Background Service-Learning (SL) is a pedagogical approach that combines academic learning with community engagement. In Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), research on SL often focuses on preservice teachers' technical skills and social responsibility, while affective experiences and the perspectives of other participants remain largely unexplored. This study examines these aspects, to show how approaching SL through a pedagogy of love, emphasizing care and affective engagement, can support socially inclusive and emotionally attuned educational practices.Purpose The study explored the lived experiences and affective responses of participants in a Critical Service-Learning (CSL) course-based programme within initial PETE in collaboration with a Special Education Center (SEC). By involving preservice Physical Education (PE) teachers, children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), SEC staff, and the children's families, the programme sought to promote social inclusion.Methods Visual ethnography was employed to align with the study's objectives, collecting data through photographs, field journals, group reflections, and focus groups. The analysis integrated narrative and visual within a holistic, non-linear framework. The researchers' positionality was addressed. The lead researcher combined an etic academic viewpoint with an emic perspective as a parent, managed through ongoing reflexivity, while the rest of the research team contributed their expertise in qualitative research.Findings A descriptive presentation of eight sets of photographs and participants' accounts is shared in the Findings section, enabling an integrated understanding of visual and narrative data. These findings are then explored in the Discussion section, where they are interpreted through the theoretical framework of a pedagogy of love, organized around four thematic dimensions: preservice teachers' pedagogical and relational learning, their emotional challenges, their growth through care, and community members' experiences of joy and discovery. SL enhanced empathy, ethical awareness, and professional commitment among the preservice teachers. Children showed increased motivation, while staff and families recognized strategies that challenged traditional learner-teacher roles. PE became a space for inclusion, shared affective learning, and social justice, all guided by a pedagogy of love that fostered transformative emotional, ethical, and relational development across the community.Impact statement This study highlights how SL in PETE can support preservice teachers' relational sensitivity, ethical awareness, and professional growth, while fostering inclusion, engagement, and meaningful learning for children with SEN, aligned with a pedagogy of love. By attending to affective dimensions and the experiences of the different groups, the findings extend understanding of the relational and emotional dimensions of SL, often overlooked in previous research.
Background Physical literacy (PL) has emerged as a key component of health promotion and physical education policies worldwide, recognised for fostering lifelong physical activity and holistic child development. Defined as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and engage in physical activity for life, PL is increasingly integrated into school curricula across Europe. Poland has lacked validated tools and national data to assess PL among school-aged children.Purpose This study aimed to assess the physical literacy levels of Polish children aged 8-12 using the newly adapted Polish Assessment of Physical Literacy (PAPL), based on the internationally recognised Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, second edition (CAPL-2). The study also examined age and gender differences and correlations between PL domains.Methods A large, geographically diverse sample of 1,780 primary school children (51.3% boys, 48.7% girls; M = 9.83, SD = 1.34) from schools across Poland participated in the assessment. The PAPL protocol assessed four domains: Physical Competence (via CAMSA, PACER, and plank hold), Daily Behaviour (wrist-worn activity tracker-measured step counts and self-reported MVPA), Motivation and Confidence (self-report scale), and Knowledge and Understanding (multiple-choice questions). All participants had parental consent and no medical contraindications.Findings The overall PL score averaged 65.0/100. However, age-related progress was minimal - only a 5.74-point increase between ages 8 and 12 - despite regular participation in physical education (PE). Boys scored significantly higher than girls in Physical Competence and Daily Behaviour, while girls slightly outperformed boys in Knowledge and Understanding. Lower Motivation and Confidence scores were observed among older age groups. Notably, no significant correlation was found between knowledge and daily activity in children under 12, consistent with developmental theories suggesting that cognitive understanding does not automatically translate into behavioural action in younger children.Conclusions This is the first large-scale study of PL in Polish children using a validated framework. The results may suggest areas for further investigation regarding PE curricula and learning environments to enhance motivation, address gender disparities, and integrate health knowledge in meaningful ways. The PAPL tool offers a platform for national monitoring, educational interventions, and future research.Impact statement This study provides the first large-scale evidence on physical literacy among Polish children, offering a reference point for research and practice. The findings highlight the need for integrated, developmentally sensitive physical education addressing all domains of physical literacy. The results may inform curriculum development, teacher education, national monitoring, while supporting international comparisons.
