Syftet med den studie som ligger till grund för artikeln var att öka förståelsen för hur lärare i idrott och hälsa kan bedriva en inkluderande undervisning som kännetecknas av social rättvisa och där alla elever har möjlighet att delta och lyckas. Studien genomfördes inom ramen för ett internationellt samarbetsprojekt som undersökte hur lärare i idrott och hälsa hanterar frågor om inkludering, jämlikhet och social rättvisa i undervisningen. I denna artikel redovisas resultat från observationer av undervisning i idrott och hälsa i årskurs 7 till 9 i Sverige med tillhörande intervjuer av fem lärare i ämnet. Resultaten visar att lärarna använde sig av flera olika strategier kopplat till tre huvudteman: (1) skapa goda relationer med och mellan elever, (2) anpassningar för att utjämna ojämlikheter och (3) stötta de som behöver. Trots de goda exempel som lyfts i denna artikel, behöver undervisningspraktiker vidareutvecklas som inte bara hanterar utan även kan utmana och förändra rådande normer och värderingar i ämnet.

Introduktion I kursplanen för ämnet idrott och hälsa för grundskolan i Sverige betonas bland annat att undervisningen ska ge förutsättningar för alla elever att kontinuerligt kunna delta och lära sig (Skolverket, 2020). Trots det visar Skolinspektionens (2018) senaste kvalitetsgranskning att var femte elev på högstadiet inte deltar regelbundet i undervisningen. Även om många unga uttrycker entusiasm för skolämnet idrott och hälsa, känner andra sig exkluderade och till och med hatar ämnet (Robinson & Randall, 2016). Traditionella former av innehåll och det sätt undervisningen genomförs på innebär att eleverna försätts i priviligierade eller marginaliserade positioner (Gerdin & Pringle, 2017; Thorjussen & Sisjord, 2020). Det handlar både om att rådande samhälleliga sociala ojämlikheter reproduceras i ämnet (Evans, 2014) och att implicita för givet tagna föreställningar om ämnet genomsyrar undervisningens utformning (Flintoff & Dowling, 2017). Syfte och teoretisk ram Syftet med studie var att öka förståelsen för hur lärare i idrott och hälsa kan bedriva en inkluderande undervisning som kännetecknas av social rättvisa och där alla elever har möjlighet att delta och lyckas. Studien genomfördes inom ramen för ett internationellt samarbetsprojekt EDUHEALTH mellan forskare från Sverige, Norge och Nya Zeeland som undersökte hur lärare i idrott och hälsa hanterar frågor om inkludering, jämlikhet och social rättvisa i undervisningen.

Metod I den del av studien som redovisas här ingår data från observationer av fem lärares undervisning i idrott och hälsa i åk 7–9 på olika skolor i södra Sverige. Totalt genomfördes 7 observationer och 8 intervjuer. Den insamlade data från observationerna och intervjuerna analyserades sedan med hjälp av tematisk analys (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Resultat Resultat och analysen av observationer och intervjuer visar att lärarna i denna studie, i linje med Tinnings (2012) förståelse av inkluderande undervisning, använde sig av flera olika strategier och en hel verktygslåda av olika didaktiska handlingar för att motverka de ojämlika förutsättningar som elever omgärdas av när de kommer till undervisningen. De tre huvudteman som konstruerades baserat på resultat och analysen är: (1) skapa goda relationer med och mellan elever, (2) anpassningar för att utjämna ojämlikheter och (3) stötta de som behöver. Diskussion och slutsatser Att iscensätta en inkluderande undervisningsmiljö är komplex process, en process som handlar både om erkännande (North, 2008), ha kunskap om eleverna och det sociala sammanhanget (Tinning, 2012) och om att bryta mönster av förtryck och dominans (Young, 1990). Det handlar om att det varken är ämnets syfte eller innehåll som är ojämlikt (Røset, Green & Thurston, 2020) utan om att ständigt ”göra” val som innebär att alla elever inkluderas. I linje med Youngs (1990) tankar om social rättvisa, räcker det alltså inte med en omfördelning av resurser utan det krävs medvetna, aktiva didaktiska handlingar och val för att motverka de ojämlika förutsättningar som eleverna omgärdas av när de kommer till undervisningen i idrott och hälsa. Resultaten av denna studie ger dock exempel på hur detta är möjligt, där lärarna genom medvetna didaktiska val och handlingar och reflektion visar lärarna hur man kan ”göra” (Young, 1990) undervisning i idrott och hälsa mer socialt rättvis och inkluderande.

