Positive experiences in physical education (PE) constitute a critical determinant of students’ engagement and learning. The aims of this study were to: (a) examine potential differences in situational interest (SI) across three strength-training tasks as a function of students’ individual interest (II) profiles, and (b) examine whether and how SI scores differed across II profiles theoretically aligned with the four-phase model of interest development. Students ( N = 319; M age = 16.0, SD = 1.7; 53.3% boys) completed three strength-training tasks within the same PE unit. The tasks differed only in guidance for load self-regulation. The first task promoted an autonomous learning environment supported by internal guidance. The second created a structured environment characterized by external guidance. The third represented an intermediate condition, combining structure with decision-making autonomy through mixed guidance. Cluster analyses based on the three factors of II identified four profiles showing progressively increasing levels of II, supported by Bayesian Information Criterion and log-likelihood criteria, consistent with the theoretical structure of the four-phase model. The findings suggest that instructional designs relying primarily on external guidance were associated with higher SI scores among lower II profiles, consistent with the lower-interest profiles described in the model. No significant task-by-profile interaction was observed for higher II profiles. Non-linear patterns across II profiles were observed for all tasks except the mixed-guidance task. The results underscore the importance of designing PE tasks that align with different II profiles within the interest development framework.
In response to a national vision and the global demands for more future-oriented education systems, China launched a new round of curriculum reform in 2022. This paper examines how China, which has the world's largest public education system, seeks to enhance health outcomes through competence-based curriculum reform. The reform of physical education (PE) focuses on the integrated development of motor ability, healthy behaviour, and sports morality. Drawing on theoretical work on curriculum and employing interpretive policy analysis ( ), this study compares the 2011 and 2022 PE and health curricula, exploring the rationale behind these reforms, the conceptualisation of health, and the implications for teaching and assessment. Findings reveal that while the 2022 reform incorporates global principles of developmentalism, it remains deeply rooted in China's long-standing examination-oriented education system. Rather than replicating models used in other nations, the reform foregrounds a localisation strategy that merges international discourse with instrumental approaches tailored to the Chinese context. Although this balance between content and objectives supports curriculum enactment, it also restricts the role of school PE in promoting health and limits the full impact of core competences. Policy making in China provides a valuable insight into the structural tensions inherent in competence-based curriculum reform. As nations around the world (e.g. Australia, Japan, Norway and Scotland) continue to engage in curriculum reform ( ), these findings may encourage stakeholders to reconsider how the relationship between PE and health is framed and translated into curriculum policy.
In this study, we conducted a needs assessment to inform professional development (PD) aimed at reducing weight stigma and creating weight-inclusive climates in physical education (PE). A total of 217 physical educators (PE majors, PE teachers, and PE teacher education faculty) completed the Fat Attitudes Assessment Toolkit (FAAT) and 199 also responded to open-ended questions about weight inclusivity. Results showed participants had moderate to high fat acceptance ( M = 5.07) and high attribution complexity ( M = 5.87). Although these scores suggest improved attitudes compared to previous studies, qualitative responses revealed persistent weight-centric orientations. Over half of participants (56.8%) maintained problem-focused PE role conceptions (solving obesity or including students while acknowledging weight concerns), whereas 40.7% endorsed supporting or transforming approaches; the remaining responses were coded as ambiguous or unknown. This divergence between fat acceptance scores and PE role conceptions highlights the complexity of addressing weight stigma in PE. Therefore, PD should be differentiated: educators maintaining weight-centric PE role conceptions need training on weight controllability and stigma harms, while those with wellbeing-focused orientations are ready for critical pedagogy and advocacy education.
