The aims of this study were to describe the participation in physical activity of children with cerebral palsy (CP) at school and during leisure time and to identify characteristics associated with physical activity. The frequency of receiving physiotherapeutic interventions were described as a variable of interest. A total population of 364…

Background: Studies on heteronormativity in PE either appear to have explored the experiences of and conditions for non-heterosexual students, or adopt a retrospective point of view. Further, the relation between heteronormativity and movement and how movement activities embody social norms and values related to gender and sexuality has not been…

Drawing on research conducted in Australian Health' and Physical Education (HPE) and Swedish Physical Education and Health (PEH), this paper demonstrates the analytic possibilities of Foucault's notion of pastoral power to reveal the moral and ethical work conducted by HPE/PEH teachers in producing healthy active citizens. We use the pastoral…

Since 1980 the Swedish compulsory school curriculum has stipulated that Physical Education (PE) should be taught co-ed and schools are legally required to promote gender equality. The latest evaluation of PE in Sweden shows that more boys than girls ranked the subject highly and that they had a higher level of activity during the PE lessons.…

The way teachers' in Sweden reason about assessment and grading in physical education and health is in focus in this article. The central question is to investigate what teachers' believe are the goals of the subject, important knowledge in the subject and criteria for assessment in physical education (PE) health. With this study we take up a…

Teachers play a decisive role in making inclusive education a reality. The particular case of inclusion in physical education (PE) poses a specific challenge to teaching practice. How PE teachers view inclusion may provide special insights into teachers' general attitudes toward inclusion and inclusive practices in the general school curriculum.…

Many young people in Sweden stop participating in club sports during their teens, but some continue. Drawing on a longitudinal study, the aim of this article is to highlight some of the characteristics of teenagers who continue with club sports and to discuss the relation between club-sport participation and social and cultural conditions, with…

Assessment is a powerful message system in education, but one which has not received sufficient research and critical or theoretical attention in the field of physical education. Drawing on the physical education and health (PEH) assessment experiences of 16-year-old students in the Swedish education system, the focus in this paper is on what…

The value assigned to "friluftsliv" (activities similar to outdoor education) in physical education teacher education (PETE) and in the physical education (PE) syllabus in Sweden does not seem to result in the implementation of "friluftsliv" in the practice of teaching in Swedish schools. This study investigates how the…

Background: Studies have shown that some children do not participate in sport or exercise because they did not establish early coordination and basic motor skills while at school. Basic motor skills form significant parts of the goals for students to achieve in the Swedish school subject Physical Education and Health (PEH). Aims: The aim was to…

In this study our aim was to investigate (a) how the awareness of one's self-image reveals itself as a phenomenon, and (b) if self-image is influenced by physical education in a social context with teachers and pupils. Six pupils, aged 15 and 16 years, attending compulsory school were interviewed with the use of an empirical phenomenological…

During recent years, educational restructuring efforts have commonly regarded schools as both learning communities and sites for teachers' professional development. A plethora of attributes influence prerequisites as well as outcomes of the efforts, while teachers' local cultures constitute a cornerstone. More specifically, enhanced school-based…

Background: The pedagogical and status implications of assessment in physical education (PE) have been recognised in the past. How students perceive being assessed and graded is a neglected area, however. While some studies have garnered students' perceptions of assessment when no grade is awarded or the stakes are relatively low, we know less…

This review assembles pedometry literature focused on youth, with particular attention to expected values for habitual, school day, physical education class, recess, lunch break, out-of-school, weekend, and vacation activity. From 31 studies published since 1999, we constructed a youth habitual activity step-curve that indicates: (a) from ages 6…

The purpose of this article is to "describe and illustrate an approach" that facilitates a study of power and governing processes in teachers' and students' interactive actions and dealings. This approach is inspired by Foucault's work on power and the research field emanating from the concept of governmentality. The approach is…