Does it run in the family? How family background influences grades in physical education and health in Sweden

In many welfare states around the world, including Sweden, a central goal of education is to compensate for the influence of family background on academic outcomes and ensure equal opportunities for all. While this relationship is well documented in core subjects, less is known about how family background shapes achievement in physical education and health (PEH) – a subject aimed at promoting lifelong health and inclusion. Understanding this relationship is key to assessing educational equity and strengthening PEH’s role in supporting all learners. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital and social reproduction, the study conceptualizes family background as a mix of economic, cultural, and social resources. Drawing on register data from over 1.4 million full biological siblings who completed Year 9 in Sweden between 2000 and 2017, sibling correlations in PEH grades and overall academic achievement (merit value) are estimated across three-year cohorts. This method captures the total influence of shared family factors on school outcomes. Results show that while family influence on merit value remained relatively stable (4 percentage points increase), its impact on PEH grades rose significantly over time (15 percentage points increase). From 2012 onward, sibling correlations in PEH increased sharply and by 2017 nearly matched those in overall academic achievement. This suggests that PEH is now shaped by similar mechanisms of social stratification as other subjects. The findings call for reflection on how PEH assessment may reproduce or resist broader inequalities. To fulfill its inclusive and health-promoting aims, reforms must consider how grading, curriculum, and access to resources intersect with students’ lived conditions. This study provides structural, longitudinal insights to inform more equitable PEH policy and practice.

The goal of learning in physical and health education (PHE) is for the student to improve physical abilities, motor skills and knowledge in physical and health culture, in order to preserve health and apply proper and regular physical exercise in modern living conditions and work. On the basis of the goal of the PHE teaching, the biological, pedagogical, and educational tasks are determined, the realization of which leads to the outcome of the PHE teaching. The biological tasks of physical education imply that a positive influence on students' proper growth and development is possible if the teacher is familiar with the structure and functions of the most important organic systems, the biological laws of development, and the impact of physical exercises on the organism. Pedagogical tasks include educational and learning tasks that intertwine and complement each other. Learning tasks should primarily contribute to the acquisition of motor skills and habits (sports-technical education), but also to the theoretical knowledge aiming to understanding the purpose of exercise, structure, method, and performance of certain exercises. Educational tasks, the teaching content, methods and forms of teaching are planned in accordance with their educational potential so that during the PHE classes, the students acquire the qualities and values contained in the PHE syllabus and at the same time represent universal human qualities and values that contribute to the development of the student's complete personality which is the ultimate ideal to strive for in education. By achieving the goals of the PHE syllabus, students acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values about exercise (basic terms about exercise, how to perform an exercise and what a specific exercise is for), physical education, sports, recreation, and health. Specially planned and designed information about exercise and health is delivered immediately before, during, and after exercise in class. The goal, tasks, and outcomes of the course are achieved through the teaching of physical and health education (2 school hours per week) and compulsory physical activities for each student (1.5 school hours per week). This research is focused on the most frequent disruptive factors that lower the efficacy of implementation of PHE teaching in the higher grades of elementary school. The research was based on the general assumption that the teaching of physical and health education significantly contributes to the growth, development, health, upbringing, and education of students, but that it is not implemented as effectively as it could be. In contrast to many previous studies in which answers were collected from teachers or parents, in this research the answers were collected from the students in the higher grades of primary school themselves, since they are direct participants in the PHE classes and their development, education, and learning in PHE classes is the main outcome of teaching (Parkes et al, 2022; Amamou et al, 2021; Holden et al, 2020). It was interesting to analyse from the students' point of view what the most frequent disturbing factors are and whether some of the criterion variables affect it, such as the class the students attend; grade in physical education in the previous semester; and the general success of students in the previous semester. The research was conducted in January 2023 on a sample of 101 students at the Kirilo Savić Elementary School in Ivanjica. The data collected by the Scale - EE-MCDF-RPHET (a = 0,602) were processed by factor analysis, analysis of variance, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Factor analysis identified five factors that indicate educational efficiency and the most disruptive factors of PHE teaching. They are: 1) inconsistent practicing of different sports contrary to the student's assessment of the educational efficiency of the PHE teaching; 2) effectiveness of teaching; 3) the importance of active sports training; 4) football training contrary to the student's assessment of the educational efficiency of the PHE teaching; and 5) student safety. The analysis of variance showed that such assessments of students are not significantly influenced by the class they attend, success in physical and health education and education and general success in the previous semester, while the Mann-Whitney U test determined that such assessments of students are significantly influenced by actively playing a sport. Based on the results of the research, a proposal was made for an innovative approach to the implementation of physical and health education teaching in elementary schools, according to innovative teaching systems and innovative didactic-methodical teaching models. Teaching according to these models is planned, implemented, and evaluated in a multi-step and reverse design. In such a class, students are more involved in practicing, active learning, and participating in PHE classes. Based on the desired outcomes of the PHE classes, the goal is for as many students as possible, preferably all, to get involved in the work of sport clubs and in the future take up sports. In this way, the knowledge, skills, habits, and abilities the students develop in PHE classes and in sports clubs will be of fundamental importance for students outside the classroom and serve them in their daily activities in various situations in the family, school, local environment and wider social community. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to constantly strengthen the competences of teachers for planning, implementation, and evaluation of PHE teaching.

