Physical Education (PE) teachers have previous experiences that both shape their particular beliefs about the role and purpose of this school subject as well as their pedagogical practice. The present study aims to examine and deepen our knowledge of future Spanish PE teachers' previous experiences of and beliefs about PE that condition their…

This article uses poetry to show how we might reimagine the body and movement in ways that speak back to and subvert dominant and neoliberal conceptions of health and physical education (HPE). Drawing on the notion of poiesis and Arnold's conceptualisation of physical education as "in through and about movement," I explore possibilities…

The following sociologically orientated study explores how two physical education (PE) teachers at two secondary schools in North West England construct the notion of 'healthiness', and how this informs their health-based PE practice. The research process was influenced by figurational sociology [Elias, N. (1978). "What is sociology?"…

Social media can become a site of public pedagogy (Rich, E., & Miah, A. (2014). Understanding digital health as public pedagogy: A critical framework. "Societies," 4(2), 296-315. doi:10.3390/soc4020296) through which young people learn about health and fitness. Photo and video-sharing social networks are emerging as sites of media…

Kirk warns that physical education (PE) exists in a precarious situation as the dominance of the multi-activity sport-techniques model, and its associated problems, threatens the long-term educational survival of PE. Yet he also notes that although the model is problematic it is highly resistant to change. In this paper, we draw on the results of…

Within the Canadian context, the physical activity levels of children and youth in the after school time period has become a source of public health concern. We argue that this concern is informed by broader public health crises, in particular the "global obesity epidemic" and the closely related "global pandemic of physical…

Sport is widely recognised as having the potential to enhance the personal development of socially vulnerable youth, yet there is very limited knowledge on how community sports coaches can create optimal social conditions for life skill development and transferability. We adopt a salutogenic approach in order to study whether and how community…

This paper utilises critical discourse analysis to explore and discuss the expression of health within physical education (PE) curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales. The study adopted a case study approach, involving three state secondary schools in England and two in Wales. Data were drawn from interviews with PE teachers and…

In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults' health behaviours. This paper…

Various government policies, strategies and responses in England over the years have highlighted schools and physical education to be instrumental in addressing health and the focus on health has been strengthened within subsequent revisions of the National Curriculum. Whilst this might seem encouraging, concerns have been expressed that such…

In the debate over health, one political message has become more and more dominant in western societies over the past decade: "Get moving!" The logic seems to be that physical activity per se equals better health and that the more physical activity, the better one's health. This logic has, among other things, induced an increased…

This paper presents selected findings from a wider study on the expression of health within physical education (PE) curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales. The study revealed that the expression of health in PE broadly reflected ideologies associated with promoting "fitness for life" and "fitness for performance"…

The role of schools and physical education in promoting health, producing a "healthy nation" and in tackling obesity has been increasingly recognised in recent years. In England this is evidenced by various policies, strategies and responses from government that have highlighted schools to be instrumental in addressing health broadly and…

Acknowledging the performative sporting discourses which continue to dominate physical education, and the emerging focus on disease prevention within this context, this paper presents a socio-ecological framework for physical education that aims to shift the focus towards more multidimensional understandings of what it means to be "physically…

Saturating the Canadian landscape are media and health industry discourses representing childhood physical "(in)activity" and "obesity" as being at "epidemic" proportion. Increasingly identified as a focus of concern within such representations is the school setting, simultaneously positioned both as a cause of…