European Physical Education Review

Physical literacy (PL) is highlighted as a construct that can positively impact physical activity (PA). Measurement methods and definitions for PL exist, but vary between research groups. This variation affects the ability to compare research findings. The purpose of this study was to assess the construct validity of PL in children. PL was operationalised according to Whitehead’s (2001) definition, comprising confidence, motivation, physical competence, and knowledge and understanding. Participants (n = 1073; mean age 10.86 ± 1.20 years: 53% male) were measured on: (i) confidence (Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Scale; Bartholomew et al., 2006), (ii) motivation (Behavioural Regulation in Exercise-Adapted; Sebire et al., 2013), (iii) physical competence (health-related fitness: 20 m shuttle run, back-saver sit-and-reach, handgrip strength, plank); balance (Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2; Bruininks, 2005); object-control and locomotor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development-3rd edition (TGMD-3); Ulrich, 2016); and (iv) knowledge and understanding (PA and sedentary guidelines). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to analyse the factor structure of PL. The best-fitting model (χ² = 209.8, df = 99, p < 0.001; comparative fit index = 0.95, normed fit index = 0.91, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.93, root mean square error of approximation = 0.032, 95% confidence interval: 0.026–0.038) was a three-component model containing the domains of motivation, confidence, and physical competence. The knowledge and understanding domain did not fit the model well. Factor loadings were highest for confidence and motivation. Findings support the adoption of a pragmatic approach to PL measurement. CFA results indicated a similar factor structure as has been identified in other studies which have used different tools to measure PL domains.

Despite the research exploring the benefits of using cooperative learning in secondary physical education, several research gaps still remain, namely, limited research on its effects on prosocial behaviours, the impact on adolescents as they grow up, and the lack of assessment of differently structured cooperative learning frameworks. The goal of this study was to compare high- versus low-structured cooperative learning frameworks and assess their impact on adolescents’ prosocial behaviours at different ages. The study followed a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design. Two hundred and eighty-six students (150 girls) participated and were distributed into four groups: Control 1 (year-8 students), Control 2 (year-10 students), Experimental 1 (year-9 students) and Experimental 2 (year-11 students). All groups experienced the same Acrosport unit, but the control groups were within a low-structured cooperative learning context and the experimental groups were within a high-structured cooperative learning framework. Cooperative learning and prosocial behaviours were measured before and after the intervention. Results showed that students who experienced a high-structured framework at a younger age significantly increased their scores on the five variables that mediate the effectiveness of cooperative learning, and their prosocial behaviours. The older the adolescents, the fewer the changes in cooperative learning, and with no changes in prosocial behaviours. Students who experienced a low-structured framework did not improve their cooperative learning and decreased their empathy, social relations, and leadership at younger ages. In conclusion, cooperative learning must be properly structured to produce a positive impact using heterogeneous working groups, teachers’ feedback and shared regulation. However, older adolescents need specifically designed cooperative learning contexts with longer learning units.

In this study, we explore the extent to which service-learning (SL) can enhance the educational potential of sport education (SE), with a view to contributing to a positive transition for students from primary to secondary school. Seventeen teachers and 435 eleven- to sixteen-year-olds across five SE networks participated in this study, in which an SL experience was embedded in the SE season. All the networks included one intact group of secondary school students and between one and three intact groups of primary school students. The programme comprised between 18 and 21 physical education (PE) lessons for each secondary school group, and between 14 and 18 PE lessons for each primary school group. A total of 40 volunteer secondary school students (28 girls and 12 boys) performed the role of SL coordinators, coaching primary school students in several sessions. The data were obtained through focus groups with students and primary school teachers and interviews with secondary school teachers during and after the programme implementation. The results were analysed through the lens of situated learning. The integration of SE and SL has led both to legitimate peripheral participation and real participation in the community of practice, through the connection established by SE roles. SL reconfigures SE, allowing purposes that might be of significant educational relevance to be addressed, such as a positive transition from primary to secondary school. The secondary school students who acted as SL coordinators assumed their responsibilities to a greater degree than in previous SE seasons and gained a deeper understanding of the roles.

Theoretical foundations are fundamental to research in health and physical education. They reflect historical and cultural ideas and values. In this article, we seek to introduce the philosophy of Bildung from the Nordic-German cultural region to an English-speaking audience as one theoretical foundation for student-centered teaching. Bildung focuses on the student and his or her self-formation processes in health and physical education. Bildung refers to the holistic development of cognitive, physical, emotional, social, and esthetic capacities. It is an active and reflective process that centers on the inner development of individuality and is realized by individuals as they perceive, interpret, and respond to their realities and, in turn, shape the world in which they live. In this article, we also discuss parallels with social-constructivist approaches to health and physical education, especially with the concept of social and emotional learning.