Assessment has been identified as an ongoing problem in physical education (PE). Since the student perspective on assessment is often neglected in research, in this paper, we will report on a study that explored students’ experiences of assessment in the Swedish school subject physical education and health (PEH). In particular, the aim of this study was to examine the students’ experiences of having equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills when being assessed in PEH. Data was collected by conducting focus group interviews with a total of 38 students from four different upper secondary schools in southern Sweden. Data analysis was conducted by drawing on Scott’s ([2008]. Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interest. Sage) institutional theory in order to demonstrate how regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive conditions shape assessment practices and students’ experiences of these in PEH. The results show that both teaching and assessment/grading practices in PEH are shaped more by cultural-cognitive conditions as associated with the norms and values of competitive and club sports rather than the regulative and normative conditions outlined in the Swedish Education Act and PEH curriculum that put emphasis on equal opportunities, equitable learning outcomes and explicit assessment criteria. The results also demonstrate how both teachers and students are actively involved in reproducing such teaching and assessment practices in PEH. To conclude, we, therefore, call for further work to be done with students, teachers and teacher educators of PEH to draw more attention to and more successfully implement the learning and achievement objectives of the curriculum. In addressing the ongoing problem of assessment in PEH we in particular need to better align assessment processes with the curriculum intentions of an equal quality education and teaching for equity.

Background: Many students leave compulsory school without being qualified to apply for national upper secondary school programmes. Despite efforts, the number of unqualified students in Sweden has increased. Grades from compulsory school have direct implications for students' educational futures and the requirement to qualify for an upper secondary school programme is at least the grade G (pass), in the subjects Swedish/Swedish as a second language, Mathematics, and English. Earlier research shows that the amount of physical activity, students' motor skills, and grades in Physical Education can have an impact on school achievements, but no study has examined the relationships of these factors in this particular group of students.Purpose: The aim was to study relationships between physical activity and school performance among Swedish compulsory school students who fail to achieve sufficient grades to move on to upper secondary school (about one in five students in the city of Malmö).Method: The population consisted of 389 students of which 76% (147 male, and 146 female) participated in a web inquiry. For statistical analyses of the responses, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program was used. Non-parametric tests (Chi-squared, Kruskal–Wallis, and Mann–Whitney) were used to study differences between groups, and Spearman's rank correlation and Pearson's product moment correlation were used for correlation analyses.Findings: The results show that less than 50% were physically active in the school subject physical education and health (PEH), and 14% never participated. Forty-five per cent were never physically active during their spare time. Twenty-nine per cent failed to reach the goals in PEH. Nine per cent (14% of boys, and 4% of girls), received the highest grade in PEH: pass with special distinction. Significant correlations were found between the level of physical activity and grade in PEH, as well as between physical activity and total grades. Grades in PEH correlated with grades in Swedish, Mathematics, and English. Students who responded that they skipped lessons once a week or more, had significantly lower grades in PEH and in total than students who never or less often skipped school lessons. Students who had good self-esteem (n = 162) were significantly more physically active than those who had low self-esteem (n = 32). Their answers to the question, ‘How physically active were you during school year nine?’ showed that they moved and became breathless and sweaty more than students who had lower self-esteem. They also did sports/exercise significantly more both in and outside of sports clubs.Conclusion: The findings of the relatively low levels of physical activity and the significant correlation between physical activity and school performance indicate the importance of examining how schools can improve students' self-esteem and motivation to be physically active and participate in PEH and other lessons.