Although there is a plethora of tools available to assess children's movement competence (MC), the literature suggests that many have significant limitations (e.g. not practical for use in ‘real-world’ settings). The FMS 2 assessment tool has recently emerged as a valid and feasible alternative to existing measures. The aim of this study was to examine the construct validity of the FMS 2 among 10- to 13-year-old children in primary school in Ireland. As part of this study, 246 children (50% boys, M age = 11.25 years) were assessed using the FMS 2 assessment tool at two time points, eight weeks apart. Structural validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated acceptable model fit for each individual factor (locomotor, object manipulation, and stability) at both time points, although stronger fit statistics were observed at the second time point. Further, each factor demonstrated measurement invariance between the two time points. When combined into a single model, model fit was inadequate, suggesting that the individual components, while related, are distinct constructs. Boys demonstrated significantly higher MC scores than girls at both time points, while no significant age-related differences were observed. The findings of this study suggest that the FMS 2 assessment tool has good structural validity, and is consistent when measuring children's MC proficiency over time.
This article examines how the professional learning of secondary health and physical education (HPE) teachers is shaped by the material and relational configurations of the everyday practice spaces they navigate within and beyond school. Based on an ethnographic study in a New Zealand secondary school, data were collected through participant observations, interviews, artefacts, and documents over 20 weeks. The findings identify three interrelated themes of learning spaces: teaching spaces, school spaces, and spaces beyond school, that together form a distributed ecology of professional learning. Each space afforded distinctive opportunities for engagement, reflection, and collaboration, enabling HPE teachers to learn through experimentation, observation, conversation, mentoring, and participation in broader professional networks. The study advances understanding of professional learning as a relational and emergent process, both spatially enacted and contextually grounded. It highlights the significance of informal and incidental learning environments, such as staffrooms, online platforms, and personal relationships, in sustaining teachers’ professional growth. The article concludes by arguing for more flexible and ecologically responsive approaches to supporting teacher professional learning across the multiple spaces of educational practice.
Despite the central importance of school leadership in the successful implementation of new programs, little research has explored administrators’ views concerning whole-of-school physical activity (PA) initiatives, which can support students’ academic performance and healthy development. A critical knowledge gap exists in the context of secondary education, where whole-of-school PA implementation may face nuanced challenges. The purpose of this U.S.-based study was to examine middle school principals’ beliefs about whole-of-school PA. A convenience sample of 19 principals from six states participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically analyzed in NVivo. Findings spanned three themes: (a) PA benefits the whole child, but who is in charge? , (b) school- and system-level resources that matter , and (c) the gap between verbal support and administrative action. Collectively, these themes revealed principals’ nearly universal philosophical support for school-based PA programming but also demonstrated how such convictions often operate within structures that deprioritize it. Although principals expressed a desire to foster more active school cultures, they often perceived such efforts as idealistic and instead conformed to the accountability systems that govern their work. This study provides a key empirical lens from the perspective of school leadership to understand potential barriers and facilitators to whole-of-school PA implementation in middle schools.
Initial teacher education (ITE) plays an essential role in the development of teaching competencies in pre-service teachers (PSTs). The objective of this research was to identify and compare the physical education (PE) teaching competencies acquired by second-, third- and fourth-year PSTs. Fourteen PE lessons were recorded and analysed using the System for Observing Teaching Competencies in PE, involving 36 PSTs. Intra- and inter-observer reliability were almost perfect across all dimensions (kappa = .81-1.00), except for inter-observer calculations in the teacher behaviour dimension (kappa = .806) and the additional checklist (kappa = .787). Across all groups, PSTs demonstrated good time management, used respectful and informational language (offering descriptive rather than explanatory guidance), and created inclusive learning environments, involving all their students in activities. However, they seldom promoted autonomy, intrinsic motivation, or divergent thinking. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests revealed significant differences in competencies relating to interaction with students during explanations (chi(2) (2) = 7.512, p = .023, epsilon(2) = .578), interaction with a single child during activities (chi(2) (2) = 10.074, p = .006, epsilon(2) = .775), and the development of egalitarian gender attitudes (chi(2) (2) = 6.870, p = .032, epsilon(2) = .528). The fourth-year PSTs were the most competent group in these areas. While findings indicate partial progress, the minimal number of significant differences between groups suggests that this ITE context may not have substantially enhanced pedagogical competence throughout the students' degree studies, highlighting the need to strengthen autonomy-supportive, reflective, and active learning approaches.