Background: Teachers' reflective practices can support professional growth and are pivotal to the successful adoption of innovative curricula in physical education (PE). Collaborative reflection, or co-reflection, warrants exploration as it may be a more powerful method than individual reflection to foster critical engagement and deeper insight into the teaching act. The purpose of this study was to examine two PE teachers' co-reflections on the Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers (SKIP) curriculum. Specifically, this study drew upon the Reflective Framework for Teaching in Physical Education (RFTPE) to explore the focus and depth of the teachers' reflections while implementing SKIP and consider how reflective practices contribute to teacher learning and adaptation to new instructional approaches.Method: A convergent mixed-methods design was employed. The two participants were doctoral students who had previously taught PE full time and had never used SKIP. Over a seven-week period, the teachers co-taught SKIP at a public preschool in the southeastern United States, conducting 40-minute lessons twice per week. Primary data sources included post-lesson audiorecorded individual and co-reflection sessions and post-lesson individual written reflections. Supplementary data included the teachers' lesson plans and videos of the teachers' lessons. Quantitative analysis involved coding the reflections using the RFTPE to determine the frequency and distribution of reflection types. Qualitative analysis was conducted to identify themes in the data.Results: Quantitative analysis indicated individual reflections were predominantly situational (50%) and technical (31%), while co-reflections exhibited higher situational focus (66%) and critical depth. These patterns were explained by three qualitative themes: (1) Individual Reflection as Structured Accounts, where teachers documented logistics and management; (2) Co-reflection as Dialogic Sense-Making, where collaborative dialogue facilitated detailed inquiry and critical insights; and (3) Sensitizing Reflection as Contextual Awareness, which captured reactive attention to social dynamics and inclusion.Conclusion: Findings indicate that individual reflection supports logistical planning and management, while co-reflection is essential for dialogic sense-making and addressing social inclusion. Thus, teacher education programs should prioritize structured collaborative models to support the complex pedagogical demands of implementing prescriptive motor-skill curricula.Impact statement: The present study centers on SKIP curricula implementation in order to best explore the variances of reflection modality. Results from this study indicate that collaborative reflection supports more profound and critical engagement than individual reflection for PE teachers learning to teach new curricula for preschool students. We stress the importance of consistently implementing a structured reflective approach to generate meaningful insights and inform future practice.
BackgroundTraditional British school uniforms have been identified as a barrier to physical activity and active play, particularly for girls. This article reports on a study conducted within one mainstream primary school in the south of England, UK, which changed its uniform policy from the traditional design to activewear in order to stimulate children's physical fitness.PurposeThis study collected perception data on the children's experience of the active uniform in contrast to the traditional school uniform they formerly wore. Previous perception research has shown that children find a traditional school uniform restrictive to movement and free play, but perception studies on active uniform implementation are still new.MethodThis study is a qualitative inquiry that aims to capture children's views on their new school uniform, particularly in relation to their perceived ability to be physically active at school. Perception data was collected from a large sample of 334 children aged 7-10 years old, representing nearly the entire school's student population, by use of a child-friendly paper survey co-designed with the headteacher.ResultsResults from the perception surveys revealed positive views on active uniforms. Children reported feeling sportier, more able to run, and more engaged in active play. Comfort emerged as the primary reason for preferring active uniforms, alongside a notable sense of renewed freedom to move, run, and play as they desired. This suggests active uniforms can indeed be a catalyst for positive change in the physical and emotional well-being of children.ConclusionThe physical and tactile aspects of clothing impact children's nuanced sense of physical wellbeing and perceived ability to be active. The study aims to forefront the child's lived experience at school, highlighting comfort, self-efficacy, and permission to be physically active. For school uniforms, this study recommends that school leadership consider activewear by co-design strategies with the child as the primary stakeholder. This recognises their agency and ability to make decisions for their own well-being at school.Impact statementThis study contributes to the limited insight on British primary school children's experiences of active school clothing and their perceived correlation with physical activity at school. Capturing the children's views is paramount to ensure the primary stakeholders are represented in the evaluation of a whole-school intervention.
