The broad purpose of this paper is to consider the relationship betweendecision-making and learning. Specifically, our aim is to propose amethodology that provides a theoretical framing along with proceduresfor investigating this relationship in Physical Education (PE). By utilizingselected parts of John Dewey’s educational theories, the paper presentsa theoretical exposition of decision-making as an individual processcontaining both ‘practical’ and ‘cognitive’ aspects. By combining thistheoretical conceptualization with a description of concrete researchmethods, the paper proposes a methodological approach enablingresearchers to get empirically closer to the phenomenon of individualdecision-making within PE learning. We argue that by doing so,researchers in the field of PE can study certain aspects of learning notexplicitly emphasized within existing methodological approaches.

Background: Student participation in curriculum negotiation has been widely regarded as beneficial for student engagement, motivation, and learning. Within the physical education (PE) context however, several scholars claim that these benefits are seldom realized. Interestingly, most investigations into curriculum negotiation in PE focus on teacher actions and behavior. Investigations of students' actions in curriculum negotiation are rare. Further, while much of the literature claims curriculum negotiation is potentially beneficial for student learning, few of the conceptual and analytical frameworks utilized within previous PE literature are based on explicit learning theories.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore student participation in curriculum negotiation in Norwegian PE through the lens of an explicit learning theoretical perspective.

Method: A 10th grade class with 23 students (age 15-16) and an 8th grade class with 30 students (age 13-14) from 2 different schools, and their respective teachers were recruited for the project. Within these classes, participatory observation, video observations, and stimulated recall interviews were conducted to produce empirical material related to curriculum negotiation. The material then underwent qualitative thematic analysis where select parts of John Dewey's educational philosophy were used as the analytical framework.

Results and discussion: With a basis in the analytical framework developed from Deweyan educational philosophy, the results show that students within the two contexts participate in both explicit and implicit forms of curriculum negotiation. Explicit curriculum negotiations to a large degree appear to be governed by the teachers and are deemed by teachers to be part of strategies for upholding Norwegian legislations and recommendations for including students in curricular decision-making. While not as easily noticeable, implicit forms of negotiations were more prominent within the explored contexts. The analysis also suggests that from a Deweyan perspective, possibilities to increase learning through curriculum negotiations occur when teachers notice, help, and guide students in their own reflective processes surrounding how to act in PE. Such pedagogical action makes implicit negotiations occurring more explicit, and explicit negotiations more intelligent.

Previous research shows that enacting a new curriculum is a complex process. Teachers can be enthusiastic and committed to new curricular objectives, but they can also experience frustration and disappointment. Scholars have suggested that teachers who perceive lack of support, or tensions between their personal philosophies and the educational principles underpinning a new curriculum, struggle to enact new curricula in line with their intent. Our purpose in this article is to illustrate how two Physical Education (PE) teachers experienced the enactment of a new official curriculum. An action research approach was used as design of the study. Researchers cooperated with two PE teachers for 18 months. The empirical material consisted of 50 sets of field notes from the two teachers' teaching lessons, transcripts from one semi-structured qualitative interview with both teachers following the completion of the school year. The material also consisted of reflection logs produced by the teachers containing written notes about their experiences of the curriculum enactment. We used literature on educational change (Fullan, M., & Hargreaves, A. (1991). What's worth fighting fore? Working together for your school. Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation) as our theoretical framework. Our findings show that the teachers experienced the curriculum enactment in contradictory ways. Shifting from previous PE practices that focused on sports activities and emphasized teacher instruction, to pedagogical practices informed by the new PE curriculum (including sociocultural perspectives of learning and assessment), led to uncertainty, surprise, satisfaction, as well as distrust. Our findings also showed that the teachers' experiences of the enactment were influenced by perceived gender biases. We argue that teachers' beliefs and the teaching culture were particularly influential dimensions regarding the two PE teachers' experiences of the curriculum enactment. Practitioners and researchers attempting curriculum enactment in the future should pay careful attention to such dimensions, especially given that tensions and uncertainty often occur during any educational change.

Since March 2020, most physical education (PE) teachers in Scandinavia have faced the challenges of remote teaching. Homeschooling has perhaps been particularly challenging for PE teachers compared to other teachers, given the essential role of bodily contact, interaction, social negotiations, game playing and shared expressions in PE (Varea and González-Calvo, 2020).

Having worked with covid conditions for a year now, we trust that teachers have worked out various solutions that, we hope, are relevant and meaningful for the students. At the same time, both from our personal experiences and early research findings (Mercier et al. 2021), it appears that PE teachers have largely provided students with physical activity and fitness training during the pandemic.

In this short text, we want to share an idea for a concrete alternative to fitness exercises, which, although important, is only one part of the PE curriculum. It springs from a pedagogical model we outlined in a double article from 2018, which focuses on practising. Practising, which in German is üben and in the Scandinavian languages øve/öva, is, briefly put, a form of activity in which you seek to improve some part of yourself through repeated efforts.

Recently, one of our colleagues, Dillon Landi, made us aware that this practising model is particularly relevant for teaching during the pandemic. While we did not have remote teaching in mind when we outlined the model, we realise now that it could be a relevant way of coping with the current situation. It can, we believe, guide how teachers can facilitate movement activities for students at home that are both meaningful and educationally relevant.

In the following, we will describe what remote teaching with a focus on practising might look like. We hope it can inspire teaching methods that add to the list of pedagogical options available for teachers during the pandemic.

Background: Models-based approaches to physical education have inrecent years developed as a way for teachers and students toconcentrate on a manageable number of learning objectives, and alignpedagogical approaches with learning subject matter and context. Thispaper draws on Hannah Arendt’s account of vita activa to map existingapproaches to physical education as oriented towards: (a) health andexercise, (b) sport and games, and (c) experience and exploration.Purpose: The aim of the paper is to outline a new pedagogical model forphysical education: a practising model. We argue that the form of humanactivity related to practising is not well represented in existingorientations and models. To sustain this argument, we highlight themost central aspects of practising, and at the same time describe centralfeatures of the model.Relevance and implications: The paper addresses pedagogicalimplications the practising model has for physical education teachers.Central learning outcomes and teaching strategies related to fouressential and ‘non-negotiable’ features of the practising model arediscussed. These strategies are: (1) acknowledging subjectivity andproviding meaningful challenges, (2) focusing on content and the aimsof practising, (3) specifying and negotiating standards of excellence and(4) providing adequate time to practising.Conclusion: The practising model has the potential to inform newperspectives on pedagogical approaches, and renew and improveworking methods and learning practices, in physical education.