Background: The pedagogical and status implications of assessment in physical education (PE) have been recognised in the past. How students perceive being assessed and graded is a neglected area, however. While some studies have garnered students' perceptions of assessment when no grade is awarded or the stakes are relatively low, we know less about how assessment in physical education is perceived or experienced by students engaged in systems where grades have direct implications for students' educational or vocational futures. Purpose: The study presented in this article investigated the criterion-referenced assessment experiences and perceptions of Swedish physical education and health (PEH) students in their last year of compulsory schooling. Central questions were: what do the students understand as the basis for grading decisions in PEH and what do they perceive as the learning goals of the subject? Research design and data collection: A total of 355 students (189 boys and 166 girls) from 28 different schools participated. They were 15 to 16 years of age and attending school year 9. The study draws on data collected through both a questionnaire, which all students answered, and 23 focus groups interviews, in which 73 of the students participated. Findings: The majority of the responses from the students focused on attitudinal, dispositional and behavioural characteristics as opposed to stated learning outcomes in terms of the display of subject specific knowledge and physical capacity. The results indicated that students do think grades are important but they did not appear to recognise the official criteria as the predominant basis for achievement of grades in PEH. Significantly, the degree of student certainty in these elements was underpinned by their indication that the grading criteria were clear and that they were aware of the basis upon which grading judgements were made. Conclusions: We recommend that in order to promote a better alignment between the official assessment expectations of the PEH syllabus and students' perceptions of assessable elements, the Swedish education system should provide greater syllabus clarifications regarding assessment practices and continuing professional development focusing on task construction, criteria and standards construction, the collection and use of evidence and the alignment of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.

Background: Studies have shown that some children do not participate in sport or exercise because they did not establish early coordination and basic motor skills while at school. Basic motor skills form significant parts of the goals for students to achieve in the Swedish school subject Physical Education and Health (PEH). Aims: The aim was to study effects of an extension of physical activity and motor training, during a period of nine years, on motor skills and marks in the school subject PEH. Furthermore, a motor training program called Motor Development as Ground for Learning [Motorisk Utveckling som Grund för Inlärning] (MUGI) was tested and evaluated. Method: The study is longitudinal and two groups of students were followed during nine school years. At the start of the project the students were seven years old, and 15 years old at the follow-up. An intervention group (n = 161) had one scheduled lesson of physical activity and motor training every school day. A control group (n = 102) had the school's usual two PEH lessons per week. Motor skills observations were carried out in the school years 1, 2, 3, and 9 according to the MUGI checklists. Extra motor skill training, according to the MUGI model, was given to students in the intervention group who had motor skills deficits. The method was hypothetic-deductive and two hypotheses were tested: (1) Students' motor skills will improve with extended PEH and extra motor training according to the MUGI model, and (2) boys' and girls' marks in PEH will improve with extended PEH and extra motor training in school. Findings: The results confirmed the hypothesis that students' motor skills improve with extended physical activity and motor training. After only one year the students in the intervention group had significantly better motor skills (balance and coordination) than students in the control group. These differences remained and were also found at follow-up school years 3 and 9. Differences in motor skills between boys and girls decreased with extended physical activity and extra motor training in school. Significant correlations were found between motor skills school year 2, 3, and 9 and marks in PEH school year 9. The second hypothesis was confirmed by significantly higher marks in the school subject PEH school year 9 in the intervention than in the control group. Although there were no significant differences in motor skills between boys and girls in school year 9, girls had significantly lower marks in PEH than boys. Conclusions: The school has good potential for stimulating students' development of motor skills, but two lessons of PEH per week are not enough. Differences in motor skills between boys and girls may decrease with extended physical activity and extra motor training in school. The MUGI program can be useful as a pedagogic model for observing and improving motor skills in school.