BackgroundTeacher education is intended to connect theory and practice, yet integration is often approached as a linear, step-by-step process, with limited success. In physical education teacher education (PETE), disciplinary breadth and competing pedagogical traditions can further fragment messages about teaching and learning, complicating pre-service teachers' (PSTs') efforts to make meaningful theory-practice connections. This highlights the need for teacher educators to enact complex, integrated teaching-learning approaches. Accordingly, this research explores how teacher educators develop and enact pedagogies that integrate theory and practice in PETE, and how these enactments shape PSTs' engagement. Theoretical framework and research question: Shulman's (2005) 'Signature Pedagogies in the Professions.' Daedalus 134 (3): 52-59. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1162/0011526054622015) notion of signature pedagogies - including surface, deep, and implicit structures, and the common features (public performance, uncertainty, and emotional stake) - framed the analysis of two teacher educators' pedagogies for integrating theory and practice. The research was guided by the question: 'What signature pedagogies do two teacher educators enact as they integrate theory and practice to support PSTs' learning?'MethodsThis study was conducted within a Norwegian five-year PETE programme and focused on two units taught by two teacher educators: one comprising five two-hour lessons with 35 first-year PSTs, and one comprising four four-hour lessons with 40 s-year PSTs. Data comprised observations of five lessons, audio recordings from five critical friend meetings (225 min), and two PST focus group interviews with five PSTs from each course (n = 10; 70 and 50 min). A general inductive approach guided the iterative data analysis.Findings and discussionThree themes were constructed: (i) Crafting and enacting experiential signature pedagogies within context, (ii) Deeper PST learning through varied and dynamic experiential pedagogies, and (iii) Tensions in inviting and being invited into the experiential learning process. Across distinct enactments, both teacher educators foregrounded bodily experiences, reflection, and interaction, positioning PSTs as active contributors while navigating uncertainty, accountability, and uneven engagement.ConclusionWe argue that PETE should move beyond framing theory and practice as separate domains to be bridged and instead conceptualise them as intertwined within experiential signature pedagogies whose surface, deep, and implicit structures are realised through teacher educators' enactment in contexts. Integrating bodily experience, reflection, and interaction enables PSTs to engage critically and meaningfully with theory in practice.Impact statementThis research advances PETE by conceptualising signature pedagogies as non-prescriptive, context-sensitive frameworks for fostering coherent integration of theory and practice.
Background: The renewed, competence-based Norwegian curriculum, fully implemented across all grade levels in 2022/23, places stronger emphasis on diverse movement experiences, learning processes, reflection, and social interaction in physical education (PE), while positioning sport-related skills within a broader educational purpose rather than emphasising sports performance.Purpose: Using alignment as an analytical lens informed by constructive alignment as a sensitising conceptual resource, this study explores alignment and misalignment in how upper secondary PE teachers perceive and enact the renewed PE curriculum, and how it has shaped their teaching and assessment practices.Methods: Data were generated through five focus group interviews with 28 PE teachers in Vestland County. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to examine teachers' perceptions and reported practices.Results: The analysis generated three interrelated themes: (a) PE teachers' positive and ambivalent perceptions of the renewed curriculum; (b) changes and continuities in teaching practices; and (c) complex and demanding assessment practices, with increased emphasis on learning processes. The teachers generally welcomed the curriculum's increased emphasis on learning processes and broader competencies but expressed uncertainty about interpreting broad or vague competence aims and about how to assess these competencies in ways aligned with curriculum intentions. While some reported adopting more varied and student-centred teaching approaches, their practices continued to reflect elements of traditional PE, particularly in the assessment of effort and, for some, skill performance. Structural constraints, including limited instructional time and insufficient national policy guidance relating to assessment, further shaped teachers' efforts to interpret and enact the curriculum's intentions.