Background: In this conceptual paper, we contribute to the discussion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physical education and physical education teacher education (PETE). There are two main limitations in the work inspired by Shulman’s [1987. “Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform.” Harvard Educational Review 57 (1): 1–21] concepts content knowledge (CK) and PCK. First, CK is exclusively interpreted as knowledge in and about movement, and excludes knowledge through movement. Second, contemporary understandings of CK and PCK have been mainly from a behaviour analytic perspective. By only adopting a behavioural perspective of CK, i.e. a perspective which aims to change students’ behaviours without necessarily changing knowledge or understanding, pre-service teachers are unlikely to reflect on context and culture or how these affect the students with whom they will work.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to add a new perspective to the contemporary discussion of PCK in physical education and PETE through elaborating on how PCK could be conceptualised ‘phronetically’. We believe that contextual and situational foci of a phronetic approach constitute an important dimension of teacher knowledge, and that this dimension is not captured or made visible by behaviour analytic discourse of PCK in movement cultures.

Method: For the conceptual task of expanding our understanding of PCK, we have been inspired by Thomas [2007. Education and Theory: Strangers in Paradigms. Berkshire: McGraw Hill], Shoemaker, Tankard, and Lasorsa [2004. How to Build Social Science Theories. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], and Whetten [1989. “What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution?” Journal Academy of Management Review 14 (4): 490–495] and their ideas of building theory through borrowing, reflective thinking, and metaphors.

Results: We outline four major assumptions made about PCK in the behaviour analytic research on physical education and PETE: 1. Physical education teachers must know how to perform activities with the correct technique, know the tactics and have knowledge about rules and etiquette; 2. Physical education teachers must know how to detect errors and design task progressions. 3. Physical education teachers must know how to select and modify appropriate tasks as well as give feedback. 4. Physical education teachers’ level of CK and PCK can be quantitatively measured.

Conclusions: From a phronetic perspective, we suggest that PCK could also involve: contextual characteristics for ‘new’ and integrative movement cultures; interpretation of students’ actions; identification and action on diversity during physical education teaching; development of a sensitivity for morally ‘right’ actions; and management of uncertainty involved in physical education teaching.

This paper is a comment to Ward et al. (2020) on the irresponse to a previous paper in which we elaborate on a phronetic perspective on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physical education. In our previous paper, we point to what we see as limitations in PCK-work in physical education. In their response, Ward et al. (2022) argue that we have misrepresented their research as well as the behaviorist epistemology. In this comment, we acknowledge distinctions in PCK-research that were not captured in our original paper. We also argue for why our understanding of the PCK-research was based on interpretations rather than a case of misrepresentation. Further, we argue for the constant acknowledgment of ideology in research. Finally, we discuss the need for clarity regarding the meaning of performance when viewed as content knowledge.

This paper is a comment to Ward et al. (2020) on the irresponse to a previous paper in which we elaborate on a phronetic perspective on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physical education. In our previous paper, we point to what we see as limitations in PCK-work in physical education. In their response, Ward et al. (2022) argue that we have misrepresented their research as well as the behaviorist epistemology. In this comment, we acknowledge distinctions in PCK-research that were not captured in our original paper. We also argue for why our understanding of the PCK-research was based on interpretations rather than a case of misrepresentation. Further, we argue for the constant acknowledgment of ideology in research. Finally, we discuss the need for clarity regarding the meaning of perfor-mance when viewed as content knowledge.

Research suggests that physical education (PE) in Western countries is notproviding equitable experiences for non-white students. Responsibility forshortcomings has often been ascribed to white PE teachers. Scholars haveclaimed that teachers lack cultural competence and know little about howphysical cultures or health are understood by the young people withwhom they work. The objective of this investigation was to investigatethis claim and generate an understanding of how white PE teachers in aculturally diverse high school make sense of their work with non-whitestudents. Data with three Swedish teachers of varying experience wereproduced using semi-structured interviewing. A series of school visitsprovided a complementary line of data. Four themes emerged from thedata. These related to: (1) differences between white and non-whitevalues; (2) the knowledge and dispositions necessary for success in PE; (3)the broad purpose of PE, and; (4) the differences between boys’ and girls’experiences of PE. Data were interpreted using a Critical Race Theory(CRT) perspective, with the notion of ‘whiteness’ providing a specificanalytic concept. The general thesis developed in the second part of thepaper is that problems result not from insensitivity or incompetence butfrom discourses of whiteness in which many teachers live and work. Bybuilding on critical research both in general education and physicaleducation literature and by utilizing whiteness as an analytical concept,the investigation shows how three PE teachers draw extensively on theracial discourse of whiteness and how this disadvantages non-whitestudents. The paper is concluded with a consideration of how racialdisadvantage could be challenged or disrupted.

Scholars have drawn some damning conclusions on the current state of the academy. They arguethat neoliberal developments such as corporatization and privatization are undermining researchand teaching quality, disrupting social relations and impacting negatively on the health and wellbeingof academic staff. Academia is, according to these scholars, coming to be peopled byhypercompetitive and combative ‘ninjas’, cynical and unmotivated ‘zombies’ and jaded andanxious ‘nervous wrecks’. Against this negative depiction of academics, the aim of this paper is toprovide an illustration of an alternative identity that is formed and performed within the field ofphysical education and sport pedagogy (PESP). This illustration is achieved through thepresentation and analysis of an account that shows some of the individuals inhabiting the world ofPESP. The account is based on autoethnographic research and relies largely on reported speechand reflective notes to build a description of the author, in the early stages of mid-career, workingwith his colleagues to write a section of this paper. A Foucauldian framework that includes theconcepts of governmentality and care of the self is employed to consider how the author becomesa neoliberal subject with some possibilities for resisting technologies of power. The paper isconcluded with reflections on the process of resisting and the significance of local socio-politicalcontexts as issues for further discussion.

