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This article focuses on teachers’ responsiveness to changes in assessment policy and how new guidelines affect assessment and grading practices in school physical education (PE). The previous national curriculum in Sweden directed many teachers towards an atomistic approach to assessment.The reformed guidelines, in contrast, mandate that teachers should strive for holistic assessment.Thus, the purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of how teachers interpret and translate the policy for holistic PE assessment and discuss potential consequences of their policyenactments. Data were generated through six focus group interviews with 22 PE teachers working at different secondary and upper secondary schools. The theoretical framework usedin the analysis is based on Ball et al.’s (2012a) work on policy enactment. The findings show that teachers view the policy for holistic assessment in PE positively. They claim that it enables them to concentrate on the bigger picture, weigh factors in terms of significance during assessment, and connect to students’ lives outside of PE. We discuss the potential consequences ofthe teachers’ policy enactments in terms of the backwash of the reform. On the one hand, the reform results in reduced transparency and a risk that certain areas of knowledge may be marginalised. On the other hand, the study suggests that teachers’ autonomy with respect to assessment increases. This autonomy, which ideally leads to valid holistic assessments and fair grades, is tailored to the students’ conditions and what they see as meaningful knowledge in life outside ofschool.

Previous research has presented contrasting notions of the potential impact of physical education teacher education (PETE) on professional teaching practice. Despite growing scholarship on PETE, work is needed to better understand how PETE can matter to would-be physical education (PE) teachers and teaching in the subject. This article aims to provide insights into when and how PETE matters to further understand how programmes can prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) for their future profession. The article draws on data from two larger research projects and nine doctoral projects conducted in Sweden from 2018 to 2024. We revisit this collective dataset through a reanalysis of all the original data across the projects, complemented by a two-day collaborative analysis workshop involving all researchers to explore when and how PETE matters throughout teacher education during campus-based courses, in the transitions between campus and school-based experiences, and in the shift from teacher education into the initial years of teaching. This iterative analytical process enabled the identification of four categories of when PETE mattered: (i) when knowledge in movement and movement cultures was taught, (ii) when coherence was accommodated, (iii) when opportunities for student subjectification were provided, and (iv) when PETE constituted a driving force for educational change. In contrast to studies that question the impact of PETE, we have pointed to instances when PETE mattered and how. The article shows various ways PETE can prepare PSTs for their upcoming professional lives as teachers and be a proactive part of driving PE as a subject area forward.

This study explores how newly qualified physical education (PE) teachers experience the meaning of feedback through reflections on their assessment practices. We focus on the use, purpose, and content of feedback in PE practice. Assessment practices in PE have generally been used for grading purposes, often with little connection to the preceding teaching and learning. The educational quality of feedback depends on teachers' knowledge of what is supposed to be learned and how learners understand what they are supposed to know. Hence, it is important to investigate whether and how PE teacher education (PETE) prepares pre-service teachers for their professional work with feedback in PE. Individual stimulated recall interviews, a focus group interview and individual interviews with eight newly qualified teachers were conducted, and the data was analysed through a phenomenographic approach. The findings reveal that feedback is experienced in various ways, some comprising content that helps students learn what is supposed to be learned. Other ways of experiencing feedback generate content that does not relate to any intended learning goal other than being physically active in the here and now. The findings are discussed in relation to Hattie and Timperley's (2007) model of feedback as well as in relation to PETE and the significance of providing possibilities for future teachers to learn about the ways in which feedback can be educationally worthwhile.

The tension between different views of what should be prioritised in teacher preparation can be understood as the distance between the first space of scientific ‘know-why’ and the second space of practical ‘knowhow’. The aim of this study is to explore how the gap between these spaces is bridged by a teacher educator, more specifically an Adjunct Lecturer, operating within a third space [Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinkingthe connections between campus courses and field experiences incollege-and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 89–99]. Through a narrative inquiry into the third space of physical education teacher education (PETE) and school physical education (PE), the purpose is to retell the story of the Adjunct Lecturer’s experiences of what knowledge is developed and transferred between different educational settings for the benefit of student learning. Using Clandinin and Connelly's (2000) narrative inquiry space, the data was generated through interviews, focusing on the participant’s teaching experiences over time in different educational settings. The findings are presented in the form of a story based on Sara’s experiences of bringing the craft to PETE, transforming PE practice, supporting school placements, and promoting assessment literacy. Sara’s story is then conceptualised in terms of [Bernstein, B. (1999). Verticaland horizontal discourse: an essay, British Journal of Sociology ofEducation, 20, 157–173] vertical and horizontal discourses and Zeichner’s third space, while relating the micro-level narrative to the macro level. In the discussion, the various forms of knowledge, developed and transferred in the third space of PETE and school PE, correspond to practical ‘know-how’, scientific ‘know-why’, supervision and cooperation skills, and a tacitly acquired ‘gaze’. In the conclusion, it is argued that student teachers are receptive to the messages delivered inthe third space, which is why there is a need for those responsible for PETE to consider how third spaces are generated. Within these spaces, Adjunct Lecturers can help weave together practice and theory, which will facilitate student teachers to put into practice what they have learned during teacher education.

