Research on grading in physical education and health (PEH) continues to demonstrate both inequitable practices and outcomes some of which are associated with the students' family background. A central goal for schools around the world is to compensate for students' family backgrounds to promote greater educational equity. This study aimed to examine the effect of family background on grades in PEH in Sweden. The data in this study involved the total population of full siblings (N = 1,444,575) who were enrolled in Year 9 (ages 14-15) between 2000 and 2017. The results indicate an increasing impact of family background on PEH grades over time, particularly for foreign-born students, suggesting a decline in educational equity. These results highlight the need for targeted interventions and policy reforms to address growing inequities and ensure that all students, regardless of background, have equal opportunities to succeed in PEH.

Play holds a prominent place in children's lives and development and is increasingly emphasised in Physical Education (PE) curricula internationally, including in Norway. However, how play is pedagogically enacted in the early school years remains underexplored. This article examines how play is implemented in Norwegian primary PE (grades 1-4) and analyses what opportunities different forms of play may create for students' learning and growth. Drawing on Dewey's concepts of play, work and growth, we analysed observations of 26 PE lessons and interviews with 16 teachers from four schools. The analysis identified three pedagogical forms of play along a continuum from teacher-led to student-led activity: 'camouflaged work', 'facilitated play' and 'free play'. Camouflaged work dominated classroom practice, while facilitated play occurred only occasionally. Free play often created greater opportunities for autonomy and exploration, although teachers sometimes struggled to articulate how these experiences connected to broader educational intentions. Interpreting these forms through a Deweyan lens shows how different pedagogical arrangements shape the relationship between student agency, playful engagement and educational direction. By conceptualising pedagogical forms of play in PE, the study contributes an analytical framework for understanding how play can balance curriculum goals with children's developmental needs in the early school years.

The transition from kindergarten to primary school is a significant event in children's education, garnering increasing political and social attention in Norway and globally. With the growing focus on educational transitions and continuity, this study examines the role of physical education (PE) in facilitating students' transition into primary school in Norway. The study was conducted across four Norwegian primary schools, utilising semi-structured interviews with 16 first- to fourth-grade teachers, observations of PE lessons and school environments, and field notes from school visits. A reflexive methodology and an abductive approach were employed to analyse the data, drawing on the concepts of continuity and discontinuity ( Dewey, 1938; Hogsnes and Moser, 2014). The findings indicate that PE in the early school years can play a supportive role in students' transition from kindergarten to primary school through socialisation processes and bridging approaches in PE, thereby enhancing continuity in the transition process. Based on these findings, we argue that primary PE's emphasis on movement, play and social interaction offers valuable opportunities to support young students during this transition. To conclude, we suggest that PE can contribute meaningfully to students' adjustment to school by balancing both stability and adaptation in the shift to formal schooling.

This book offers one of the first in‑depth explorations of social justice pedagogies in physical education (PE) from a student perspective. Based on rich qualitative research, it highlights how school PE can support the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of young people and contribute to building more socially cohesive and just societies.

Placing student perspectives at the heart of the analysis, this book challenges dominant practices in PE and explores how inclusive and equitable teaching can be developed in collaboration with students. It defines key terms such as ‘inclusion’, ‘equity’ and ‘critical pedagogy’ and provides practical guidance for creating meaningful learning environments that reflect these values. This book explores key themes including student interpretation of PE experience, the importance of care and relationships and the use of modified and non‑traditional activities and spaces. It shows how PE can be transformed into a site of empowerment by centering the agency of young people.

This is invaluable reading for trainee and in‑service teachers who want to create more inclusive and socially just pedagogical practices grounded in the lived experiences of students.

Ball games are common content in school physical education and health (PEH), particularly in Sweden. However, criticism has been directed at ball games for focusing too much on performance and competition. In this paper, we explore the learning that occurs in ball games beyond subject-specific knowledge and skills. Data was generated through observations and interviews with four different PEH classes at an upper-secondary school in southern Sweden. Data analysis was based on Uljens' (2023. Non-affirmative Theory of Education and Bildung (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing.) non-affirmative theory. The findings show that the students learn both subject-specific (e.g. sport techniques, skills, rules and game sense) and generic knowledge and skills (e.g. cooperation, care and providing equal opportunities for everyone) in and through ball games. The findings further draw attention to how more students participate in and learn from ball games when performance and competition is not in focus and when forms of ball games that are less known to the students are used. To conclude, the paper argues that the learning objectives in ball games need to be re-articulated to focus more on the important generic knowledge and skills that students can learn from this PEH content.