Background: Physical educators currently have a number of pedagogical(or curricular) models at their disposal. While existing models have beenwell-received in educational contexts, these models seek to extendstudents’ capacities within a limited number of ‘human activities’(Arendt, 1958). The activity of human practising, which is concerned withthe improvement of the self, is not explicitly dealt with by current models.Purpose: The aim of the paper is to outline how a model of humanpractising related to movement capability could be enacted in physicaleducation.Findings: Building on a theoretical exposition of human practisingpresented in a separate paper, this paper provides a practically orienteddiscussion related to: (1) the general learning outcomes as well asteaching and learning strategies of the model; (2) an outline of fiveactivities that describe how the model could be implemented; and (3)the non-negotiable features of the model.Discussion: The model’s potential contribution to the ongoingrevitalization of PE as an institutionalized educational practice isdiscussed. Points concerning how the model relates to wider physicalcultures, its position regarding transfer of learning, standards ofexcellence, and social and cultural transmission are considered.Conclusion: The paper is concluded with some reflections onpedagogical models generally and how they relate to the pedagogicalmodel of practising movement capability presented in this paper.

Physical education (PE) lessons involve complex and dynamic interactive sequences between students, equipment and teacher. The potential for unexpected and/or unintended events is relatively large, a point reflected in an increasing amount of scholarship dealing with classroom management (CM). This scholarship further suggests that unexpected and disruptive events negatively impact on learning and can have deleterious effects on teacher health. Despite considerable potential for these kinds of events, many PE lessons occur in structured, organized ways. The broad purpose of this paper is to consider how classroom action becomes ordered in PE contexts. To this end, an interactional approach is put forward including the specific analytic concepts of directives, epistemic authority and deontic authority. To exemplify the approach, the micro-dynamics of a situation in which a group of students are building a human pyramid is examined. The examination draws attention to: how the teacher engages in a series of interactions with the students to move the sequence forward; how the students themselves achieve order through their interactions with one another; and how the characteristics of the activity help to organize the students' behaviors and limit possibilities for action. The discussion is located against a backdrop of current CM scholarship. Reference is also made to two aspects of social context: the increasing prominence of managerial discourse in educational arenas and the significance of student-centeredness in pedagogical theory. Both aspects appear to influence how order can be achieved in PE today. The analysis raises issues related to pedagogy, management and authority which are addressed in the final two sections of the paper.

Introduktion: Group work underpins curricular models such as Teaching Games for Understanding, Sport Education  and Cooperative Learning. Within such models, HPE teachers typically assume ‘facilitator’ roles, dividing their time and attention between groups. In doing so, teachers gain only a partial view of their students’ learning. Very simply, they do not see what is happening when they are not immediately present. It is difficult to frame this as a problem – it appears to be part of the reality of teaching. At the same time, the argument made in this paper is that an understanding of student interactions where the teacher is absent has significant potential for informing pedagogic practice.

Syfte & teoretisk ram: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence learning when two or more learners are co-constructing meaning in the absence of a teacher.

The paper draws on the work of Lev Vygotsky as well as more recent activity theory. Learning is understood as a social enterprise where the relationship between what an individual can do independently and what s/he can do in collaboration with others is crucial. Vygotsky’s notion of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) provides a specific tool for thinking through this relationship. Key tenets include:

- performance of novel tasks is often achieved in collaboration with other people before it is achieved individually.

- potential for learning is bounded (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 208-209). At a given point in time it is not possible for an individual to learn simply anything. As learning occurs and individual performance increases, so does collaborative learning potential.

- learning takes place within the context of dialectical activity. In this respect, all learning is social.

- although individuals take on ‘novice’ and ‘expert’ positions during learning activity, these positions are flexible.

- for learning to take place, novices and experts should influence the group’s activity. 

Metod: Empirical material was produced with eight different HPE classes in years 6-9 (lower and upper secondary schools) in Sweden. Schools were selected in a way that maximized variation.

Observations consisted of three or four video-recorded lessons with each of the eight classes. Two cameras were used: one stationary and the other mobile. Mobile filming focused on different groups working within the classes. Between two and five students were generally in the frame at any one time and filming was done with the intention of capturing sequences where a group of students worked with a specific problem/task. Here, Emerson’s (2004) notion of key incidents was utilized. Due to the proximity of the camera to students, audio material could be obtained and detailed transcripts of speech exchanges were produced.

Resultat: Data suggest that: (1) teachers often define the outcome of groupwork situations with relative precision but pay less attention to process (i.e. how learners will reach the outcome); (2) many groupwork situations do not result in the creation of ZPD’s and hence do not result in learning in a Vygotskian sense; (3) the creation of ZPD’s in HPE are achieved through corporeal and through linguistic strategies - this makes HPE ZPD’s unique from many educational settings.

Diskussion: The emerging results suggest that HPE teachers should pay more attention to how they define and implement groupwork. They should reflect on how they present groupwork tasks to learners and think about the relationship between group process and learning outcome. Teachers should also consider how ‘expertise gradients’ can be exploited and help learners to occupy novice and expert positions in ways that maximize learning. Finally, the results suggest that facilitation of groupwork should account for learners’ physical and linguistic capacities.  

Introduktion: Group work underpins curricular models such as Teaching Games for Understanding, Sport Education  and Cooperative Learning. Within such models, HPE teachers typically assume ‘facilitator’ roles, dividing their time and attention between groups. In doing so, teachers gain only a partial view of their students’ learning. Very simply, they do not see what is happening when they are not immediately present. It is difficult to frame this as a problem – it appears to be part of the reality of teaching. At the same time, the argument made in this paper is that an understanding of student interactions where the teacher is absent has significant potential for informing pedagogic practice.

Syfte & teoretisk ram: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence learning when two or more learners are co-constructing meaning in the absence of a teacher.

The paper draws on the work of Lev Vygotsky as well as more recent activity theory. Learning is understood as a social enterprise where the relationship between what an individual can do independently and what s/he can do in collaboration with others is crucial. Vygotsky’s notion of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) provides a specific tool for thinking through this relationship. Key tenets include:

- performance of novel tasks is often achieved in collaboration with other people before it is achieved individually.