Assessment has received considerable attention from researchers in the field of physical education (PE). Many scholars have examined either formative assessment or summative assessment, with their focus leading to different questions and considerations. In this review, we examine howand why both formative and summative assessment have been problematized by PE scholars. Through a critical interpretive synthesis, we identify: (1) the main problems associated with both forms of assessment identified between 1999 and 2024, and (2) the solutions that scholars have offered in response to these problems. Problems with summative assessment center on teachers’ use of personal and internalized criteria, students’ negative experiences, and the guidance that policy provides teachers for enacting assessment. Solutions revolve around the provision of continuing professional development, improving initial teacher education, and ensuring that policy clearly delineates how assessment should be conducted. Problems with formative assessment revolve around teachers’ and students’ unfamiliarity with formative assessment practices and their lack of competence in using assessment strategies. Recommended solutions center on accepting that formative assessment has advantages and disadvantages, increasing students’ participation in assessment practices, and improving teachers’ assessment proficiency. We consider the extent to which assessment scholarship can contribute to change in assessment practices in PE, developing the thesis that several factors constrain the ability of research to lead to improvements. We conclude with alternative approaches that scholars might use to reimagine research on formative and summative assessment.

As part of a longitudinal research project on the transition from physical education teacher education (PETE) to school physical education (PE) in Sweden and exploring whether and how PETE matters, this article uses narrative inquiry to ‘represent’ a PE teacher’s professional journey from PETE to the induction phase of PE teaching. The study focuses on his use of, and reflections on, ‘assessment for learning’ (AfL) at different stages of his teaching experience. The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge about how positive experiences of AfL during PETE can enable the use of AfL in school PE for a newly qualified teacher. This is done by analysing one male PETE student’s reflections on AfL in the context of a campus-based course on PE assessment, his use of and reflections on AfL during his practicum, and in school PE as a newly qualified teacher. The data generation consisted of recordings of a PETE seminar, a stimulated recall interview with the participant during his final school placement, and two interviews with him in his role as a newly qualified PE teacher at two different schools. Through the PE teacher’s tale, we show how the campus-based course on PE assessment in PETE and the student teacher’s positive experience of using AfL during his practicum seem to have inspired him in his later positions. The results are discussed in relation to the perspective of occupational socialisation theory. This narrative inquiry suggests that PETE can make a difference for student teachers who are prepared to face the challenges of the induction phase of PE teaching and are able to navigate between the barriers that get in their way. We conclude the paper with some considerations regarding the study’s potential strength (trustworthiness), sharing (transferability) and service (usefulness).

Background: Principles such as instructional alignment and step-by-step progression are often seen as crucial features of good assessment practices in school physical education (PE). These features are problematic from nonlinear educational perspectives, which are based on the idea that movement learning cannot be expected to take place in the same manner for all students. Without some resolution of the contradiction between nonlinear pedagogies and principles of good assessment, the likelihood of physical educators fully embracing any kind of nonlinear approach to movement education remains doubtful.

Purpose and research question: Our purpose in this paper is to illustrate how assessment for and of learning (AfL and AoL) can look when implemented in nonlinear movement education practices.  

Methods: Illustrations of AfL and AoL are drawn from an investigation in which one educator implements a nonlinear movement education module. The module focuses on juggling for students at high school (grade nine students aged approximately 15 years). The module provided students with 10 x 50-minute lessons to explore juggling. Data were generated through observations (film clips and field notes) and ethnographic-type interviews that were conducted with the students during the lessons.

Findings: In the context of the nonlinear movement education module, AfL became: Interacting with students in joint exploration; Introducing learning strategies; Encouraging students to clarify and verbalize the object of learning; Helping students identify critical aspects of the movement activity, and; Inviting students to consider alternative learning trajectories. The educator then evaluates the students’ learning experiences in the context of a group performance at the end of the module. This performance can be seen as an instance of holistic assessment within a nonlinear movement education practice. 

Conclusions: The suggested holistic perspective on PE assessment could help educators to: circumvent dichotomies such as mind-body and theory-practice; approach students as active meaning-makers; re-frame students’ actions as emergent and context-dependent; and replace direct instruction with explorative teaching and learning methods. The major contribution of this study is that it shows how assessment for and of learning can be implemented in nonlinear movement education practices within a linear, goal-related and criterion-referenced, education system.