Whilst not a statutory component, swimming can be taught during physical education (PE) lessons in secondary schools in England. Therefore, this article presents ethnographic accounts of pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions and experiences of swimming in PE in one state-funded secondary school in northern England. Drawing on participant observations, 14 focus groups with 49 pupils, and interviews with nine PE teachers, this article details how pupils navigated the embodied, relational and emotional dimensions of swimming lessons, and the extent to which these differed between boys and girls. Empirical findings included pupils’ heightened feelings of embarrassment when changing into swimming attire, intensified social awkwardness through peer gaze when walking to the swimming pool, and participation avoidance strategies, particularly amongst girls. The way teachers accommodated, regulated and disciplined boys’ and girls’ feelings, preferences and behaviours differed. Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions, experiences and behaviours, and gendered differences within these, are indicative of Elias’s (2012) conceptions of (gendered) civilised bodies in relation to the schooling of pupils’ bodies through structural, behavioural and relational social constraints. By examining data concerning pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions, experiences and behaviours, this article highlights the importance of PE teachers being alert to and accommodating cultural and gendered sensitivities associated with nakedness to mitigate boys’ and girls’ displeasure, fears, and avoidance of swimming.
The purpose of this study was to examine the occupational socialization experiences of Chilean physical education (PE) teachers and the meanings they ascribed to their experiences in special school settings. An interpretative phenomenological analysis research design was adopted, and nine Chilean PE teachers (three women and six men; aged 29-50) participated. In-depth semi-structured online interviews and interviewer's reflective notes were utilized as methods of data collection. Based on data analysis, the experiential themes constructed were: (a) status and identity in PE, (b) professional identity development, and (c) navigating the professional landscape of special education. These themes highlight how Chilean physical educators in special schools are socialized into the profession as well as the meanings ascribed to those experiences. Professional and organizational experiences emphasized unique findings compared to those in the international literature.
This study examined how different levels of implementation fidelity to critical elements of a hybrid Sport Education-Step Game Approach (SE-SGA) were associated with students' game performance during volleyball teaching. Within a master's-level physical education teacher education program in Northern Portugal, nine preservice teachers (PSTs) and 189 10th-grade students across nine classes participated. Prior to school placement, the PSTs completed over 300 hours of coursework, including 60 hours of sport-specific pedagogy using the SE-SGA hybrid approach. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was employed. 108 lessons were video-recorded and coded using a 17-item fidelity checklist. Fidelity scores were averaged across 12 lessons per PST. Cluster analysis (Ward's method) identified three fidelity levels (high, moderate, low). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests confirmed significant group differences. Students' game performance was assessed using validated measures: decision-making efficacy (0-3 scale), game performance index (mean across four actions), game involvement score (total actions), rate of play (actions/minute), and efficacy score (successful actions). Multivariate analysis of variance, ANOVA, and multiple mediation analyses were conducted. Results showed that students taught by high-fidelity PSTs achieved the greatest gains across all domains (game involvement, efficacy, rate of play, performance index, and discrete actions: service, reception, setting, attack). Moderate- and low-fidelity groups showed improvements in specific indicators, particularly participation and technical actions. These findings challenge binary fidelity views and highlight how scaffolded, context-sensitive enactment may support learning. These results require further study through in situ analyses of PST-mentor interactions.
