Journal article
Teaching nutrition: the role of professional identity
Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, Vol.Advanced access
20-Apr-2026
Abstract
Globally, Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers play a key role in shaping adolescents' nutrition knowledge, yet little is known about how their professional identities influence nutrition education delivery in Australia. This study addressed this gap by exploring secondary HPE teachers' perceptions of their identities as subject matter, pedagogical, or didactic experts, and how these identities shape their teaching practices. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach was used, involving a survey (n = 38) and interviews (n = 5). Findings revealed identity-based differences in approach, underscoring the need for targeted professional development, enhanced pre-service training, and a whole-school approach to strengthen nutrition education in secondary schools.
Details
- Title
- Teaching nutrition: the role of professional identity
- Authors
- Jaclyn Munge (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastJoseph Scott - University of the Sunshine CoastGlyn Thomas - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.1080/25742981.2026.2658519
- ISSN
- 2574-299X
- Copyright note
- © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Data Availability
- The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, JM. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.
- Organisation Unit
- K'gari Research Cluster; Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991226812302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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