Overview

This book fills a gap in literature by generating a combined history of Physical Education (PE), School Sport (SS) and Health Education (HE) in New South Wales (NSW) public schools from 1880 to 2024. It includes broad discussions on how political issues such as the World Wars influenced (i) the PE curriculum, which was used as a medium to prepare a ‘fit’ army, (ii) the school sport system, which acted as an expression of national strength via showcasing sporting prowess on the international stages of the Olympic Games, and (iii) the health education curriculum, which addressed infectious diseases resulting from poor hygiene associated with poverty. The book also adopts a socio-cultural perspective to the constructs of PE, SS, and HE curricula and highlights significant local, national, and international historical events and issues as factors driving curriculum developments and paradigm shifts in these subjects in the NSW public education and beyond. It brings new and engendering socio-historical findings to the discipline fields of PE, SS, and HE, combined with an innovative methodology in critical historiographical studies.

Full Product Details

9789819662623

Table of Contents

Reviews

“Michelle Gorzanelli and Jorge Knijnik’s A Critical History of Health, Sport, and Physical Education: The Three-legged Curriculum in Australia is the latest addition to the growing historiography of Physical Education. This monograph consists of nine sections and spans from the late nineteenth century to the third decade of the twenty-first century. … the book will serve as an important text within the discipline and the authors should be commended for their significant research and innovative approach into this.” (Conor Curran, History of Education, January 27, 2026)

Author Information

Dr. Michelle Gorzanelli is an Australian academic currently working at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in NSW, Australia where she is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education. Michelle holds a PhD in Education from the University of Sydney. She has extensive experience in mentoring pre-service teachers in Health and Physical Education (HPE) and quality teaching practice. Michelle works closely with the leadership teams of various school systems, and universities in NSW as part of her academic Professional Experience and Partnerships Coordinator role. Michelle is a leader in the Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment capstone measuring pre-service teachers’ professional competence. Michelle has presented at various ATEA, ACHPER, and HERDSA International Conferences on HPE, critical peer review, and quality mentor teacher feedback. Michelle’s PhD work was awarded the International ACHPER Conference Most Outstanding Paper by a Young Scholar and she was part of an academic team who achieved an ACU’s Vice Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award for Collaborative Engagement. Michelle adopts an authentic and metacognitive approach to educating pre-service teachers, empowering and encouraging a growth mindset amongst graduate teachers.   Dr. Jorge Knijnik is a Brazilian-Australian academic currently working as an Associate Professor at Western Sydney University (NSW, Australia), where he is a lecturer in the School of Education and a senior researcher in the Institute for Culture & Society and the Centre for Educational Research. Jorge holds a PhD in Social Psychology from Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil). Jorge works in the intersection between curriculum, democratic schooling and youth political education in the Global South. His teaching and research achievements were recognized by an OLT ‘Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning’ presented by the Australian Government and the ‘Building the Gender Equity’ award presented by UN/Women, UNESCO, and the Brazilian Research Council. Jorge’s latest books include Tales of South American Football: passion, revolution and glory (Fair Play Publishing), Women’s Football in South America: social challenges and historical perspectives (vol 1, Brazil with Ana Costa and vol 2 Spanish Countries with Gabriela Garton, Palgrave McMillan), Historias Australianas: Cultura, Educação e Esporte do outro lado do mundo (Fontoura) and The World Cup Chronicles: 31 Days that rocked Brazil (Fair Play Publishing).  

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