This study examined the perceived influence of peer feedback on pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) development as teachers. Research has noted the potential benefits of peer feedback, yet little is known about its perceived influence on the development of PSTs in Australian physical education teacher education programmes. Occupational socialisation theory guided the research, which employed a qualitative methodology consisting of an online survey with 52 PSTs, followed by semi-structured interviews with 20 of these participants. Analysis of the PSTs’ reported experiences resulted in the construction of key themes focused on perspective, pedagogy and personal reflection. Findings indicated benefits for PSTs, through both the giving and receiving of peer feedback. The results showed that the peer feedback process was considered important and valued by PSTs. Autonomy and further teaching competence were noted by the participants. From a socialisation standpoint, the peer feedback process should be considered a second apprenticeship of observation that is guided by university espoused pedagogy.
We live in a fast-paced society, but amidst this rush, we can observe opposing trends, the slow movements. However, we know little about how these slow trends might have influenced the school subject of physical education (PE). The purpose of the research was to fill that knowledge gap and, from teachers' perspectives, investigate what it means to teach slow movement practices (SMPs) within PE. In the present study, SMPs primarily involve yoga; however, they also include mindfulness, meditation, massage, and creative dance. A lifeworld approach guided the study, based on interviews with upper secondary PE teachers in Sweden. The findings show that teaching SMPs was marked in the teacher by a tension between uncertainty and certitude, in which the body became highly tangible, visible, and subject to judgement. However, even amidst this uncertainty, the act of teaching persisted through the reliance on their professional expertise as educators. We conclude that teachers sometimes struggled to teach SMPs because they were unsure of their own physical abilities. At the same time, they realised that teaching SMPs was not about striving for bodily perfection, whether in teaching or learning. The deliberate, slow pace required a unique form of listening and bodily awareness, which in turn called for a different pedagogical approach, one of guidance rather than instruction. By confronting the uncomfortable and unfamiliar aspects of teaching SMPs and remaining in these uncertain 'spaces', teachers discovered their capacity to build trust and teach even in the midst of uncertainty.
This longitudinal study examined changes in students' attitudes towards physical education (PE) over three years across grades 7-12, investigating the predictive roles of perceived benefits and barriers, and satisfaction with school sports facilities, while exploring differences by gender and school level. Data were collected from 324 students (143 boys, 181 girls) across 13 schools in Athens, Greece, over three annual measurements, with participants divided into middle school (grades 7-9, n = 152) and high school (grades 10-12, n = 172) cohorts. Students completed validated measures assessing cognitive and affective attitudes towards PE, perceived benefits and barriers, and satisfaction with school sports facilities. Mixed-design multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant temporal changes for both cognitive and affective attitudes, with linear declining trends across measurement occasions. Middle school students showed a consistent decline in attitude, while high school students demonstrated different patterns based on gender, with a significant three-way interaction concerning cognitive attitudes. Between-subjects effects revealed school-level differences in cognitive attitudes and gender differences in both attitude types. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceived benefits and barriers together explained 21-31% of the variance in Year 3 attitudes. For middle school students, perceived benefits emerged as the strongest predictor for both cognitive and affective attitudes. For high school students, perceived barriers dominated predictions for both attitude types. School sports facility satisfaction was not a significant predictor, except for high school students' affective attitudes. Results suggest interventions should enhance perceived benefits during middle school while emphasising barrier reduction for high school students.
The experience of meaning is essential for the development and well-being of young people, with schools seen as key places for offering meaningful educational experiences. Outdoor aquatic education has been part of the Norwegian physical education curriculum since 2020, and this study aims to explore pupils’ meaningful experiences in this context. The pupils’ experiences are interpreted through the tripartite definition of meaning in life (Martela and Steger, 2016) and the perspective of meaningful physical education (Beni et al., 2017). The participants were Year 10 pupils from two lower-secondary schools. Data generation involved observations of seven outdoor aquatic education lessons (260 pupils), followed by 10 group interviews (57 pupils) and a qualitative questionnaire (115 pupils). The data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2019) reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis identified four themes that explain how pupils experience outdoor aquatic education as a meaningful activity: (1) important physical learning, (2) an authentic experience, (3) mastery of discomfort, and (4) feeling safe in the uncertain. The themes show that pupils’ perceptions of meaning are connected to both teachers’ instructional choices and the unique aspects of the activity, which include the discomfort of cold water. Cold-water exposure was linked to feelings of dread-joy, mastery, achievement, and personal growth. These experiences were seen as personally relevant, with a broader significance for pupils’ lives beyond the physical education setting. The study suggests that outdoor aquatic education offers each pupil various and contradictory experiences, and that experiences of meaning transform in a positive direction through participation.