Purpose: This article presents the theoretical framework of the physical culture circle, grounded in an analysis of the culture circle - a participatory and dialogical popular education approach developed by Paulo Freire. Methods: The study examines Freirean pedagogy, particularly the culture circle, in dialogue with decolonial studies and physical cultural studies. This interdisciplinary engagement seeks to articulate a theoretical and pedagogical proposal that integrates critical bodily experience into educational practice, highlighting the convergences and divergences among these perspectives. Results: The physical culture circle is proposed as a pedagogical framework that values collective, critical, and engaged learning, challenging the logics of body colonization and hierarchies of knowledge. By fostering awareness of social markers of difference and encouraging empowerment through embodied practices, this approach contributes to transforming experiences into acts of resistance and emancipation. Conclusion: By consolidating the physical culture circle as a robust theoretical framework, the study offers educators, researchers, and community practitioners a structure that fosters participatory spaces for dialogue, resistance, and collective knowledge construction. This framework challenges dominant paradigms by centering the moving body as a site of political, cultural, and pedagogical significance, affirming its role in the struggle against social hierarchies and injustices.
Background:Teachers of physical education recognise the potential to promote inclusion, equity and social learning in physical education but also acknowledge the difficulties in translating social justice into practice. While there is a growing body of scholarship focused on social justice in K-12 health and physical education, there remains a clear need for evidence-based pedagogical approaches that support K-12 physical educators in confidently and competently educating our pupils about and for social justice.Purpose:The purpose of this research was to examine the realities of enacting a socially-just Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (SJ-TPSR) approach in K-12 physical education (remote, urban; K-3, 4-6, 10-12; medium-large schools).Methodology:We employed a basic qualitative research design. Participants included three physical education specialists teaching in grades K-3 remote, 4-6 urban, and high school urban contexts in Canada. Our team of international teacher educators, co-designers of the SJ-TPSR approach, supported enactment. Applying an interpretivist lens, we collected data through pre-enactment meetings, critical friend meetings, focus groups, and teacher reflections. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, facilitating the generation of key themes related to the realities of enacting SJ-TPSR in K-12 contexts.Findings:The findings are shared through three constructed themes: (i) teachers' insights and tensions in understanding the 'what' of the SJ-TPSR approach; (ii) sharing the successes and struggles of enacting the SJ-TPSR approach; and (iii) teachers operating between belief and backlash as conflicting perspectives on the place of social justice in physical education is unpacked.Discussion and considerations:Three discussion points are provided: (i) the need to navigate tensions in practice when teaching social justice; (ii) a growing worry of parental/carer and societal influence in teaching social justice; and (iii) the continued need (and priority) to work and research with practicing teachers.Directions for future research:Future research should incorporate diverse perspectives (e.g. pupils, families, and administrators) as well as the adaptability of an SJ-TPSR approach across diverse geographical and educational contexts. Such inquiry is vital for developing culturally responsive guiding principles and influencing broader curriculum policy.Impact statement:This research directly answers the call for evidence-based guidance on translating social justice theory into practice. The findings highlight the critical need for a collective effort across school boards, teacher education programs, and policy makers to support teachers in navigating internal tensions and perceived societal backlash.
