The National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) in Korea has adopted a grade cluster approach in order to strengthen curriculum continuity between grade levels. Although curriculum continuity is highly emphasized in NCPE, little is known regarding how elementary and secondary teachers perceive continuity between elementary and secondary PE. Given that elementary and secondary teachers are trained in different kinds of institutions depending on types of school they planned to teach, the continuity between elementary and secondary education is a critical issue in Korea. The purpose of this study was to examine the curricular continuity between elementary and secondary PE in light of curriculum texts and curriculum implementation.
Method:
In order to analyze the curriculum continuity between elementary and secondary PE, comparisons of elementary and middle school NCPE texts have been conducted. In addition, four elementary and four middle school teachers have been interviewed to identify how they perceive curriculum continuity and what facilitates or impedes curriculum continuity between two settings. The observations of both elementary and middle school PE in the competitive game area have been conducted.
Analysis/Results:
Data which were collected from document analysis, interviews with teachers, and fieldnotes from class observations were analyzed inductively, and data source triangulation and member check were used to enhance trustworthiness of the data. Findings revealed that there was discontinuity between elementary and secondary PE curriculum in terms of (a) from basic movement and game approach to specialized sport approach and (b) from exploratory-oriented approach to knowledge-transmission approach. The curricular discontinuity in the text level was characterized by academization and specialization of middle school PE containing overloaded scientific knowledge and specialized sport skill development. These curricular discontinuities influenced physical education instruction. An overarching theme of discontinuity between elementary and secondary PE instruction was ‘elementary teachers teach children while secondary teachers teach subject.’ Elementary teachers tended to focus on affective domain such as character development while secondary PE teacher focused more on sport skill development.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that National Curriculum should clarify meanings and criteria on curriculum continuity and also promote teacher exchanges to ensure curricular and instructional continuity between elementary and secondary physical education