- potential for learning is bounded (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 208-209). At a given point in time it is not possible for an individual to learn simply anything. As learning occurs and individual performance increases, so does collaborative learning potential.

- learning takes place within the context of dialectical activity. In this respect, all learning is social.

- although individuals take on ‘novice’ and ‘expert’ positions during learning activity, these positions are flexible.

- for learning to take place, novices and experts should influence the group’s activity. 

Metod: Empirical material was produced with eight different HPE classes in years 6-9 (lower and upper secondary schools) in Sweden. Schools were selected in a way that maximized variation.

Observations consisted of three or four video-recorded lessons with each of the eight classes. Two cameras were used: one stationary and the other mobile. Mobile filming focused on different groups working within the classes. Between two and five students were generally in the frame at any one time and filming was done with the intention of capturing sequences where a group of students worked with a specific problem/task. Here, Emerson’s (2004) notion of key incidents was utilized. Due to the proximity of the camera to students, audio material could be obtained and detailed transcripts of speech exchanges were produced.

Resultat: Data suggest that: (1) teachers often define the outcome of groupwork situations with relative precision but pay less attention to process (i.e. how learners will reach the outcome); (2) many groupwork situations do not result in the creation of ZPD’s and hence do not result in learning in a Vygotskian sense; (3) the creation of ZPD’s in HPE are achieved through corporeal and through linguistic strategies - this makes HPE ZPD’s unique from many educational settings.

Diskussion: The emerging results suggest that HPE teachers should pay more attention to how they define and implement groupwork. They should reflect on how they present groupwork tasks to learners and think about the relationship between group process and learning outcome. Teachers should also consider how ‘expertise gradients’ can be exploited and help learners to occupy novice and expert positions in ways that maximize learning. Finally, the results suggest that facilitation of groupwork should account for learners’ physical and linguistic capacities.  

Violent practices are a common feature of homosocial sporting environments. The objective of the current paper is to explore how one individual disengaged from a sporting community characterized by such practices. An autoethnographic approach involving recollection and interactional exchanges is used to create a realist narrative account which offers insight into the process of disengagement. The narrative focuses on the: (1) ongoing nature of cultural participation; (2) agency and the restriction of ways of being in sports teams and (3) the durable nature of personal characteristics that are learned in sporting environments. These issues are discussed in light of cultural learning theory and specifically, the analytic concept, ‘becoming’. The paper concludes with methodological reflections and a consideration of directions for future research.

While understanding young people has never been easy, migration trends make it increasingly difficult. Many classrooms have become culturally heterogeneous and teachers are often faced with pupils with diverse linguistic and cultural heritages. Current scholarship suggests that as a discipline, physical education has not adapted to this diversity. In fact, commentators have suggested that physical education alienates pupils from minority groups and that traditional practices work to maintain cultural difference. The broad objective of this paper is to provide insights into how physical education intersects with biographies shaped by migration. Drawing from a case study investigation, this paper presents interview data from three youths with migration backgrounds living in a German-speaking region of Switzerland. The cases were selected because they highlight various ways in which physical education (PE) comes to make sense for adolescents. The key arguments that we develop are that ethnicity often works at an implicit level in PE, that young people experience the effects of migration backgrounds in diverse ways, and that migrants themselves support official educational discourses that work to disadvantage people with migration backgrounds. A key implication is that in a cultural milieu in which generalisations are normal and sometimes considered desirable, both researchers and practitioners need to be wary of racialising discourses. As an alternative, it is suggested that focusing on individual processes can improve the conceptualisation and implementation of physical education pedagogies.

This paper critically interrogates widespread assumptions pertaining to the integrative function of sporting involvement in Switzerland. It focuses specifically on young people living in a culturally diverse area and how they make use of discursive variations of the integrative sport text. Interview material draws attention to four main sub-texts that frame sport as: a pedagogical tool, a site of interpersonal exchange, a method of catharsis, and as an apolitical activity without relevance to ethnicity. It is argued that these sub-texts: (1) are embedded within broader culturalist discourse and, (2) either support divisive social relations or do little to challenge them. Both instances suggest that changes are necessary to the way sport is ‘produced’ in discourse if it is to positively influence ethnic relations.

In this paper we illustrate how ways of thinking about ethics are tied up with sport and physical education practice and introduce an alternative approach that can help to develop ethical pedagogies. We begin by locating socio-moral education in physical education within historical and contemporary pedagogical scholarship. Our argument is that the work of today's physical educators is still shaped by claims that were made about school sport in the nineteenth century and that sport scholars have long had difficulties proving these claims empirically. Rather than search for data that can confirm or refute claims of moral learning, we examine how incidents related to moral behaviour occur during physical education lessons. To do this we draw on data from an ethnographic investigation of a school in North Western Switzerland. Specifically, we present three episodes of interaction in three different physical education lessons. To make sense of these episodes, we introduce a social constructionist perspective. The main assumptions of this perspective are: (1) meanings are created through dialogue and consensus and are context-relative; (2) interactions between people are joint accomplishments; and (3) contexts affect how people interact with one another. Equipped with a constructionist framework, we then inspect the interactive episodes more closely. We include brief discussions of how constructionist understandings might inform ethics pedagogies in the future, suggesting that practitioners should be cautious of universal understandings of ethics, consider pupils as members of communities that are held together by shared practices, provide space for pupils to position themselves differently during lessons and, finally, account for contextual factors when evaluating pupils' actions.

Olympic athletes are potentially the most visible exponents of Olympic values. How athletes learn values, however, has not captured the attention of those responsible for Olympic documentation or pedagogues. This paper examines how aspects of Olympism became relevant for three former Olympians during their athletic careers. Interview material suggested that: (1) inconsistencies within official expressions of Olympism mirror tensions in athletic experiences; (2) some claims concerning sport made in the Olympic Charter are simplistic and translate poorly to Olympic experiences that are multidimensional and complex; and (3) universal ethical principles have limited influence on how athletes conduct themselves. The results imply that pedagogues working with elite athletes should make discursive discontinuities in sport explicit, reflect on traditional views of sport education while acknowledging implicit learning, and approach questions of ethics from a specific and practice-oriented standpoint rather than a universal and principle-based one.