BackgroundMost youth worldwide do not reach the recommended 60 min of daily physical activity (PA). Schools provide a distinct public health infrastructure for implementing Whole-of-School (WOS) approaches, which draw upon social-ecological supports to increase PA. Although WOS PA training in physical education teacher education has expanded, gaps remain in preparing preservice teachers as school PA leaders. The purpose of this study was to examine preservice physical education teachers' (PPETs) readiness for WOS PA leadership, based on their participation in an undergraduate seminar that preceded the final student teaching internship and was framed by the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behavior) model.MethodAn explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used. Participants were ten senior PPETs and one course instructor. The study was conducted within a 15-week undergraduate seminar at a public university in the Eastern United States. The seminar was structured to develop PPETs' knowledge, skills, and advocacy competencies for assuming leadership roles in a WOS approach. Sources of data included a questionnaire administered with PPETs at the beginning and end of the semester, fidelity checks to assess alignment between planned and actual seminar sessions, focus groups with PPETs, an instructor interview, and course artifacts. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, and qualitative data were analyzed thematically through inductive coding followed by COM-B-guided mapping.ResultsQuantitative findings indicated increases across capability, opportunity, and motivation domains. Fidelity ratings were consistently high across adherence, instructional quality, responsiveness, and dosage. Qualitative analysis produced three themes and eight subthemes: (1) Capability - Development of Readiness through Knowledge, Confidence, and Leadership Application; (2) Opportunity - Navigating School Ecologies: Structural Conditions and Social Contexts Shaping WOS PA Promotion; and (3) Motivation - Advocacy, Intentions, and Belief in Impact.ConclusionPPETs' grew as WOS PA leaders during the seminar, with gains across capability, opportunity, and motivation. Integrating authentic, transferable assignments helped bridge coursework and practice, and COM-B-aligned coursework fostered knowledge, planning skills, ecological awareness, and an advocacy-oriented professional identity that support readiness to lead WOS PA.
BackgroundOver the past two decades, school physical education (PE) in South Korea has evolved from a curriculum-based subject into a cross-sectoral policy platform. This transformation has been driven less by coherent pedagogical planning and more by crisis-responsive governance, shaped by political contingencies, media-amplified crises, and global discourses linking PE to public health, student rights, and social regulation.PurposeThis study investigates the governance of school PE policy in South Korea through discursive technologies within historically specific regimes of truth. Adopting a Foucauldian archaeological approach, it examines how dominant policy discourses are constituted, legitimised, and reconfigured, and considers their implications for pedagogical coherence and educational meaning. The study also situates the Korean experience within international debates on surveillance-oriented governance in PE.MethodsThe analysis draws on 20 annual School PE Promotion Plans (2005-2024) and three National Master Plans for Promoting School PE (2014, 2018, and 2023) issued by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Using Kendall and Wickham's (1999) three-stage framework for archaeological discourse analysis, informed by discourse-historical methods, the study identifies dominant discourses, traces their legitimisation through discursive technologies, and situates them within broader political contingencies.FindingsThree policy periods were identified: Introduction (2000-2010), Diffusion (2011-2020), and Transformation (2021-present). Across these phases, discourses surrounding health, citizenship, performance, and student rights were rearticulated through technologies such as the Physical Activity Promotion System (PAPS), student-athlete rights regulations, and fitness monitoring regimes. These technologies constructed differentiated subject positions, including the 'studying student-athlete' and the 'active general student', thereby normalising surveillance-based governance. Epistemic ruptures, most notably the 2003 Cheonan dormitory fire and the COVID-19 pandemic, enabled policy shifts but largely reinforced short-term, crisis-responsive interventions rather than sustained pedagogical reform. This process gradually displaced pedagogical values such as inclusion and creativity, while intensifying regulatory oversight and constraining teacher agency.ConclusionSchool PE in South Korea has been reconfigured as a regulatory apparatus rather than a pedagogically rich learning environment. Reclaiming its educational purpose requires governance aligned with long-term pedagogical goals, meaningful teacher involvement in policy making, and critical engagement with surveillance-based discourses.Impact statementThis study contributes to physical education and sport pedagogy by demonstrating how school PE policy operates as a form of governance rather than a coherent pedagogical project. It offers internationally relevant insights into how surveillance-oriented policy logics shape educational meaning, professional practice, and democratic possibilities in school PE.