Adaptive teaching in primary physical education (PE) requires teachers to adjust their instructions to address the diverse needs of students. Content knowledge (CK), including common content knowledge (CCK) and specialized content knowledge (SCK), is recognized as a key factor in supporting such adaptivity. However, research has focused on pre-service teachers and longer-term instructional adaptations (macro-adaptivity), leaving open the question of whether CK can impact experienced in-service teachers’ real-time, in-lesson adjustments (micro-adaptivity). This quasi-experimental field study examined whether participation in a targeted CK workshop was associated with enhanced micro- and macro-adaptive teaching among primary PE teachers with varying levels of experience: one pre-service teacher and two in-service teachers with 5 and 30 years of experience. Six classes of third- and fourth-grade children in Germany participated, with each teacher delivering a teaching unit on the squat vault before and after a workshop focused on CCK and SCK. Data included CK tests, lesson plans, video-based diagnostics tests, and social validity questionnaires. Micro-adaptivity was assessed using a combination of machine learning and manual coding from lesson recordings, focusing on the type of teacher responses and the extent to which teacher responses addressed actual movement errors. Student performance outcomes were assessed. All teachers demonstrated gains in CK and diagnostic accuracy, and the proportion of targeted instructional responses increased post-workshop. Lesson plans showed improvements in task sequencing, and student performance in the squat vault also increased. Teachers at all experience levels rated the workshop as valuable. These results suggest that CK is a refinable aspect of teacher expertise.
Recent interest in physical literacy, meaningful physical education (PE), and bodily pleasure has brought renewed attention to the notion of embodiment in PE (EPE). Yet embodiment remains conceptually complex and often poorly understood. Building on previous theoretical work that identified five attributes of EPE, intentionality, affect, meaning, shared, and unity, this study sought to consolidate and refine an emerging EPE approach. We examine how these attributes are evidenced in empirical literature and use this analysis to elaborate and, where necessary, extend an emerging pedagogical EPE approach. A deductive content analysis was conducted on 48 peer-reviewed empirical articles published between 2010 and 2025, sourced from three academic databases. Using the five attributes as an analytical framework, the study examined how these concepts are represented and understood within PE research. Findings show that all five attributes, and most sub-attributes, were evident across the empirical literature. This process clarified the attributes and highlighted some additional details. We present these refinements alongside five key insights that extend theoretical interpretations of embodiment and further detail how EPE can be understood and enacted in practice. Together, these contributions offer additional conceptual clarity and pedagogical guidance for educators seeking to design more embodied and meaningful learning experiences. While engagement with EPE remains a complex and evolving endeavour, the revised attributes and associated pedagogical insights provide a valuable starting point for planning and enacting more embodied approaches in PE.
Recent research in physical education (PE) has demonstrated continued challenges related to instructional alignment, transparency, and comparability in summative assessment. According to the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 75% of students in their final year of upper secondary school were awarded top grades (5 or 6) as part of the summative assessment in Norwegian PE, regardless of study program (i.e. vocational or academic) or gender. This article investigates how upper secondary PE teachers experience grading and reflect on the increase in top grades within Norwegian PE. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of eight focus groups comprising 42 PE teachers. Drawing on two curriculum enactment models, we found that PE teachers experienced challenges in interpreting the PE curriculum and that these challenges were translated into their grading practices. The findings indicate that, when teachers face insufficient support in translating the PE curriculum, while also negotiating students' unrealistic expectations of high grades during teacher-student interactions, they experience considerable pressure on their grading practices. This pressure is further reinforced by the time-pressurized working conditions in PE. Ultimately, many of the PE teachers choose the "path of least resistance" by awarding higher grades than they believe students' actual competence warrants or develop personal rationales or alternative criteria to justify grades independent of national curricula.