Muscular fitness (MF) is an important modifiable factor to improve overall health. Schools offer a unique opportunity to deliver MF activity during physical education (PE) and develop competence to engage in various activities across the life course. However, the implementation of school-based MF activity may be impaired by some teachers reporting a lack of expertise and low confidence in the delivery of MF activity. Understanding teachers’ thoughts and perceptions regarding the delivery of MF in schools may help guide future research and policy to support MF delivery in UK schools. Following ethical approval, a survey of secondary school PE teachers across the UK was distributed via Twitter. Survey responses were analysed and reported descriptively and thematically. Completed surveys were returned by 194 teachers (61.9% male) from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Relative to less experienced teachers, those with at least five years’ service were 2.2 times more likely to have completed continued professional development (CPD) in MF activity (OR = 2.16; ß = 0.77; 95% CI: 1.25-3.74; p < 0.01), and 1.8 times more likely to use assessments of MF to inform PE programme decision-making (OR = 1.83; ß = 0.60; 95% CI: 1.18-2.82; p < 0.01). Despite the promising contribution school-based PE may have to developing MF, we report a poor understanding of MF activity amongst UK-based PE teachers. CPD is warranted to deliver successful MF interventions in a school setting.

This study examined the effects of cognitively challenging physical activity games on students’ executive functions and situational interest in physical education. Participants were 144 fourth- and fifth-grade students (75 boys, 69 girls) from four elementary schools. A four-group, repeated measures, cross-over quasi-experimental design was used in this acute experiment including a physical education session. One fourth- and one fifth-grade class from each school were randomly assigned to Group 1 with cognitively challenging physical activity games, Group 2 with a session for teaching soccer skills, Group 3 with a session for teaching track and field skills, and Group 4 (waiting-list control group) with cognitively challenging physical activity games after the post-test. Pre- and post-test measures for executive functions and a post-test measure for situational interest were included. Group 1 students, who were involved in cognitively challenging physical activity games, improved their scores in the executive functions more than students who participated in the sessions with soccer or track and field skills and waiting-list control group students. The positive effects on students’ executive functions were replicated when the cognitively challenging physical activity games session was implemented in the waiting-list control group. Some improvements on executive functions for students who participated in the soccer skills session were found. Students who played the cognitively challenging physical activity games reported higher scores on novelty compared to students in the soccer or track and field groups. These results support the effectiveness of the cognitive challenging physical activity games for triggering students’ executive functions in physical education.

Extensive empirical evidence exists for how Sport Education (SE: Siedentop et al., 2020) can deliver valued student educational outcomes, yet there remains a dearth of knowledge of how in-service teachers implement the model in practice. The purpose of this study was to examine how the stages of occupational socialization predicted teachers’ reported implementation of the structural features of SE. An SE use and occupational socialization survey was developed and completed by 65 experienced teachers who had received training on using SE during their undergraduate physical education teacher education program. Respondents reported three versions of SE implementation: (a) full, (b) modified, and (c) light, with the majority of teachers reporting using either a full or modified version of SE. Professional socialization (physical education teacher education programming) was the only significant predictor of teachers’ model use. The SE features typically implemented were formal competition, team affiliation, and seasons. The more student-centered features of student roles, record keeping, and a culminating event were less frequently used during practice. Professional socialization remains the most powerful predicted on in-service teachers’ use of SE during their professional practice. Physical education teacher education programs are encouraged to explore methods to facilitate pre-service teachers’ learning of how to implement the student-centered features of SE, as this learning will likely translate into pedagogical practice in schools.

Examinable physical education (i.e. physical education as a certificate subject in a high-stakes environment) has distinctive forms of practical and theoretical knowledge, and the concept of ‘integration’ has been identified as a means to bridge such forms of knowledge. This paper explores how teachers interpret, translate, and enact curriculum policy, particularly the notion of ‘integrated learning experiences’, and how students respond to ‘integrated learning experiences’ in the Irish examinable physical education curriculum. Figurational sociology was used to locate the teachers and students in a web of interdependent relationships and conceptualise them as ‘policy actors’. Through analysing a year-long data set of teacher and student qualitative data, this paper sheds light on how teachers and students ‘do’ policy work which we explicitly argue is influenced by the independencies within their figurations in the multi-layered policy enactment context. This paper contributes to our understanding of the policy enactment process and how teachers and students engage (or not) with the enactment of curriculum policy.