Introduction: Over the past four decades, research in physical education teacher education (PETE) has increasingly focused on social justice pedagogies, advocating for proactive engagement in challenging the status quo of systems of oppression in PETE, including capitalism, imperialism, racism, LGBTQI + phobia, and ableism. Simultaneously, practitioner research has gained traction, encouraging educators to bridge theory and practice. Purpose: Considering a Freirean social justice lens, grounded specifically in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (conscientiza & ccedil;& atilde;o and praxis), the aim of this study is to investigate practitioner research as a pedagogy for social justice within PETE. Specifically, we aim to explore pre-service teachers' (PSTs') experiences with practitioner research as a pedagogy of social justice. Methods: The context of this study is the SRASI project, a collaboration between teacher educators and PSTs in two PETE programmes, one in the North of Ireland and one in the South of Ireland, that happened throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The study involved three teacher educators and twelve PSTs from the North and five teacher educators and twenty-four PSTs from the South, with support from international experts in social justice and PETE. Multiple data collection methods were considered, including recorded meetings with the PSTs, two focus groups with PSTs and generated artefacts that were analysed guided by an inductive-deductive coding process. Findings: Three themes are presented: (1) Planting foundations to start building PSTs' awareness and social justice content knowledge; (2) Co-drafting and enacting the action plans as a catalyst to reinforce their awareness and social justice knowledge: Conscientiza & ccedil;& atilde;o as a difficult process; and (3) Perceived school cultures and school placements influencing the practitioner research and praxis. Conclusion: By embedding practitioner research within a social justice framework, this study demonstrates how PSTs can move beyond theoretical understandings of social justice to engage in cycles of critical reflection that, at times, lead to action, in response to lived experiences of injustice during school placement, although this is not always possible.
BackgroundStudent learning is not just a natural development; rather, it is an activation grounded in the student's actions and volition. This view resonates particularly well with understandings of learning as embodied and practical. Meanwhile, learning can take different routes and is notoriously difficult to capture from a research perspective. In this paper, a pragmatist, action-oriented perspective on student learning is used.Purpose and research questionsThis study aims to explore students' learning of movements when they practise and use DigiTech. The paper focuses on meaning-making in transactions to understand student learning (Dewey 1963). The following research questions guide the investigation: (1) How do students create meaning when they are practising and using DigiTech? (2) What are the consequences for student learning based on the meaning-making transactions when students are practising and using DigiTech?MethodsThe context is Swedish secondary PE, where four teachers enacted the practising model in five classes over 10-17 lessons. A total of 101 students participated, with 69 lessons recorded on video used as data, along with 125 student self-recorded videos. John Dewey's concepts of transaction and meaning-making were used as a theoretical framework. An Iterative-thematic Inquiry was used for data analysis.FindingsThe findings are structured around three contradictory consequences for student learning: (1) Productive distraction, (2) Inspiration (dis)engagement, and (3) Visual high-definition blind spots. Productive distraction involves some students using DigiTech productively while practising. An example is using video recordings as a guide for planning, but there are simultaneously examples of DigiTech distracting from practising. Inspiration (dis)engagement involves YouTube clips that motivate students to practise in inspiring ways, but when some students realise the distance left to their goal, they become disengaged. Visual high-definition blind spots include students not being able to discern parts of their movement, even though they use slow-motion recordings of their own efforts in practising.ConclusionsThe findings advocate a cautious approach to DigiTech use and to avoid viewing DigiTech as a shortcut to student learning. The consequences for student learning when practising and DigiTech are included are complex and not all good or all bad. This ambiguity warrants further exploration to provide more tailored recommendations.
