Learning about Meaningful physical education: how to get started

This article summarises an experience of one
way to introduce meaningful physical education
(MPE) to PGCE trainees in secondary physical
education known as pre-service teachers (PST).
We are a writing team of a senior lecturer and three
secondary PGCE PE trainees based in England.
Our intentions throughout this article are to share
a brief underpinning of MPE, why we believe it is
important for PSTs to focus on MPE, and how we
approached the intended experience for the PSTs. It
is important to note that this article is framed within
an introduction to MPE through the lens of PSTs.
However, we believe that much of the process can
be replicated for experienced teachers at any level.
Whilst still in its infancy, the MPE framework provides
a perspective that explicitly promotes meaningfulness
for students through their active involvement in the
learning process (Walseth et al., 2018). It also seeks
to reverse the reported lack of relevance that physical
education has in students’ lived experiences (Ladwig
et al, 2018).