Staffing and outsourcing issues in schools: who’s teaching health and physical education?

The current teacher shortage crisis is prominent in national and international discourse, and in Health and Physical Education (HPE), there have been longstanding challenges in specialised staffing that concern global health and education authorities (UNESCO, 2013, 2019). Recent escalation in teacher staffing problems have run parallel to escalating concerns regarding declining students’ health, due to increased sedentary behaviour and mental health problems, however, there has been little research attention to the staffing and delivery of the HPE curriculum area which is highly relevant to those challenges. While it has long been established the outsourcing of HPE is pervasive worldwide, there is a lack of recent empirical evidence on outsourcing and school staffing practices.

This paper draws on data from a larger study, the ‘NSW HPE Enacted’ project, which explored the logistics of ‘how’ HPE is delivered, the process and product of curriculum implementation, and the status of this curriculum area. A mixed-methods online questionnaire survey attracted a robust and presentative sample of 556 (30%) government schools across NSW, Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed in relation to school type, geographical location, and socio-educational status. Qualitative data was examined using thematic analysis, and direct quotes were used to illustrate quantitative data trends.

The data showed significant problems in how HPE is staffed and delivered, including highly prevalent out-of-field teaching, extremely high levels of outsourcing and inequity across school contexts. Finding that 83% of primary schools do not have access to a specialist HPE teacher, and the majority (67%) of schools outsource HPE. This study is the first to investigate outsourcing costs, finding that 78% of schools that outsource require parents/caregivers to pay for external providers. Further, if parents/caregivers fail to provide payment, half of schools do not allow students to participate in the lesson. Findings suggest that students experience varied methods of delivery in HPE. Findings were differentiated by school geographic context and socio-economic profile. Together these findings raise questions regarding the assurance of quality and equity, with implications for future policy and practice and the health and well-being of school children.

The high prevalence of outsourcing is consistent with other research evidence indicating marginalisation and low status of HPE in schools and systemic problems in staffing schools with specialised HPE knowledge, training, and pedagogy. A long-term strategy is needed to address this issue, provide universal access to specialised, qualified HPE teachers, and convey that HPE is important, thus lifting its status. Such a strategy would strengthen HPE, increasing its potential to prevent and ameliorate health problems through equitable, high-quality education and development of healthy lifestyle skills and habits.