ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects that although assessment and standards are issues at the fore of contemporary developments and debates in education globally, they have received relatively little attention across research and professional communities associated with primary physical education. The chapter draws on research from mainstream education and physical education to address developments in primary physical education that are linked to assessment and standards and broader developments that are affecting policy and practice and thus present opportunities and challenges for teachers, teacher educators and other professionals working in primary physical education. We necessarily begin by addressing the language and terminology captured in the title of this chapter and discussing the educational and political contexts in which contemporary developments and debates are located. This provides the backdrop from which we critically explore ways in which differing conceptualisations of primary physical education and, similarly, varied conceptualisations of assessment, are reflected in established and emergent practices internationally.
