Göran Gerdin

Calls to embed values of equity, inclusion and democracy in education have become increasingly prominent in discussions about the aims and purposes of education. These calls are reflected in curric...

Play is widely recognised as central to children’s well-being, learning and development, yet it remains a concept marked by ambiguity and multiple interpretations (Sommer, 2020). While play is comm...

Ensuring teachers in physical education (PE) are equipped to teach aquatic content is essential for reducing drowning risk and supporting inclusive, lifelong engagement with water. Research highlights variation in how aquatic education is delivered across Swedish physical education teacher education (PETE) programmes, raising questions about how water competence is addressed in teacher preparation. The purpose of this study is to explore how Swedish PETE programmes conceptualise and implement aquatic education and to shed light on how future PE teachers can be better prepared to foster meaningful and inclusive aquatic learning for their students. Drawing on Stallman et al.’s (2017) framework of 15 interrelated water competencies, the study uses semi-structured interviews and curriculum document analysis to examine how aquatic education is conceptualised and implemented. Three key themes emerged: (1) a narrow interpretation of curriculum goals that prioritises technical benchmarks over survival skills, inclusive pedagogy and risk awareness; (2) limited opportunities for practical teaching in aquatic settings; and (3) systemic constraints such as limited access to facilities and reliance on external providers. Rather than applying the water competence framework as a checklist, the study uses it as a lens to explore how PETE can better support pedagogically grounded, inclusive and contextually relevant aquatic education that prepares teachers for diverse school environments.

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

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

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

The need to focus on social cohesion comes to the fore in times of increasing social inequity, and during the current social changes and challenges that undermine the established social fabric of our societies such as large-scale immigration, increasingly nationalist governments, and the polarising perspectives on, as well as responses to, global pandemics. Chapter 7 makes the case that the nature of compulsory school physical education offers an ideal opportunity to rebuild relationships and inclusive social environments. Drawing on data from the EDUHEALTH project conducted in Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand, examples of teaching for social cohesion in physical education are provided through a focus on building teacher/student and student/student relationships, inclusiveness, culturally inclusive practices, planning and structuring activities that require students to work in heterogeneous teams and require interdependence between group members, and focusing on personal and social responsibility by encouraging adherence to the principles of fair play and democratically determined rules. The chapter concludes by discussing how social cohesion as a quest for – or precursor to – social justice must move students’ thinking beyond mere social integration to address the social conditions that privilege the values and beliefs of some communities, cultures, and religions whilst lessening others (minorities).