BackgroundAssessment in Physical Education (PE) is viewed as one of the most challenging issues faced by teachers worldwide. The use of valid and reliable assessment tools is limited, students are often overlooked in the assessment process, curriculum and assessment are not always in alignment, and the purpose of assessment is often to grade students, rather than support their learning. This study aimed to describe, explain, and make meaning of the assessment practices (actual and idealised) of Victorian secondary school PE teachers in the context of students' tactical-technical performance in invasion games and sports in Year Levels 7-10 (ages 13-16 years).MethodsThis study utilised an explanatory sequential mixed methods study design through a two-phase survey. The first phase of the survey employed a cross-sectional quantitative study of 80 Victorian secondary school PE teachers though an online survey. Designed with reference to the extant literature, the survey comprised 17 closed-ended items examining teachers' assessment practices of students' tactical-technical performance in invasion games and sports. The second phase of the survey employed a nested purposive sample of participants in a series of online semi-structured individual interviews (n = 8). Quantitative data (phase one) were analysed using descriptive statistics (percentages, frequencies). Qualitative data (phase two) were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis of interview responses.FindingsThe quantitative findings revealed that teachers administered most assessments; rubrics were deemed the most useful assessment tool; prevalent valid and reliable assessment tools found in the peer-reviewed literature were rarely used; and there was modest alignment of assessment to curriculum. Qualitative findings were presented thematically to indicate that student involvement in the assessment process was limited, the subjective language used in rubrics negatively impacted their utility and that assessment was not always aligned with official curriculum documents.ConclusionThis study indicates the need for resource development and on-going professional learning opportunities for in-service PE teachers to: (1) develop assessment for learning (AfL) strategies; (2) activate students as assessors; (3) promote greater alignment of assessment to curriculum; and (4) support efficacious rubric design.Impact statementThis study contributes to the field by demonstrating that assessment feasibility is of paramount importance to Victorian secondary school PE teachers. It positions assessment feasibility as a central design consideration in resource development and professional learning.
Background:Physical education is a space with great potential for young people to challenge social inequities and dominant discourses. This potential, however, requires teachers to be adequately prepared to teach about and through social justice. Research identifies two primary issues in the context of learning to teach 'about' social justice: pre-service teachers' (PSTs) socialisation process and lack of action-oriented approaches. Concerning learning to teach 'through' social justice, democratic approaches to teaching seem essential for embracing and enacting social justice within the classroom. Hordvik and Beni's (2026. "Signature Pedagogies of Teacher Education in Physical Education: A Scoping Review." Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 31 (3): 458-474) conceptualisation of signature pedagogies in physical education teacher education (PETE) suggests that (auto)biographical pedagogies and pedagogies of professional learning hold promise in the context of learning to teach about and through social justice in PETE. Yet, these signature pedagogies need to be refined to align with personal beliefs and contexts.Purpose:To analyse the practices of two teacher educators (TEs) enacting (auto)biographical pedagogies and pedagogies of professional learning within the frame of care(-full) teaching, with the intention to refine them as potential avenues for learning to teach about and through social justice.Methods:The study took place during one academic year. A cohort of 63 third-year PSTs, their two TEs, and a critical friend participated. Data were generated qualitatively through the TEs' reflective diaries and teaching artefacts, critical friend's observations of the lessons, PSTs' assignments, and three focus groups with PSTs. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Findings:Two main themes were generated. First, critical awareness of social (in)justices was co-constructed between TEs and PSTs by breaking down complex concepts, respecting PSTs' learning pace, and creating a community to foster critical awareness collaboratively. Second, how care(-full) teaching practices were modelled, shaping PSTs' experiences in learning to teach about and through social justice.Conclusions:The paper advocates for in-depth analysis of teaching practice and signature pedagogies, highlighting the importance of elements that, like satellites, shape the planning and teaching process. The authors encourage TEs to reflect on their own 'signature within the signature' and 'instructional alignment' as a foundation for meaningful experiences that enhance PSTs' learning to teach about, through and, eventually, for social justice.