For more than 40 years, health and physical education (HPE) academics in universities and teacher education colleges have drawn attention to issues of social justice specific to the context of PE and advocated for teachers in fields, gymnasiums and other physical activity spaces to do a better job of promoting more equitable outcomes for all students. Building on this advocacy, in the late 1990s, countries such as Sweden, Norway and New Zealand designed HPE curricula that address social justice. However, limited research has focused specifically on the enactment of social justice in HPE practice. Drawing on a larger international project involving Sweden, Norway and New Zealand the aim of this article is therefore to explore the constitution of social justice pedagogies across these three different HPE contexts and more specifically how HPE teaching practice may be understood from regulative, normative and cultural perspectives on social justice. The data reported on in this paper were generated from educational acts, curriculum documents, observations of HPE lessons in each of the three countries and follow-up teacher interviews. In order to analyse the data, we employed Scott's (2008. Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed). Sage) institutional theory to further understand and discuss the enactment of social justice across the three different countries in HPE practice. In our representation and analysis of the findings we draw attention to how social justice pedagogies are informed differently by institutionalised governing systems and therefore they may be enacted differently by teachers in different societies. In particular, we highlight the influence of (i) regulative; (ii) normative; (iii) cultural-cognitive elements on practice. We conclude by pointing out the complex interplay between regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements that both enable and constrain HPE teachers' enactments of social justice in HPE practice.

In this paper, we describe and reflect on the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology used to explore how secondary school health and physical education (HPE) teachers address social justice in their teaching practice. The paper is informed by data generated as part of an ongoing three-year international research project involving eight physical education teacher education (PETE) researchers from three different countries. One of the general aims of the project was to develop teaching strategies to assist HPE teachers to refine and develop their practices so that they may become more inclusive and engaging for all students, thus helping contribute to more equitable educational outcomes. The specific aim of this paper is twofold: to describe the methodological framework of the research project and, secondly, to reflect on the challenges encountered in the research process along with the limitations and further potential of this research approach. We argue that the use of CIT methodology has allowed us to document rich descriptions of examples of teaching for social justice and to identify teacher practices that resonate with critical perspectives, or what we have come to call 'social justice pedagogies'. We conclude by asserting that our use of CIT methodology in this project serves as a political quest to reaffirm the social justice agenda in HPE practice through providing teachers with examples of social justice pedagogies. It is not an attempt to espouse a one-size-fits-all social justice model for HPE since social justice teaching strategies are enabled and constrained by the contexts in which they are practised.

In a world of increasing diversity in which many established democracies are now consumed by capitalist individualism and protectionist ideals, a focus on equity and social justice is particularly pertinent. For many years, scholars have proposed that schools have the educational responsibility to prepare children for peaceful living in a heterogeneous society and claimed that health and physical education (HPE) activities at school can enhance interpersonal relations, and social cohesion. This paper explores the definition of social cohesion, as well as theories that support its inclusion in school practices before drawing on observational and interview data from of an international project that reveal how HPE teachers across three different countries teach for social cohesion. In our analysis of the data, we employ Allport’s ‘Contact Theory’ (1954) and Pettigrew’s (1998) extension of this theory to conceptualise and interpret the teaching for social cohesion in HPE practice. Within the overarching theme of teaching for social cohesion we present and discuss five sub-themes as examples of the teachers’ pedagogies: (1) a focus on inclusiveness; (2) the inclusion of culturally inclusive practices; (3) building teacher/student and student/student relationships; (4) planning and structuring activities for students to work together in heterogeneous teams while focusing on cooperation; and (5) focusing on personal and social responsibility by encouraging adherence to the principles of fair play and democratically determined rules. We conclude by stating that HPE should be recognised for its role in creating opportunities for constructive social interaction between students of difference, which can contribute to greater inclusion, social cohesion and ultimately social justice in society.

This book makes the case that school Health and Physical Education (HPE) can make a unique contribution to young people’s physical, emotional and social health outcomes when teachers of HPE engage in pedagogies for social justice that emphasise inclusion, democracy and equity.

Drawing on observations and teacher interviews across Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, the book explores successful school teaching practices that promote social justice and equitable health outcomes. In particular, it draws attention to the importance of building relationships, teaching for social cohesion and explicitly teaching about and acting on social inequities as pedagogies for social justice. The book also argues that context matters and that pedagogies for social justice need to recognise how both approaches to, and focus on, social justice vary in different contexts.

This is essential reading for academics and students interested in social justice and working in the fields of education, HPE and teacher education.

Background: A focus on equity, democracy and social justice in HPE is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalisation and precariousness of society (Kirk 2020). Although there is advocacy for teaching approaches in HPE that address issues of social justice, there is limited empirical research of teachers enacting critical pedagogies in HPE classrooms.

Purpose: To identify school HPE teaching practices that promote social justice through practical enactment across three different participating countries.