Health and Physical Education (HPE) futures are currently the focus of much speculation. Part of the conjecture relates to the role of the HPE teacher, as the subject’s curricular work is increasingly outsourced to external agencies. There is, however, currently a dearth of information on how HPE curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment are being shaped by the interests, agendas, and knowledge of external agencies. Moreover, little is known about the pedagogical experiences of students in externally provided HPE lessons and their perspectives on outsourcing. This thesis seeks to begin to address these knowledge gaps. Guiding this study are research questions about how the decision to partner with an external agency impacts curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment within HPE as well as how students view the involvement of external agencies in HPE. Tennis Australia’s Tennis in Secondary Schools (TSS) Program was selected as a specific case study for this thesis through the process of conducting network ethnography. This methodological approach included: completing a web-audit of the Australian marketplace of external providers available to HPE teachers; collecting Tennis Australia’s advertising, product materials, and teacher resources; and conducting a semi-structured group interview with three of their employees who worked in departments focused on Schools, Program Development, and Coach Education. A critical discourse analysis was undertaken on these data sources. An independent, co-educational secondary school in Australia delivering the Cardio Tennis component of Tennis Australia’s TSS Program was then selected as a research site. Data were generated through: focus groups with 25 Year Eight students; semi-structured individual interviews with four school staff, in the roles of Senior Lead Teacher, Junior Lead Teacher, HPE Teacher, and Tennis Coach; and observations of their Cardio Tennis lessons. These school data were then thematically analysed. Both analyses were informed by Bernsteinian theory. Findings from this research are presented across three chapters. The findings demonstrated that Tennis Australia is creating increasingly sophisticated programs by investing in understanding Australian curricular requirements. This study also highlighted the changing role of the HPE Teacher, in particular their growing responsibility to: evaluate external providers and critically analyse their marketing claims (knowledge-brokers); mediate the interests and agendas external providers bring into HPE (boundary spanners); and determine the appropriate division of labour between themselves and the external provider for curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment (boundary spanners). Further, the data generated with students reinforced how crucial it is to seek out their voices and perspectives. The students in this study offered unique insights into pedagogical and ethical issues relating to teaching and learning in their externally provided HPE classes. This thesis makes a number of academic contributions. Firstly, the findings of this study emphasise the need to develop a definition of outsourcing that is more relevant and reflective of the practice in HPE, rather than simply transferring a business and management definition into this context. Secondly, this thesis demonstrates the utility of network ethnography as a methodology for researching pedagogic spaces and engages with Bernsteinian theory in a way that contributes meaningfully to the rich range of theoretical perspectives on the outsourcing of HPE. Finally, the findings begin to address the knowledge gaps in the field in relation to how the outsourcing of HPE operates in, and impacts, secondary school contexts, the effect that educational partnership decisions have on curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in HPE, and student perspectives on the topic. This new knowledge has the potential to not only impact the future of HPE teachers and their work, but also facilitate the creation of guidelines for how schools should engage with external entities if outsourcing HPE curricular work.

Contemporary notions of good citizenship and proper living have become intimately related to the pursuit of good health. Consequently, modern states have devised programmes of education and training that endeavour to provide apprentice citizens with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to enhance their own and others health and wellbeing. These strategies, deployed through institutions such as schools, contribute to the moral regulation of subjects, focusing as they do upon the moral and ethical practices of the self. Contemporary Health and Physical Education (HPE) claims to have an explicit and significant role to play in this endeavour. HPE research suggests the profession values its moral education role, believing the field has something unique to offer in this regard as a result of its special teaching and learning environments, subject matter and caring teacher–student relationships. Nonetheless, the profession has been criticised for failing to provide adequate theoretical and empirical support regarding the role of HPE as a moral enterprise. This paper draws upon a Foucauldian genealogical analysis of twentieth century programmes of Queensland HPE to provide an alternative response to this challenge. In this paper we contend that HPE's capacity to operate as a mechanism of social and moral training relies not on any one special dimension, but through the orchestrated deployment of its subject matter, learning environments and caring teachers, as the definitive governmental technologies of the HPE apparatus.This paper first traces HPE's lines of visibility and enunciation, establishing its subject matter and learning environments as the foundational coordinates of the HPE apparatus. Secondly, we explore the constitution of power/knowledge relationships within HPE and the manner in which truth games have emerged and are deployed within the HPE apparatus. Through a mapping of HPE's lines of subjectivity we suggest that HPE teachers have been incited to constitute themselves as agents of pastoral power and have joined a privileged group of pedagogues who have been allocated the responsibility for training subjects in particular arts of living. In light of this argument, we focus upon the contemporary significance of these teachers’ capacity to create caring relationships with their students. In conclusion, we raise some implications for the profession in light of this Foucauldian perspective and provide a possible explanation underpinning the profession's claims concerning the moral education of young people.

