The inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in secondary school physical education

In light of the demands of the revised National Curriculum for Physical Education in England (DfEE/QCA, 1999) and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Discrimination Act (DfES, 2001a), this paper presents some preliminary observations on how PE teachers endeavour to include pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in secondary school physical education (PE). Findings from a small-scale study revealed that whilst teachers expressed a commitment to providing pupils with SEN with ‘equal opportunities’—to participate in the same learning contexts as their ‘more-able’ peers—in practice, this was not always the case. The paper concludes by suggesting that the apparent tendency of teachers to prioritise ‘traditional’ team games within PE serves to exclude, rather than facilitate the full inclusion of many pupils with SEN. Moreover, it appears that these pupils are in effect being integrated into, rather than included in, PE.