This paper seeks to provide an overview of physical education (PE) teachers’ responses to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes that they made to their curricula and practice as a result, sharing findings from individual interviews conducted with PE teachers in the wake of this. It was found that – like much of the education system – significant disruption was encountered due to the pandemic. However, the effects of this were seemingly felt more strongly within PE, given the unique nature of the subject in relation to, for example, the subject matter, the learning environments and the nature of interactions within it. Teachers noted how they had to think creatively about how they taught PE in pandemic times, detailing a range of approaches and strategies that they employed when forced to take PE lessons online. Interestingly, it was found that, on returning to in-person lessons, teachers had reoriented their curricula and practice, with a renewed focus on social and emotional learning. Indeed, amongst teachers there was a perceived need to support the development of these capacities due to the detrimental impacts of the pandemic – and associated lockdown measures and restricted social interaction - on pupils. However, despite noting the benefits of a renewed focus on social and emotional learning – for example, enhanced engagement and student enjoyment – there was a desire from many teachers to ‘get back to normal’. Typically, this meant reverting to what might be considered more ‘traditional’ PE lessons focused on skill acquisition and sport performance. As such, this paper asks questions of how we bring about meaningful and sustainable change within PE and how we support PE teachers to think differently about their curriculum and practice to move beyond such ‘business as usual’ approaches.
