Play, games and sport are a part of the content of physical education (PE), and has been the subject of a longstanding debate among educators internationally and in Scandinavian countries. Play refers to something unstructured and free, while sport is a controlled and managed activity. Drawing on Skovbjerg`s (2021) play theory, this article…

Background: Through changing the way games are represented, classification systems have increased possibilities for teaching game forms beyond structured adult and singular official versions of popular sports. At the time of inception, the four-game form approach to classification (target, net/wall, striking/fielding, and invasion games) enabled…

This study examined Physical Education Pre-Service Teachers' (PSTs) perceptions of their teaching from constructivist teaching practices and their variation among PSTs' responses when aggregated by sex, teaching practices curriculum, extension project, and university type. The sample consisted of 869 Physical Education PSTs from Brazil (female =…

This column describes the game of Royal Pickles -- a "King of the Court'' variation of pickleball that removes the bored spectator element from the class and creates a solution for the challenge of having too many students and not enough court space.

Scholars have long questioned the impact of teacher education programmes. Persistent claims are that pre-service teachers have fixed ideas about pedagogy when they enter training and that they become enculturated once in the profession. Within physical education (PE), similar concerns have been raised with respect to ball games. Research suggests…

To win in sports competitions, in addition to excellent sports skills, coping strategies in the face of various competition situations are also critical for success. Therefore, cultivating students' diverse, creative and flexible tactical application abilities is an important educational goal in sports training. However, in the online component of…

Despite calls for injury prevention exercise programmes (IPEPs) to move to school settings for the general adolescent population, current research has had mixed outcomes regarding their efficacy in schools as many of the traditional barriers to IPEP implementation still exist, for example, lack of engagement with the programme. A games-based…

This study examined the effect of time of day on immediate recall of motor skills (i.e., tactical behaviors in basketball) from different external visualizations. First-year students from a public university in sports science (novice practitioners, 18.96 ± 0.57 years) were quasi-randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: video modeling by…

To present human flourishing (the pursuit of a good life) as the aim of physical education, this paper (1) outlines the need for a new professional aim, (2) synthesizes neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, (3) reviews a philosophy of flourishing physical education, (4) presents critiques for the field to address, and (5) articulates an example,…

This article describes two traditional American games and discusses how they can be implemented in a physical education curriculum. These games can be enjoyed by all students and can provide a wide range of benefits, including the continuation of the legacy of some of the most historic games in North America. Rationales such as multicultural…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a 16-lesson integrated physical education program focusing on Indigenous games: Education, Movement, and Understanding (EMU). Method: The study aligned with current physical education, English, and mathematics syllabi and involved 105 children (9-12 years) from two primary…

Physical education is the only school subject that provides access to psychomotor learning opportunity for all students, and, thus, should be the primary content identified in physical education standards. Half of the recently released 2024 SHAPE America National Physical Education Standards now focus specifically on social and personal…

Part 2 of the article on the proposed alternative PreK-12 physical education Learning Standards introduces examples of specific Content Learning Outcomes (CLOs) under each of the alternative standards introduced in Part 1. In addition, Learning Outcomes are offered that target students' pro-social behavior development, as well as their joy and…