. • 37% of women rarely or
never enjoyed PE
• 26% of men rarely or never
enjoyed PE
47% reported that PE had not
helped them to become
physically active

22. That is over half of the respondents
suggesting that PE had not helped
them to become physically active.
This doesn’t look good for PE. But
wait, the qualitative responses tell us
more about why…..
Dr Mark Griffiths

23. “Swimming stopped happening after year
seven because everyone in the class
suddenly developed a hormone imbalance
and was on their period for six weeks
straight. It was a waste of two hours every
week. By GCSEs we were getting notes
from our art teacher saying that we needed
the time to catch up on coursework.
Female 25-29

24. “
Forcing a group of teenage
girls to wear leotards in a cold
hall. Awful for self esteem
when you have body issues.
Every time we went out in the
freezing cold in winter & did
hockey. Trousers & gloves
weren't allowed but the
teacher wore a thick coat,
scarf, hat, gloves.
Female 18-24

25. “The worst bit about PE
was the changing
rooms…. the popular
girls laughing because
you weren't wearing cool
enough underwear or
hadn't customised your
PE kit
Female 18-24

26. We’ve heard these types of things
before about PE. It does shock me
that these respondents experienced
PE less than 10 years ago!
The men tell us more though ….
Dr Victoria Goodyear

27. “I loathed PE. Going
outside in the cold and
wet weather to play
rugby or football or just
run laps. Pointless
subject, kids don't really
bother with PE, they just
stand there and have a
social conversation! .
Male 18-24

28. “When given the choice we'd all choose to
play badminton because there were only two
courts so they couldn't get more than eight
people to play at once, meaning the rest of
us got to sit out
Male 18-24

29. “
The continuous
positions of being the
one person left after
everybody else was
picked has had a long
standing effect on my
self confidence
Male 18-24

30. We want to know what you think in
response to results of the
#BIGPEConversation!
• Were you aware of these perspectives on
PE?
• Is there a problem?
• Do we need to change how we teach PE?
• What would or wouldn't you do differently?

31. So what does
this all mean
for PE?

32. So what does
this all mean
for PE?
If PE’s aim is
to promote
physical
activity

33. So tweet us your responses to
@OpenCPDPESS or comment on
the slideshare

34. We would love to know what you
think!

35. The BIG
PE Conversation
#OpenCPD