Research suggests that extensive training is necessary for the development of sporting expertise. Research also suggests that extensive training can lead to overuse injuries. The aims of this paper are to: (1) expand the concept of expertise in high performance sport, and (2) contribute to the discussion of how high performance athletes move towards expert performance in sustainable ways. To achieve these aims, data from retrospective interviews with four Olympians from four different sports are presented. As a way of extending traditional approaches, a pedagogical framework focusing on dispositional learning is employed to examine athletic development. The notion of threshold concepts is used as a specific analytic tool for thinking about how athletes come to make sense of their sporting environments. Interpretations of the data provide insights into the nature of thresholds in high performance sport, factors that facilitate threshold crossing, and factors that may prevent athletes from making advances, all of which have implications for practitioners interested in developing expertise.

This article outlines sociocultural learning theory, shows how this theory can be used to examine end-of-career athletic transitions, and stimulates discussion on the implications of this framework for sport professionals. The central question addressed is how learning in elite sport affects participation in activities beyond sporting settings. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with three former Olympians are presented. The interpretation suggests that: 1) movement to new social settings involves abandoning some elements of athletic dispositions and developing new elements, 2) transitions are affected by prior learning in sport and the characteristics of new settings, and 3) learning in sporting environments is often unintentional or implicit. The results encourage practitioners to acknowledge the effort involved in developing new dispositions in different settings. They support a case-specific view of transitions where 'success' is considered in contextual terms. Further, the data highlight a need for sport professionals to recognize tacit learning.

Success in high performance sport has always been highly valued. Today, lucrative contracts, sponsorship deals and opportunities for celebrity status are balanced against substantial time spent training and high chances of failure. With pressure mounting on athletes to make the most of their athletic 'investment', the temptation to compromise their future well-being by exploiting their bodies for short-term gain and/or by cheating is growing. The aim of this paper is to explore the utility of sustainability science for thinking about these types of issues. Sustainability science is an emerging field which seeks to preserve the well-being of the planet and those on it by exploring the potential of nature and culture without compromising the future resource base. It specializes in developing holistic perspectives, considering multiple time scales, optimizing current systems without compromising the carrying capacity of the Earth, but also questioning the values and principles that dominate current ways of producing and consuming. Sustainability science acknowledges that we live in a rapidly changing world characterized by high levels of complexity and uncertainty. The proposition developed in this paper is that an exploration of sustainability perspectives can be generative in re-thinking and re-orienting the principles of high level competitive sports.

This review article identifies the conceptual underpinnings of currentmovement research in physical education. Using a hermeneuticapproach, four analogies for movement education are identified:the motor program analogy, the neurobiological systems analogy, theinstinctive movement analogy, and the embodied exploration analogy.Three issues related to logical consistency and its relevance for movementeducation are raised. The first relates to tensions between theanalogies and educational policy. The second concerns differencesamong the four analogies. The third issue relates to the appropriatenessof specific analogies for dealing with certain movement contexts.In each case, strategies for improvement are considered. Thearticle concludes with a brief summary, along with reflections onissues that require further attention.

Purpose: To (a) present a theoretical framework that describes how learners' movement habits become relevant in the development of movement capability and (b) present data that illustrate how this process occurs in practice.

Method: An investigation with preservice physical education teachers was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved examining participants' movement habits, and the second phase involved examining the participants' development of novel capabilities in the context of unicycling.

Results: Empirical materials from two participants are presented as case studies. The cases demonstrate how different sets of movement habits interact with novel tasks, making the demand for creative action more or less likely. The cases also demonstrate how subjective and physical elements are interwoven. Finally, the cases provide insights into potentially productive habits for movement learning.

Discussion/Conclusion: The paper is concluded with pedagogical implications, including a consideration of how crises might be managed in educational contexts.

Purpose: To describe student learning when physical education teacher and students attempted to develop movement capability.

Methods: The study reports on the implementation of a 10-lesson pedagogical sequence. Data were generated using observations, interviews, and student diaries with one grade 9 class (26 students aged approximately 15 years) as they developed juggling capabilities. Data were analyzed using the notion of corporeal thresholds.

Results: Results show that (a) a “throw–throw–catch–catch” pattern emerged as a corporeal threshold for juggling within the sequence; (b) most learners had crossed the threshold at the outset and were able to experiment with different forms of juggling during the sequence; (c) some students crossed the threshold during the sequence. These students experienced liminal phases, characterized by frustration and an initial feeling that they were juggling in the “wrong” way; and (d) some learners became stuck, pretended to know what to do, and did not cross the threshold during the 10 lessons.

Discussion/Conclusion: Three issues related to the threshold approach are discussed: student identity and group membership, the process of learning, and the emotional dimensions of movement learning. This study is concluded with reflections on the implications of the results for scholarship.

This chapter provides an illustration of how digital technologies (DTs) are experienced by Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students. The illustration is based on the reflections of two students at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The students received an assignment that involved demonstrating how a specific DT could be implemented. Three perspectives of the practitioners' experiences are provided. A Deweyan perspective shows how the students and their situations are transformed by DTs. A Foucauldian perspective focuses on the regulating aspects of technology. An applied Information Technology perspective demonstrates how DTs become part of the social practices of physical education.

Skill development was traditionally seen through a positivist lens. Research was based on mind-body, individual-environment, and performer-skill dualisms, and researchers assumed that universal principles would ensure optimal development. Metaphorically, these assumptions represented a target hitting understanding of skill development. The goal was for the performer to hit the target of optimal performance as reliably as possible. Such an understanding commits researchers and practitioners to practical and methodological approaches. The aim of this paper is to reconsider skill development and think beyond a target hitting metaphor. To achieve this aim, we outline a kinesio-cultural exploration approach to skill development. This approach is based on a metaphoric understanding of skill development as familiarizing oneself with a landscape. Attaining familiarity in movement landscapes, or 'kinescapes', requires spending time in these fields, attending to critical aspects, and remaining flexible. From this perspective, skilled performers are qualitatively different to 'target hitting' performers.

