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Achieving gender equity and social inclusiveness remains a key priority in education. In the context of Physical Education (PE), fostering inclusive practices is critical to ensuring all students, regardless of gender, ability, or social status, can participate meaningfully. By examining the impact of three pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) equity-driven pedagogical practices on gender equity and student engagement in game-based activities, this study investigates how targeted pedagogical interventions can reduce gender disparities in engagement and promote inclusivity in student game interactions within PE classes. Specifically, we aimed to determine whether students of different sexes exhibit similar engagement rates, identify any existing disparities, examine changes in these disparities during the intervention, assess the equity and inclusiveness of student game interactions, and explore the link between these interactions and engagement rates. A total of three PSTs were engaged in a yearlong study, divided into two units: basketball (3v3) and volleyball (4v4). A pedagogical scaffolding intervention aimed at fostering equity and inclusion was implemented through their yearlong engagement in school-placement teaching practices. Data concerning students’ participation in game-based activities were collected in the first and last unit of the schoolyear (Basketball—first semester; and Volleyball—second semester). Engagement rates, measured as participation time (PT) and Rate of Play (RoP), were recorded through video analysis. A Social Network Analysis (SNA) was used to evaluate the equity and inclusiveness of student interactions. Initial disparities in engagement rates favoured boys in both sports. However, post-test results indicated a significant increase in engagement for both sexes, with disparities decreasing over the intervention period. Basketball showed a significant reduction in gender differences in RoP (p < 0.05), while volleyball results indicated no significant gender disparities post-intervention. The SNA revealed more equitable and inclusive game interactions over time, particularly in volleyball. The results suggest the pedagogical intervention’s effectiveness in increasing students’ engagement and reducing game-based gender disparities. These findings underscore the importance of deliberate scaffolding strategies to enhance equity and inclusion, highlighting the potential of the reported strategies for fostering a more inclusive and engaging environment for all students.

Equity and inclusion are requisites of high-quality Physical Education (PE). However, there is a substantial gap in understanding PE Teacher Education’s (PETE) effectiveness in preparing Preservice Teachers (PSTs) to implement equity-driven pedagogies. Moreover, focused on individual retrospective gameplay engagement rates (participation time), current research fails to provide a holistic perspective of the practical manifestations of equity and inclusion in PE. This study fills this void with novel insights offered by a mixed-methods case study examining the following: (i) the process-oriented teaching strategies employed by a PST trained to deliver inclusive pedagogies, alongside student voices on lived experiences; and (ii) the outcome-oriented gameplay patterns across two teaching units (Basketball and Volleyball). Participants included one PST and 26 students. Extensive observations and focus groups mapped the applied teaching strategies and student responses. Video-based social network analysis captured equity and inclusion in students’ gameplay patterns, using metrics such as degree prestige. Findings indicate the PETE impact in inducing PSTs’ inclusive manipulation of learning activities and the fostering of inclusive team membership and positive collaboration. SNA metrics evidenced equitable and inclusive gameplay patterns. Despite pedagogical efforts, content-specific factors may influence students’ gameplay inclusion. Hence, a reflection on the multifaceted and non-linear nature of promoting inclusive participation is prompted.

Pedagogy is defined as a concept based on the transfer of teacher’ knowledge and skills to the learner. Similar definition of pedagogy has been detected on physical education field. Physical education pedagogy is examined in three sub-dimensions which are teaching physical education, physical education teacher education and curriculum. In this study, articles about physical education pedagogy published in scientific journals scanned in TR Index were examined using document review and descriptive content analysis methods. Totally 2157 studies from six journals publishing in TR Index were accessed and 18 articles were selected. The first and second authors of the study examined and analyzed the studies. Inter-researcher consistency was 93.4 % which indicated high consistency. Results showed that five studies for teaching physical education, six studies for physical education teacher education and seven studies for curriculum sub-domains of pedagogy were published in TR Index. Teaching physical education studies focused on effectiveness of models, materials and instructional design. In physical education teacher education sub-domain, studies examined effectiveness of peer teaching model, teaching practice and scale development. Results also indicated that all seven curriculum studies focused on examination of renewed or updated physical education and sport curriculum. As a conclusion, the number of articles on physical education pedagogy published in the TR Index was not sufficient considering the total number of published studies. Curriculum studies were generally carried out shortly after the curriculum updates in Turkey. There is a need for longitudinal studies that examine the long-term effects of curricula and evaluate the curricula in terms of all stakeholders affected by the program.

Reflection is crucial for aspiring teachers, yet many pre-service teachers (PSTs) struggle to grasp its true meaning. This study explores how PSTs deconstruct their initial reflections and re-signify their understanding based on challenges encountered in real-world practicum settings. Additionally, it examines how the facilitator supported the PSTs’ reflections over time. Over the course of a year in the physical education teacher education context, six PSTs, along with the first author, who fulfilled dual roles as external facilitator and researcher, engaged in three iterative Action Research (AR) cycles. Within each AR cycle, the external facilitator explored the authentic teaching challenges faced by PSTs, offering individualized support while unpacking reflection concepts. Data were collected through focus group interviews, reflective journals from the PSTs, and the observation of participants by the external facilitator, which provided contextual field notes on the PSTs’ teaching–learning experiences. Our findings emphasize the need to initially understand PSTs’ views on reflection. This serves as a starting point for deconstructing the three concepts outlined in our theoretical framework, through the scrutiny of PSTs’ real teaching–learning experiences. This process facilitated a resignification, leading to an advanced comprehension of reflection among the PSTs. The study emphasizes the value of integrating this approach into systemic teacher education reforms and suggests extending training and mentorship to cooperating teachers.

