The BSc in Physical Education is one of the University of Limerick’s most popular and renowned courses, with a long history dating right back to the foundation of Thomond College as the National College of Physical Education in 1971. Those involved in the delivery of the programme recently completed a full programme reaccreditation which was led by the course director, Professor Elaine Murtagh. The countless hours of planning and preparation that comes with programme reaccreditation seem a distant memory now as we mark one year of the new programme.
The focus of Year 1 of the programme is very much to provide our students with an introduction to the foundations of teaching and learning through a variety of strands and activities. These include; Health and Performance fitness; Team and individual game-based activities; and Motor learning in Physical Education. Students also participate in a variety of specialist elective modules in their chosen elective subject area (English, Gaeilge, Geography, or Maths), as well as general pedagogy modules offered by our colleagues in the School of Education.
From a Physical Education perspective, there have been seismic developments in the post-primary curriculum landscape over the past five years, not least with the introduction of examinable Leaving Certificate Physical Education (LCPE) in 2018 and the newly revised Junior Cycle Physical Specification, introduced in September, 2023. Keeping pace with such change has undoubtedly been a challenge, but an exciting one. We see first-hand evidence of the benefits of this curriculum reform through the calibre of our student intake and credit has to go to the fantastic work being done by practicing Physical Education teachers in post-primary schools throughout the country.
In the past few weeks, we welcomed a new cohort of first year students to the PESS Department to embark on the reaccredited programme, and with that the journey continues!
Dr Brendan O’Keeffe is a Lecturer in Physical Education in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, UL.
Contact: Brendan.okeeffe@ul.ie @BrendanOK_
PESS News & Information 