Skill development was traditionally seen through a positivist lens. Research was based on mind-body, individual-environment, and performer-skill dualisms, and researchers assumed that universal principles would ensure optimal development. Metaphorically, these assumptions represented a target hitting understanding of skill development. The goal was for the performer to hit the target of optimal performance as reliably as possible. Such an understanding commits researchers and practitioners to practical and methodological approaches. The aim of this paper is to reconsider skill development and think beyond a target hitting metaphor. To achieve this aim, we outline a kinesio-cultural exploration approach to skill development. This approach is based on a metaphoric understanding of skill development as familiarizing oneself with a landscape. Attaining familiarity in movement landscapes, or "kinescapes", requires spending time in these fields, attending to critical aspects, and remaining flexible. From this perspective, skilled performers are qualitatively different to "target hitting" performers.

Emotional dimensions of physical education have garnered attention from scholars in the last two decades. Many scholars claim that emotions significantly affect learning and that positive emotions such as joy and pleasure are necessary for continued participation in movement activities beyond the classroom. Much of the existing literature, however, is based on the idea that emotions comprise internal mental states that are retrospectively oriented. In the current paper, we work with alternative principles that can create new understandings of the affective dimensions of PE and specifically, movement learning. We draw on symbolic interactionist principles, framing emotions as multimodal communicative resources that are performed in social contexts. From this perspective, we demonstrate how emotions: (1) can be investigated as part of the production of broader sequences of pedagogical action and (2) relate to issues of knowledge, identity and authority. We present observational material generated with PE teacher education students as they develop movement capability. We focus on three interactional episodes in which fear, joy and resignation are performed by students interacting with either peers or an observing researcher. In each case, we demonstrate how emotions: affiliate or dis-affiliate the actor with the movement knowledge in focus, index an institutionally recognizable identity and influence the subsequent actions of the participants in the interactional sequence. The key thesis developed in the paper is that as symbolic resources, emotions have important consequences for actors within movement learning environments. The paper is concluded with reflections on the implications of the approach for practitioners along with a consideration of questions in need of further scientific attention.

Emotional dimensions of physical education have garnered attention fromscholars in the last two decades. Many scholars claim that emotionssignificantly affect learning and that positive emotions such as joy andpleasure are necessary for continued participation in movementactivities beyond the classroom. Much of the existing literature,however, is based on the idea that emotions comprise internal mentalstates that are retrospectively oriented. In the current paper, we workwith alternative principles that can create new understandings of theaffective dimensions of PE and specifically, movement learning. We drawon symbolic interactionist principles, framing emotions as multimodalcommunicative resources that are performed in social contexts. Fromthis perspective, we demonstrate how emotions: (1) can be investigatedas part of the production of broader sequences of pedagogical actionand (2) relate to issues of knowledge, identity and authority. We presentobservational material generated with PE teacher education students asthey develop movement capability. We focus on three interactionalepisodes in which fear, joy and resignation are performed by studentsinteracting with either peers or an observing researcher. In each case,we demonstrate how emotions: affiliate or dis-affiliate the actor with themovement knowledge in focus, index an institutionally recognizableidentity and influence the subsequent actions of the participants in theinteractional sequence. The key thesis developed in the paper is that assymbolic resources, emotions have important consequences for actorswithin movement learning environments. The paper is concluded withreflections on the implications of the approach for practitioners alongwith a consideration of questions in need of further scientific attention.

Group work is used in physical education (PE) to encourage student-directed, collaborative learning. Aligned with this aim, group work is expected to shift some power from teacher to students and enable students to make decisions and co-construct meaning on their own. There are, however, very few investigations focusing on power in group work situations in PE, with most research focusing on learning and content. Assumptions about the nature of power and its mechanisms have been largely implicit. The purpose of this paper was consequently to explore power relations in PE group work. To do this, we have drawn primarily on observational data of three groups working together to choreograph a dance performance in a Swedish PE lesson. A small amount of pre- and post-lesson interview material is used as a complementary data source. Michel Foucault’s notion of power as action-on-action is used to identify different types of power relations in this group work. Four specific kinds of relations are presented concerning: (1) the students’ task; (2) other cultures; (3) gender; and (4) interactions with one another. These relations suggest that power relations are not simply created locally between group members, nor are power relations only a function of the members’ proficiency in the task. In these respects, the results encourage a reconsideration of learning in group work and open up new avenues for further research. The paper is concluded with practical considerations that relate to common assumptions about student power, teacher authority and the potential benefit of ambiguous tasks in group work.

Group work is used in physical education (PE) to encourage student-directed, collaborative learning. Aligned with this aim, group work is expected to shift some power from teacher to students and enable students to make decisions and co-construct meaning on their own. There are, however, very few investigations focusing on power in group work situations in PE, with most research focusing on learning and content. Assumptions about the nature of power and its mechanisms have been largely implicit. The purpose of this paper was consequently to explore power relations in PE group work. To do this, we have drawn primarily on observational data of three groups working together to choreograph a dance performance in a Swedish PE lesson. A small amount of pre- and post-lesson interview material is used as a complementary data source. Michel Foucault’s notion of power as action-on-action is used to identify different types of power relations in this group work. Four specific kinds of relations are presented concerning: (1) the students’ task; (2) other cultures; (3) gender; and (4) interactions with one another. These relations suggest that power relations are not simply created locally between group members, nor are power relations only a function of the members’ proficiency in the task. In these respects, the results encourage a reconsideration of learning in group work and open up new avenues for further research. The paper is concluded with practical considerations that relate to common assumptions about student power, teacher authority and the potential benefit of ambiguous tasks in group work.

Background: Group work is often used in Physical Education (and Health – HPE). In this paper, we propose that despite: (1) its widespread use; (2) advances surrounding HPE models that utilize group strategies; and (3) a significant amount of literature dealing with group work in other school subjects, we do not have a particularly good theoretical understanding of group learning in HPE.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose one way of conceptualizing individual learning in peer interaction based on three tenets of post-Vygotskian theory that relate to the zone of proximal development (ZPD); namely that in learning situations: (i) group members engage in shared communication; (ii) expert–novice relationships can develop and change during group activities and (iii) constructing knowledge can be thought of as reaching agreement.