Research examining Service-Learning (SL) in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) is ample. However, long-term investigations are still scarce and literature demands the application of this type of design to uncover the effects of SL on the long run. This study followed a longitudinal quantitative approach; thus, the participants completed the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ) in three occasions (pretest-postest1-postest2). Results show that there exist significant differences between mean values of the global outcomes of the CASQ; concretely, there was an improvement in the first interval followed by a decrease in the second period. Regarding the different dimensions of the CASQ, leadership skills, attitudes towards social justice and attitudes towards diversity showed significant differences too. This research leads towards better understanding of methodological strategies promoting quality education, positing SL as an adequate possibility in this respect, also in the long term.

Creating dance in physical education teacher education (PETE) is described as a way of expressing subjective experiences based on movements that the students have already mastered or as a way of composing dance with set movements from various dance forms that are further explored through concepts such as time, space, power and flow. This article shows how 13 Norwegian student teachers experienced the creation of dance as part of their PETE. It explores the following questions: how do student teachers in PETE experience dance creation as an embodied process of exploring, transforming and creating movements, and how were these experiences facilitated by bodily learning that was initiated by body memories? The results show that creating dance is a intersubjective, intercorporeal and interaffective phenomenon where the sense-making process happens as both an individual and a joint process. This ongoing individual and participatory sense-making can further be understood as a reciprocal dependency between culture and self, where the students' bodily learning process evolves on an existential level over time. Through this process, the students develop a sense of confidence and trust in each other, which creates a feeling of belonging. The educational potential of bodily learning through creating dance can be seen in relation to the affordances the students perceive and utilize within their learning culture in PETE.

As a part of the discussion about how movement knowledge is valued in physical education teacher education (PETE), issues of assessment have been brought to the fore. Studies have shown that how and when movement knowledge is assessed is strongly culturally dependent and based different epistemological orientations. The aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss how preservice teachers in Sweden perceive assessment in an invasion games course according to the games performance assessment instrument (GPAI). The empirical material presented in this study is based on a web-survey carried out at the end of the invasion games course where the participants were asked to write comments of how the experienced GPAI and its relevance in school physical education. The findings suggest that the preservice teacher experience prediction and measurement of appropriate and non-appropriate behaviours in GPAI as problematic from a didactic perspective. The ideas of “correctness” and “appropriateness”, which are fundamental in GPAI, is discussed in the relation to the socially critical constructivist epistemology that underpins Swedish PETE.

Skolen blir pekt på som en arena som skal hjelpe barn og unge å håndtere problematikker knyttet til helse og kropp. I kroppsøving skal elevene lære både om kropp og med kroppen. Følelser, erfaringer og meninger knyttet til kroppen og det kroppslige synes å være essensielt i faget. Et sentralt spørsmål blir da hva fremtidens kroppsøvingslærere lærer i sin utdanning for å få kompetanse til å undervise mot slike mål. I denne artikkelen trekker vi frem to teoretiske perspektiver på kropp: kroppen som objekt og kroppen som subjekt. Gjennom en teoridrevet tekstanalyse viser vi hvordan disse perspektivene kommer til syne i styringsdokumenter i skolefaget kroppsøving og i faglærerutdanning i kroppsøving og idrettsfag. Analysen viser at både skolefaget kroppsøving og faglærerutdanningen åpner opp for en bred forståelse av kropp, særlig i formål og innledende tekst. I målformuleringene er det imidlertid mindre tydelig at kropp kan forstås ut i fra ulike teoretiske perspektiver. På bakgrunn av dette diskuterer vi hvordan ulike perspektiver på kropp kan etablere et handlingsrom for fagutvikling innen et inkluderende kroppsøvingsfag som makter å konstruktivt møte og bidra til læring og utvikling hos ulike elever.

The purpose of this research was to explore the similarities and differences of existing induction systems for physical education (PE) teachers in Europe. Physical education teacher education (PETE) experts from 25 European countries shared their PETE curricula and best practices in their induction systems. Data was collected through a semi-structured template that informed the experts’ presentation of the induction procedures and experiences in their respective countries. Question and answer sessions after each presentation allowed for clarification and further information to be collected. All presentations were thematically analysed. Results stated that in the majority of countries involved in this project, there is no coherent or systematic structured induction programmes for novice PE teachers. Some countries have developed a good system of induction, some are trying to develop it however in most cases, in some reasons, those systems are relatively unsystematic and not fully embedded in their education system. Clearly, there is a need for a systematic model of a culture of induction of novices PE teachers in the teaching profession in individual countries. The present research on induction can help teacher education program developers to design educative, cost-effective opportunities for novice PE teachers by context adapting and replicating existing successful programs.