BackgroundOver the past decades, several Latin American countries have introduced national curriculum reforms aligned with a broader international trend toward neoliberal educational policies. Despite historical and cultural specificities, there has been a clear convergence toward standardized teaching, measurable learning outcomes, and competency-based frameworks. These reforms, increasingly supported by discourses of flexibility, innovation, and digitalization, have legitimized the homogenization of educational results in the name of productivity and global competitiveness. In Latin America, international organizations have played a central role in disseminating governance and evaluation models based on global performance indicators and quality standards.PurposeThis article examines whether common patterns linked to international perspectives and neoliberal logics can be identified within Physical Education through a comparative analysis of the two most recent national curricula of Brazil and Uruguay - the Base National Common Curricular (BNCC, 2018) and the National Curricular Framework (MCN, 2022).Research designA document-based comparative methodology was applied at two levels: first, the general structure of both curricula was examined through four analytical axes (participation, privatization, competencies, and socio-emotional discourse); second, the discipline of Physical Education was compared through its specific competencies, cross-cutting approaches, content organization, and epistemological foundations.FindingsResults show convergences influenced by transnational policy networks that promote accountability and performance-based planning. However, significant differences emerged: while Brazil maintains a strong link with the notion of body movement culture, Uruguay prioritizes emotional self-regulation and intrapersonal development. The study argues that Physical Education functions as a field of negotiation between global pressures and national traditions, raising challenges and possibilities for its future development. The comparative analysis indicates that competency-based curricular reforms in Brazil and Uruguay were shaped not only by shared educational challenges but by the circulation of ideas, actors, and governance models supported by international agencies and transnational policy networks.ConclusionsThese reforms tend to reinforce technical approaches that reduce learning to measurable outcomes, intensify mechanisms of standardization and accountability, and restrict the scope of curricular content, despite being presented as solutions to an alleged educational crisis. In the field of Physical Education, competencies become the organizing axis through which teaching is simplified and regulated, often at the expense of broader educational purposes. This study contributes to the field by demonstrating that curricular convergence in Latin America cannot be explained solely through pedagogical trends or regional demands. Instead, it reveals how neoliberal governance and policy transfers operate through networks of expertise, consultancy, and evaluation.
BackgroundActivity design is a widely explored aspect of a sport coach's role, understood as the informed choices related to the content, structure, and sequencing of participant activities, with the aim of facilitating learning. Across various theoretical stances, concepts such as specificity and representative practice design, there is near-universal support for increasing emphasis on the realism of activity design to enhance skill transfer and improve performance.PurposeTaking pedagogy as inherently relational, a challenge for coaches is shifting the focus of activity design beyond a focus on method towards intentionally shaping participant experience. Although scaling is referenced in several pedagogical models (e.g. TGfU's exaggeration), little guidance exists for coaches on how to scale realism. Instead, scaling is often viewed as a linear, somewhat unproblematic process. Our intention is to support coaches seeking to make flexible decisions in practice and to shape areas of future research.FocusDrawing on simulation training literature, we propose fidelity as a heuristic device to frame the degree and type of realism experienced during activity. We suggest four key forms of fidelity for sport and physical education: affective, conceptual, action, and physiological fidelity. Affective fidelity is the extent to which similar emotional responses are elicited by practice activity (e.g. stress, enjoyment) as those in performance, conceptual fidelity is the extent to which the perceptual-cognitive demands, or types of problems faced in performance, are represented in practice, action fidelity is the extent to which skills acquired in practice are similar to those used in performance, and physiological fidelity is the extent to which the physiological demands of the practice replicate those of competition. These interdependent forms provide a framework for understanding the type of challenge experienced and inform the optimal challenge point relative to the participant's capacities. Given our practical intent, we offer examples of activity design through the lens of fidelity.ConclusionsThis paper advances the notion of fidelity of practice as a heuristic device to understand activity design. By framing fidelity through affective, conceptual, action, and physiological dimensions, we highlight the potential to shape participant experience. We suggest the need to intentionally scale fidelity to align with participant capacities.