Participants and setting: Empirical material was generated with eight different HPE classes in lower and upper secondary schools in Sweden. Schools were selected in a way that maximized variation and were distributed across four geographic locations with varying sizes and types of communities.

Data collection: Observational material was produced at each of the sites with the use of two cameras: one stationary and the other mobile. Stationary filming maintained a wideangled focus and captured the entire class. Mobile filming focused on different groups working within the classes. During mobile filming, between two and five students were generally in the frame and filming was directed at sequences in which a group of students worked together on a specific task.

Data analysis: Analysis of the data focused on two kinds of incidents. The first

comprised a sequence in which two or more students were interacting to complete a

task which they could not immediately do and were engaged in collective

signification by talking about or doing the activity in mutually compatible ways.

These conditions were sufficient in our view to signal the creation of a ZPD. The

second kind of incident fulfilled the first criteria but not the second – i.e. the students

were interacting but not in mutually compatible ways.

Findings: A post-Vygotskian interpretation of three group work sequences draws

attention to: (i) the flexible and fluid nature of ‘expertness’ as it exists within groups;

(ii) the unpredictable nature of member interactions and (iii) the challenging role that

teachers occupy while trying to facilitate group work.

Conclusion: Such an interpretation contributes to a growing understanding of group

work and helps HPE practitioners to make the most of a teaching strategy which is

already used widely in schools.

If group work has not always been a central element of Physical Education (and Health - HPE), then it has certainly become one in recent times (Ward & Lee, 2005). In this paper we propose that despite: (1) the widespread use of group work in HPE; and (2) significant theoretical advances surrounding HPE models that utilize group strategies (Dyson, Griffin, & Hastie, 2004), we do not have a particularly good theoretical understanding of how learning in groups takes place in the practice of HPE. In order to fill what we see as a significant lacuna, the aim of this paper is to propose one way of conceptualizing individual learning in peer interaction based on three tenets of post-Vygotskian theory; namely that in learning situations: (i) group members create collective consciousnesses; (ii) expert-novice relationships develop and change; and (iii) knowledge can be thought of as reaching agreement (Roth & Radford, 2010). These tenets are considered with respect to three empirical instances that are represented with transcript material from observations conducted in Swedish HPE lessons. A post-Vygotskian interpretation encourages us to consider: (i) how student engagement with tasks relates to learning; (ii) how group members become “other-oriented” along with the reasons why they might not orient themselves towards others, and (iii) how “non-experts” guide interactions even as “expertness” shifts between members. Such an interpretation has the potential to contribute to a growing understanding of group work and help HPE practitioners make the most of a teaching strategy which is already used widely in schools.

References

Dyson, B., Griffin, L., & Hastie, P. (2004). Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning: Theoretical and pedagogical considerations. Quest, 56, 226-240.

Roth, W., & Radford, L. (2010). Re/thinking the zone of proximal development (symmetrically). Mind, Culture and Activity, 17, 299-307.  

Ward, P. & Lee, M. (2005). Peer-Assisted Learning in Physical Education: A Review of Theory and Research. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 24, 205-225.

Background: Group work is often used in Physical Education (and Health – HPE). In this paper, we propose that despite: (1) its widespread use; (2) advances surrounding HPE models that utilize group strategies; and (3) a significant amount of literature dealing with group work in other school subjects, we do not have a particularly good theoretical understanding of group learning in HPE.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose one way of conceptualizing individual learning in peer interaction based on three tenets of post-Vygotskian theory that relate to the zone of proximal development (ZPD); namely that in learning situations: (i) group members engage in shared communication; (ii) expert–novice relationships can develop and change during group activities and (iii) constructing knowledge can be thought of as reaching agreement.

Participants and setting: Empirical material was generated with eight different HPE classes in lower and upper secondary schools in Sweden. Schools were selected in a way that maximized variation and were distributed across four geographic locations with varying sizes and types of communities.

Data collection: Observational material was produced at each of the sites with the use of two cameras: one stationary and the other mobile. Stationary filming maintained a wideangled focus and captured the entire class. Mobile filming focused on different groups working within the classes. During mobile filming, between two and five students were generally in the frame and filming was directed at sequences in which a group of students worked together on a specific task.

Data analysis: Analysis of the data focused on two kinds of incidents. The first

comprised a sequence in which two or more students were interacting to complete a

task which they could not immediately do and were engaged in collective

signification by talking about or doing the activity in mutually compatible ways.

These conditions were sufficient in our view to signal the creation of a ZPD. The

second kind of incident fulfilled the first criteria but not the second – i.e. the students

were interacting but not in mutually compatible ways.

Findings: A post-Vygotskian interpretation of three group work sequences draws

attention to: (i) the flexible and fluid nature of ‘expertness’ as it exists within groups;

(ii) the unpredictable nature of member interactions and (iii) the challenging role that

teachers occupy while trying to facilitate group work.

Conclusion: Such an interpretation contributes to a growing understanding of group

work and helps HPE practitioners to make the most of a teaching strategy which is

already used widely in schools.

If group work has not always been a central element of Physical Education (and Health - HPE), then it has certainly become one in recent times (Ward & Lee, 2005). In this paper we propose that despite: (1) the widespread use of group work in HPE; and (2) significant theoretical advances surrounding HPE models that utilize group strategies (Dyson, Griffin, & Hastie, 2004), we do not have a particularly good theoretical understanding of how learning in groups takes place in the practice of HPE. In order to fill what we see as a significant lacuna, the aim of this paper is to propose one way of conceptualizing individual learning in peer interaction based on three tenets of post-Vygotskian theory; namely that in learning situations: (i) group members create collective consciousnesses; (ii) expert-novice relationships develop and change; and (iii) knowledge can be thought of as reaching agreement (Roth & Radford, 2010). These tenets are considered with respect to three empirical instances that are represented with transcript material from observations conducted in Swedish HPE lessons. A post-Vygotskian interpretation encourages us to consider: (i) how student engagement with tasks relates to learning; (ii) how group members become “other-oriented” along with the reasons why they might not orient themselves towards others, and (iii) how “non-experts” guide interactions even as “expertness” shifts between members. Such an interpretation has the potential to contribute to a growing understanding of group work and help HPE practitioners make the most of a teaching strategy which is already used widely in schools.

