The field of physical education (PE), as it exists in teacher education, is dynamic as ways of preparing teachers to meet the needs of young people in contemporary times change. Such endeavours are underpinned by concerns about school-based PE, the alienation of students from PE, and responsibility for producing healthy students. Concerns also…

Research in education and physical education has emphasized the need for continuing professional development (CPD) programs that are aligned with best practices. More specifically, scholars interested in teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) have emphasized the need to examine teachers' CPD. The purpose of this study was to…

Despite reported increases in higher education (HE) sports coach education provision there are very few studies which have investigated student self-learning curricula as a mechanism to prepare sports coaches with the complexities of learning how to coach. Using an action research methodology, this article examines how case-method teaching (CMT)…

Qualified and skilled sport coaches are vital to the development of sport in general and of elite sport in particular. Research suggests that the development of coaching expertise in elite sport is a complex matter involving mediated, unmediated and internal learning situations. However, it is less clear to what extent and in which ways these…

Research suggests that girls are disengaged in physical education due to the "traditional" way that it is taught, i.e. teacher-centred approaches with a primary focus on motor performance. In contrast, Cooperative Learning, a student-centred pedagogy focusing on learning in multiple domains, has had success in engaging girls in physical…

A feature of academic literature on physical education teacher education (PETE) is the expectation that it can and should impact upon student teachers' beliefs and prospective practices in some significant ways. This is despite research over the last 20 years or more alluding to the apparent failure of PETE to "shake or stir" (Evans…

There is increasing support to describe and examine the teaching of game skills in physical education from a complex and nonlinear perspective. The emergence of game behaviours as a consequence of the dynamic interactions of the learner, the game environment and the task constraints within the game context highlights the nonlinear and complex…

The European Union Sport Unit has identified the societal and educational role of sport as a central topic in its new research agenda. It is argued that European Union (EU) citizens should be supported to learn continuously across the life course. In the sport/physical activity (PA) context, the role of teachers, coaches and exercise instructors…

How might Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP) communities in the UK, Europe, Australasia and elsewhere go about researching the implications of neoliberalism and increasing privatisation of Education for the entitlements of young people to a common, comprehensive, high quality, equitable Physical Education (PE)? Our analyses suggest that…

One important challenge ahead for sport and exercise pedagogy (SEP) researchers is to consider afresh questions about learning. Learning in the fields of sport, physical activity and physical education (PE) is a particularly complex business. Most existing theories of learning are defined cognitively, yet learning in sport and physical activity…

While e-support has been positioned as a means, to overcome some of the time and financial constraints to professional learning, it has largely failed to act as a medium for professional learning in physical education. Consequently, this paper positions teachers prior interest with social media acts as a type of "leverage" for using…

The two-pronged purpose of this study is to examine factors determining the teaching behaviour of pre-service physical education (PE) teachers towards a constructivist approach, likewise referred to as teaching games for understanding (TGfU). Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was applied to guide the formulation of research purpose and design. Six…

As a lens through which to read and understand a subject area and its curriculum content and issues, a sociocultural perspective is a recent and arguably significant change for the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Key Learning Area (KLA) in Australia. Its significance lies, first, in the fact that it seems to represent a notable departure from…

Acknowledging the performative sporting discourses which continue to dominate physical education, and the emerging focus on disease prevention within this context, this paper presents a socio-ecological framework for physical education that aims to shift the focus towards more multidimensional understandings of what it means to be "physically…

Despite evidence that experience within practical coaching contexts serves as the principal knowledge source for coaches, academic (and professional) coach education programmes continue to be heavily taught along didactic lines. Such courses are often considered as fine in theory but divorced from the gritty realities of practice. The aim of this…