Although many studies have explored teachers’ and students’ perceptions of physical education (PE), the voices and beliefs of school principals about PE remain scarce in existing literature (Ní Chróinín et al., 2020). In Norway, a new national curriculum for PE was introduced in 2020 (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2019) making it timely to examine how key stakeholders, such as principals, understand and attempt to enact these new curricular objectives. In this paper, we draw on interviews conducted with five participant principals from schools located in Eastern Norway that explored their perceptions of PE. Based on our reflexive thematic analysis [Braun & Clarke, 2022) of the interview data, we present the findings in relation to three main themes: (i) ‘PE is a very important subject’, (ii) ‘PE creates other pedagogical opportunities and has extrinsic values’ and (iii) ‘PE as friluftsliv [“outdoor activities”], swimming and social aspects – but not sports … ’. However, by also utilizing Foucauldian understandings of discourse (Foucault, 1972), we draw attention to how the principals’ perceptions of PE are largely constituted within dominant discourses of activation, fitness and (physical) health. To conclude, we call for further studies on what principals’ value and talk about in relation to PE but also what they do not talk about such as PE as a subject for learning and where other dimensions of health are promoted. 

School physical education (PE) is influenced by different discourses that play a crucial role not only in the (re)production of PE practices but also in shaping teacher subjectivities. This paper aims to explore how a PE teacher responds to, lives, and negotiates his embodied professional subjectivity over time. To achieve this, we employ an autobiographical approach to delve into the first author’s life story of becoming and being a PE teacher over time, grappling with the unease generated by the knowledge that his body may have an “expiry date.” Through narrative analysis, we discuss and reflect on the complex experience of teaching a physical and corporeal subject such as PE, focusing on four themes: (1)reflecting his life as a PE teacher“the young, healthy and athletic body,” (2) “the uncertain body,” (3) “the precarious body,” and (4) “the shut-up and just-do-it body.”

This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to examine how health and physical education (HPE) curricula from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice in schools. The findings highlight the presence of social justice intentions across the five curricula as related to embodied movement experiences, social cohesion, and activism. That said, the findings simultaneously suggest that the language used to orient teaching towards social justice objectives is often elusive. In this paper, we contend that despite the presence of social justice intentions in these five HPE curricula, the articulation and function of the language within the curriculum documents do not necessarily support the enactment of this in practice. To conclude, we therefore suggest that more work is needed to ensure that curricula and other supporting artefacts and resources can better support both teachers' practice and students' learning in raising awareness of, and addressing, social justice outcomes in HPE.

High-performance sport is often celebrated for cultivating discipline, resilience and excellence. Yet, the same structures that produce elite performance frequently rely on disciplinary practices that can compromise athlete autonomy, well-being and identity development. This article interrogates the ethical dimensions of coaching in high-performance sport through a Foucauldian lens, drawing on concepts such as disciplinary power, technologies of the self and the aesthetics of existence. Building on the work of Jim Denison and colleagues, as well as our own previous work, we examine how coaching practices shape athlete subjectivities both during and after elite sporting careers. The paper presents a framework that coheres a number of key concepts from existing coaching research and enriches them through a Foucauldian ethical perspective, offering a unified way of understanding the ethical dimensions of coaching. We argue that coaching must be reimagined as an ethical, relational and reflexive practice that goes beyond harm reduction to actively support athlete well-being and meaningful, sustainable transitions beyond sport. We explore how ethical self-creation can enable coaches to resist dominant norms and develop care-based coaching approaches that challenge the performance-at-all-costs ethos. We also consider how these insights align and contrast with existing youth sport philosophies and conclude by proposing a set of guiding principles for fostering ethical and sustainable coaching environments. In doing so, the paper offers a contribution to sport coaching research and practice by illuminating how coaches can engage in ethical self-work and systemic transformation, positioning athletes not only as performers but as whole persons capable of living meaningful lives in and beyond sport.

School physical education and health (PEH) has an important role to play in the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of young people (Opstoel et al., 2020) which, in turn, can enhance interpersonal relations and help build more socially cohesive and just societies (Benn et al., 2011; Smith et al., 2021). Unfortunately, research continues to highlight the inability of PEH to realise these important outcomes and the pervasiveness of practices that instead contribute to exclusion and inequality. The aim of this study was to add our understanding of school PEH practices by exploring pupils’ experiences of inclusion and social justice. Data was generated through a survey, observations, interviews and critical reflective texts. Participants in the study were pupils from three different upper-secondary schools (age 16-19) located in southern Sweden. The analysis of data involved a six-phase thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2013) informed by theories of critical and dialogical pedagogy (Freire, 1970). The results are presented in relation to four central themes: (1) care and relationships, (2) pupil involvement, (3) use of modified and non-traditional activities and spaces; and (4) learning about and acting on social inequities. In order to promote more inclusive and socially just PEH practice, a Freirean (1970) analysis of the pupils’ experiences draws attention to the importance of: establishing horizontal teacher-pupil relationships built on trust and love: engaging pupils in an ongoing dialogue where the pupils practice choice and decision-making with their peers; inviting the pupils into critically reflecting on issues of positionality and power and; pupils learning to act on social inequities. To conclude, the paper calls for future studies where teachers and pupils collaborate to develop PEH practices underpinned by inclusion and social justice.