As part of a longitudinal research project on the transition from physical education teacher education (PETE) to school physical education (PE) in Sweden, and exploring whether and how PETE matters, this paper ‘represents’ a PE teacher’s professional journey from PETE to the induction phase of PE teaching. The study focuses on the PE teacher’s use of, and reflections on, assessment for learning (AfL) (Wiliam, 2011) at different stages of the journey. The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge about how positive experiences of AfL during PETE can enable the use of AfL in school PE for a newly qualified teacher. 

Using narrative inquiry (Casey, et al., 2018), supported by occupational socialisation theory (Lawson, 1983), this study focuses on one male PE teacher’s professional journey from PETE to the induction phase of PE teaching. The PE teacher’s tale is represented in first person, as if it were told by ‘the traveller’ on the journey. 

The underlying data consists of recordings of a campus-based PETE seminar, a stimulated recall interview with the participant during his school placement and two interviews with him in his role as a newly qualified PE teacher at two different schools.

Through the PE teacher’s tale, we show how the course on assessment for and of learning in PETE and the student teacher’s positive experience of using AfL during his practicum seem to have inspired him in his later positions. On his professional journey, the traveller encounters barriers such as his colleagues’ contrasting beliefs, dominating PE teaching traditions, and pupils’ resistance. Still, AfL is not washed out from his teaching practice. Rather, the key strategies of AfL, such as sharing learning intentions, providing feedback, and activating pupils as learning resources for one another, are used to create conditions for progression. 

In the discussion, we suggest that PETE can make a difference for student teachers who have gained positive experiences of AfL in authentic teaching situations and are able to navigate between the barriers to the use of AfL in the induction phase of PE teaching. The usefulness of this study is its potential to inspire teacher educators to implement AfL in different learning tasks during PETE and student teachers to practice AfL during their school placements. If this would occur more regularly, a content such as AfL would have a better chance of “surviving” the transition from PETE to school PE. 

Background: Scholars have suggested that students’ views of what is important for them to know as Physical Education (PE) teachers are a result of what is assessed in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE). Thus, there is a risk that students will reproduce content areas such as sports and assess sport-techniques without much critical consideration. In this study, however, the risk of reproducing what is prioritised in PETE is seen as an opportunity regarding the potential reproduction of other content areas than sports. Based on the regulative principles of PE and PETE that privilege sport skills and hinder creative movement learning, we focus on a content area in PETE that provides opportunities for students to engage in creative collaboration and examine how this content area is realised in school PE. Hence, we have chosen to explore ‘Movement Composition’, a content area which has a long tradition at one of the PETE universities in Sweden. Based on an overarching interest in whether and how PETE matters, this exploratory study focuses on the potential transferability of Movement Composition as a particular content area in the transition from PETE to PE.

Purpose and research question: The purpose of this study is to explore Movement Composition as a content area undergoing the transition from PETE to school PE. The research question is: How is the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition constructed, recontextualised and realised in the transition from PETE to school PE?

Methods: Data was generated through an interview with one of the initiators of Movement Composition. Stimulated Recall interviews and Zoom interviews were also conducted with a group of five PETE students and three experienced PE teachers. In addition, documents such as the study guide, course literature, and written assignments associated with Movement Composition in the PETE programme were included in the empirical material. In the analysis, the combination of Bernstein’s pedagogic device and the Swedish didactics of PE research tradition was used to identify the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition in the transition from PETE to school PE.

Findings: The findings show how the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition as a content area is constructed, recontextualised and realised in the transition from PETE to school PE. The construction of Movement Composition as a pedagogic discourse in PETE is about how the content area (the what) is selected and organised for pedagogical purposes. The recontextualisation of Movement Composition is about how the pedagogic discourse is interpreted and translated in relation to the PE syllabus. The realisation of Movement Composition involves how the content area in PETE is implemented in PE practice.

Conclusions: This exploratory study has shown that what is articulated as a relevant content area and the way it is taught, learned, and assessed in PETE in many regards survives the transition to school PE. The transition from PETE to school PE does not only involve reproduction of sports and sport-techniques from one context to another. PETE also contributes to the use of creative, collaborative, and student-centred learning tasks in school PE.

Peer assessment has been proven to improve learning for both the observer and the observed. One dimension of peer assessment that has been given little attention in the context of physical education teacher education (PETE) is the tension that exists when peers give feedback on each other’s work. In this paper, we report on Swedish preservice teachers’ (PST) views on peer assessment used in PETE school placements. Our findings reveal four mechanisms of peer assessment assigned value in PETE: (i) building social relations, (ii)making ‘what to learn’ visible, (iii) giving correct feedback, and(iv) handling sensitive and gendered comments. Inspired by Bourdieu, we discuss learning potentials and complex challenges with peer assessment, where the combination of social capital and physical capital decides what is possible to say and to whom when peer assessment is used in the PETE school placement and in school physical education (PE).