Participants and Setting: The investigation involved classroom observations of and post-lesson interviews with 13 purposively selected high school health and physical education teachers from three different countries. A total of 20 HPE lessons were observed. The participants included seven male and six female teachers ranging in age from 25 to 55 years with between 3- and 25-years teaching experience. The setting for data collection was compulsory co-educational practical HPE classes with 13-15-year-old students in four schools in New Zealand, four schools in Sweden and three schools in Norway.

Data Collection and Analysis: This study employed Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology (Flanagan 1954), involving data collection through exploratory observations and stimulated-recall interviews (Lyle 2003). The classroom observations focused on identifying incidents that appeared to be addressing issues of social justice. The use of a multi-national observer team was a key principle of the study and was based on the proposition that local researchers familiar with context come with taken-for-granted assumptions about teachers' practices. Data were analysed through a six-phase thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke 2013). This involved three stages: individually, collectively by the researchers in each country, and finally through the whole multi-national research team.

Findings: The data analysis resulted in three primary themes; (1) relationships, (2) teaching for social cohesion, and (3) explicitly teaching about and acting on social inequities. This paper uses critical pedagogy as a lens to report on the third theme. In this paper, we present three subthemes; (1) Teaching as 'equity not equality', (2) promoting marginalised groups (3) and teacher critical reflection as examples of explicit critical pedagogies taking action for social justice in HPE.

Conclusions/Implications: Although, the findings presented in this paper are examples of explicit teacher actions that aim to address social inequity, we suggest that teaching for social justice requires teachers to take action on social inequities and also to teach about social injustice to prepare students to become agents for change and act on social inequities themselves, beyond HPE.

We currently find ourselves living in precarious times (Kirk, 2020), with old and new social inequities on the rise due to the challenges associated with an unprecedented rise of global migration and neoliberalism, amplified in our post COVID-19 world. Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) have demonstrated that there is a high correlation between inequality at the societal level and the overall health and wellbeing of individuals within those societies. We believe that school health and physical education (HPE) has a significant role to play in addressing and acting on social inequities that impact on the wellbeing of both students and society as a whole. Based on the findings of an international research project called EDUHEALTH which explored pedagogies for social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) across Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, this paper aims to highlight the addressing of (in)equality and student wellbeing through HPE practice. In particular, the paper presents nine different but complementary pedagogies for social justice that we believe can improve individual, collective and societal wellbeing. We conclude by proposing that, if adopted across a whole school curriculum, these nine pedagogies for social justice could form the basis of a holistic school-wide community approach aimed at improving both student and societal wellbeing.

The Health and Physical Education (HPE) profession has increasingly advocated for caring teacher-student relationships. In this paper, we draw on data from an international research project called 'EDUHEALTH' [Education for Equitable Health Outcomes - The Promise of School Health and Physical Education] to explore caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in HPE. The data reported on in this paper were generated through 20 HPE lesson observations and interviews with 13 HPE teachers across schools in Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. In our analysis of the data, we employed Nel Noddings 'Care Theory' [(1984. Caring, a feminine approach to ethics & moral education. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1997). Pedagogisk filosofi [Philosophy of education]. Oslo: Ad Notam Gyldendal] to study the constitution of relationships and caring teaching in HPE practice. The findings demonstrate that caring teaching is inevitably built on developing good relationships, and that developing such good relationships is a complex process influenced by three key elements. First, teachers have to develop knowledge about their students on a societal, group and personal level; second, teachers have to reflect on the individual, environmental and relational aspects required for building good relationships; and third, teachers have to implement caring teaching strategies, such as planning, caring actions and doing 'the little things'. Drawing on Nodding's care theory, we conclude that pedagogies for social justice are enacted when teachers use their own knowledge and knowledge about the students, together with reflection and caring teaching strategies, to arrange a learning environment that promotes inclusion and equitable outcomes for all students.

A focus on equity and social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalization and the precariousness of society. The aim of the present study was to identify school HPE teaching practices that promote social justice and more equitable health outcomes. Data were generated through 20 HPE lesson observations and post-lesson interviews with 13 HPE teachers across schools in Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand. The data were analysed following the principles of thematic analysis. In this paper, we present and discuss findings related to three overall themes: (i) relationships; (ii) teaching for social cohesion; (iii) and explicitly teaching about, and acting on, social inequities. Collectively, these themes represent examples of the enactment of social justice pedagogies in HPE practice. To conclude, we point out the diculty of enacting social justice pedagogies and that social justice pedagogies may not always transform structures nor make a uniform difference to all students. However, on the basis of our findings, we are rearmed in our view that HPE teachers can make a difference when it comes to contributing to more socially just and equitable outcomes in HPE and beyond.