References

Dyson, B., Griffin, L., & Hastie, P. (2004). Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning: Theoretical and pedagogical considerations. Quest, 56, 226-240.

Roth, W., & Radford, L. (2010). Re/thinking the zone of proximal development (symmetrically). Mind, Culture and Activity, 17, 299-307.  

Ward, P. & Lee, M. (2005). Peer-Assisted Learning in Physical Education: A Review of Theory and Research. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 24, 205-225.

In line with contemporary constructivist pedagogies, students are frequently expected to learn through interaction in physical education (PE). There is a relatively sophisticated body of literature focusing on learning in groups, peer teaching, and cooperative learning. Current research has not, however, focused on how the body is implicated in interactional learning. This is surprising given that much learning in PE is expected to take place in the physical domain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to current theorizing by examining social interactions in PE practice. By drawing on symbolic interactionist theory, we put forward a framework for considering how inter-student interactions occur in a multimodal sense. Key ideas relate to (1) the sequential organization of interactions; (2) the ways in which semiotic resources in different fields are used to elaborate each other; (3) the importance of interpretation as a driver of interaction; (4) the creation of local environments in which participants attend to and work together within a shared world of perception; and (5) the influence of material environments on social interaction. The specific concepts employed are epistemic ecology, epistemic position, and learning trajectory. The paper includes observational data from an investigation of learning in Swedish PE to demonstrate the explanatory power and limitations of the theoretical tenets presented. The paper is concluded with practical implications of understanding group work in a multimodal manner.

In line with contemporary constructivist pedagogies, students are frequently expected to learn through interaction in physical education (PE). There is a relatively sophisticated body of literature focusing on learning in groups, peer teaching, and cooperative learning. Current research has not, however, focused on how the body is implicated in interactional learning. This is surprising given that much learning in PE is expected to take place in the physical domain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to current theorizing by examining social interactions in PE practice. By drawing on symbolic interactionist theory, we put forward a framework for considering how inter-student interactions occur in a multimodal sense. Key ideas relate to (1) the sequential organization of interactions; (2) the ways in which semiotic resources in different fields are used to elaborate each other; (3) the importance of interpretation as a driver of interaction; (4) the creation of local environments in which participants attend to and work together within a shared world of perception; and (5) the influence of material environments on social interaction. The specific concepts employed are epistemic ecology, epistemic position, and learning trajectory. The paper includes observational data from an investigation of learning in Swedish PE to demonstrate the explanatory power and limitations of the theoretical tenets presented. The paper is concluded with practical implications of understanding group work in a multimodal manner.

Background: People often expect physical education teachers to look fit and athletic, to do lots of physical activity, and to eat well. While ample research exists on physical education teachers' bodies, relatively few scholars have investigated how physical educators relate corporeal expectations to broader ideas about subject content, pedagogy, and the purposes of the school subject.

Aim: The specific aim of the paper is to identify the assumptions about content, pedagogy, and educational purposes that teachers make when they talk about a perceived need for physical educators to look fit and athletic.

Method: To frame our work theoretically, we draw from a Swedish didaktik of physical education tradition and employ Bakhtin's concept of speech genres, and Wertsch's concept of privileging. Our empirical material consists of transcripts generated from 6 focus group and 6 individual interviews (24 teachers in total, average age of 40 years, average teaching experience 11 years).

Findings: Data suggest that when teachers use an 'athletic-looking teacher as healthy role model' speech genre, they tend to privilege: (1) a particular version of health as subject content that involves not being too overweight and maintaining physical functionality in sports. This content is based on biomedical conceptions of health which foreground exercise, eating and weight, and a pathogenic reduction of risk; (2) particular pedagogies in PE that put the teacher at the centre of the pedagogical situation, and; (3) a certain educational purpose in PE, which is to educate citizens for healthy lives through participation in sport. With respect to this purpose, increasing body weight enters the genre as a potential obstacle for educational success.

Discussion: The findings raise questions concerning appropriate curricular content and its relation to teacher identities. They suggest that learning possibilities may be missed when certain content, pedagogies, and outcomes are privileged. The findings also indicate how wider voices are implicated in the speech genre.

Conclusion: The paper is concluded with reflections on the possibility for change regarding expectations of physical education teachers' bodies and pedagogies.

Background: People often expect physical education teachers to look fit and athletic, to do lots of physical activity, and to eat well. While ample research exists on physical education teachers' bodies, relatively few scholars have investigated how physical educators relate corporeal expectations to broader ideas about subject content, pedagogy, and the purposes of the school subject.

Aim: The specific aim of the paper is to identify the assumptions about content, pedagogy, and educational purposes that teachers make when they talk about a perceived need for physical educators to look fit and athletic.

Method: To frame our work theoretically, we draw from a Swedish didaktik of physical education tradition and employ Bakhtin's concept of speech genres, and Wertsch's concept of privileging. Our empirical material consists of transcripts generated from 6 focus group and 6 individual interviews (24 teachers in total, average age of 40 years, average teaching experience 11 years).

Findings: Data suggest that when teachers use an 'athletic-looking teacher as healthy role model' speech genre, they tend to privilege: (1) a particular version of health as subject content that involves not being too overweight and maintaining physical functionality in sports. This content is based on biomedical conceptions of health which foreground exercise, eating and weight, and a pathogenic reduction of risk; (2) particular pedagogies in PE that put the teacher at the centre of the pedagogical situation, and; (3) a certain educational purpose in PE, which is to educate citizens for healthy lives through participation in sport. With respect to this purpose, increasing body weight enters the genre as a potential obstacle for educational success.

Discussion: The findings raise questions concerning appropriate curricular content and its relation to teacher identities. They suggest that learning possibilities may be missed when certain content, pedagogies, and outcomes are privileged. The findings also indicate how wider voices are implicated in the speech genre.

Conclusion: The paper is concluded with reflections on the possibility for change regarding expectations of physical education teachers' bodies and pedagogies.