Physical education (PE) offers a dynamic environment that can foster peer relationships but may also amplify social challenges such as exclusion and isolation. This scoping review mapped research on peer relationships in PE, focusing on their antecedents, structure, and outcomes. Following systematic screening, 51 studies were included. Data were independently charted by three researchers, capturing study characteristics, theoretical frameworks, populations, methods, quality, and key findings. Results showed substantial growth in interest, with nearly 85% of the studies published between 2011 and 2025. Most studies focused on secondary education and used cross-sectional designs. Sociometry, questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups were commonly applied, whereas social network analysis was rarely used. Students perceived as more sport and physically competent generally reported more favorable peer relationships. Studies on network structure showed that peer relationships in PE form context-specific networks shaped by both the type of social ties and the attributes of the students. Outcomes were identified across physical (e.g. activity levels), affective (e.g. motivation, enjoyment, stress), social (e.g. exclusion, behavior), and cognitive domains (e.g. learning). Although positive peer relationships were generally associated with beneficial outcomes, higher social status was also linked to excluding others. These findings indicate that peer relationships should be considered an integral component of pedagogical practice in PE, particularly for students with lower sport and physical competence who may be vulnerable to social marginalization. Key gaps for future research include developing a theoretical framework, greater attention to primary education, context-specificity of findings, and the use of longitudinal and social network analysis.
Virtual reality (VR) holds substantial potential for enhancing learning in physical education (PE), with applications ranging from exergames to more realistic sport simulations and motion-feedback systems. However, many assumptions regarding its usefulness in PE are derived from conceptual or laboratory-based research rather than from studies conducted in authentic school settings. This systematic review addresses this gap by examining the types of VR applications used in K-12 PE, including curricular and extracurricular contexts, modes of implementation, and the main outcomes reported in empirical studies. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across two databases (Web of Science and Scopus) and one meta-database (EBSCOhost). Eleven studies published between 2017 and 2024 met the inclusion criteria. The reviewed applications varied in their level of immersion and design features, including exertion interfaces, gamification elements, and degrees of sport-related realism. Proposed mechanisms of effectiveness primarily emphasized VR's engaging qualities and its potential to support personalized learning. In practice, low-immersive systems were frequently selected to address resource constraints such as limited facilities or instructional staff. The findings suggest that immersive VR can improve visual-perceptual and psychomotor skills and promote physical activity. While some evidence indicates benefits for beginners in sport-specific tasks, only a small number of studies integrated VR into established teaching practices. Overall, VR is predominantly used as an exercise-oriented tool to enhance general physical fitness and broader perceptual-psychomotor capabilities, rather than to support sport-specific skill learning or knowledge acquisition.
In recent years, the physical literacy (PL) journeys of children and young people (CYP) have become increasingly relevant to physical activity (PA), physical education (PE) and sport settings. While research has documented understanding of PL among specific stakeholders, such as physical educators and sports coaches, no such research exists regarding the voices of CYP across the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and Ireland). As such, expanding beyond PL specifically and explicitly, this scoping review explored CYP's perceptions of lifelong PA, including factors they believed influenced their involvement in, or avoidance of, PA, PE, and sport (domains which all contribute to PL). The review examined 29 qualitative research studies conducted across the island of Ireland. Thematic analysis of the data led to the construction of the following five key themes in relation to lifelong PA as part of one's PL journey: (i) providing choice, (ii) fun, (iii) social influences, (iv) competition, and (v) barriers to positive PL experiences. Drawing on the insights generated by this study, we propose targeted PL promotion strategies that resonate with CYP in Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the goal of fostering their holistic PL development, and supporting sustained lifelong engagement in PA.