School physical education and health (PEH) may not only be an important cornerstone to the holistic development of students but may also contribute to the sustainable development (SD) agenda. Although PEH may have unique characteristics that can contribute to the SD agenda, most research to date has been theoretical. The overall aim of this study was to explore the sustainable development competencies among physical education and health (PEH) teachers in Sweden. An online questionnaire was used to collect data about background and SD competencies. SD competencies was collected through the use of the Physical Education Scale for Sustainable Development in Future Teachers (PESD-FT). Of the 1153 participants, 31% reported being males, and 48% of the participants reported teaching PEH when completing the questionnaire. The median SD competencies score for all the participants was 105 (range: 18-144) out of 144. Virtually no differences were observed across the groups of participants. A stronger correlation was observed between SD competencies vs. long-time interests in health and health issues (rs = 0.343) than for long experience of participating in organized sports (rs = 0.173). In the total sample, 26% reported having taught about SD in PEH, such as using outdoor education, interdisciplinary projects, picking, and sorting waste, as well as paying attention to material issues. Among those who reported teaching PEH when completing the questionnaire, 70% perceived that they are in great need of professional development education in the area of SD. In conclusion, SD competencies were higher for the PESD-FT items that concerned the social dimension of SD compared to the economic and environmental dimensions. Relatively few teachers had taught about SD in PEH, and the majority perceive that they are in great need of professional development education in the area of SD. Future studies are required to understand more of what types of competencies practicing PEH teachers, and PEH teacher education programs, are lacking to fulfil the call for a contribution to the SD agenda.

Physical and health education learning process in high school have not shown the teacher’scompetency. This is due to not all of the teachers equipped with the ability on physical andhealth education. Therefore, teacher’s knowledge on physical and health education mustbe put in concern to develop their ability which will impact on the effective and efficiency ofthe learning process. The success of learning process is influenced by several factors, suchas: (a) Awareness of the profession, competence and duty of teacher, (b) teacher’s ability inimplementing high school physical and health education curriculum, (c) teacher’s ability indoing administration of physical and health education learning process, (d) teacher’s abilityin creating learning method strategy, (e) teacher’s ability in implementing principals ofphysical and health education learning process, and (f) teacher’s ability in implementinglearning method of physical and health education. Keywords: learning administration, physical education

ABSTRACTBackground: There has been a proliferation of external agencies ‘knocking on the door’ of, and being welcomed into, Health and Physical Education (HPE). This opens HPE up to new products, partners, and services. Although scholarship on the practice of outsourcing HPE is steadily growing in quantity and in scope, there is a significant gap in the literature around how external providers (or outsourcers) of HPE interpret the curriculum, and how this translates into certain kinds of products and services.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse one external provider’s interpretations of the curriculum and of the roles of key pedagogical agents and stakeholders (e.g. HPE teachers and students), as well as their translation of these interpretations into particular kinds of products and services. This is achieved through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Tennis Australia’s Tennis in Secondary School (TSS) Program teacher resources and interviews with key employees of Tennis Australia.Methods: The larger study from which this paper draws is a network ethnography of the external provision of HPE. TSS was selected as a case study in the initial web-audit undertaken as part of this network ethnography. The criteria which resulted in the selection of TSS as a case study were: the utilisation of educational language within product descriptions or marketing, provision of services to a significant number of schools, and a rationale for services that included a contribution to HPE. A CDA was undertaken on the TSS advertising, product materials, teacher resources, and the transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with three employees of the organisation.Findings: Tennis Australia markets an explicit alignment between their TSS Program and the Australian Curriculum: HPE (AC:HPE). For example, teacher resources are structured to include a ‘Learning Intention’ (i.e. a curriculum content descriptor); ‘Focus Questions and Teaching Points’ (i.e. pedagogical styles); and ‘Success Criteria’ (i.e. self-described ‘assessment criteria’). Significantly, however, there were several tensions and gaps in their interpretations and understandings of the AC:HPE and their approaches to pedagogy and assessment within the subject.Conclusion: External agencies, such as Tennis Australia, are becoming increasingly sophisticated at marketing their products in relation to HPE curricula. Rather than divesting or relieving teachers of curriculum decision-making and design responsibility, however, we argue that these efforts from external agencies mean that now, more than ever, teachers need to recognise, articulate, and enact their pedagogical and curriculum expertise. This will allow teachers to better broker, bridge, and translate knowledge and ensure that HPE remains an educative experience.

The purpose of this study is to explore what the role of a health and physical education (HPE) specialist teacher in the primary school entails. The new Australian Curriculum: HPE Framework requires schools and teachers to implement the HPE key learning area. Many self-perceived physical education (PE) teachers have voiced concern about not knowing how they go about this. This research investigates ‘How PE teachers best become HPE teachers?’ We are reminded by Kirk that this is not the first time teachers have implemented this very change in Australia. Many similarities can be drawn between the recent national Australian Curriculum: HPE and the 1994 HPE National Statement and Profile, which provided a foundation for the construction of the 1999 Queensland HPE (P-10) Syllabus. As recommended by Kirk this study ‘look[s] to the past for lessons about the present and where we might be heading in the future’, by investigating school responses to the 1999 Queensland HPE (P-10) syllabus and curriculum documents. Within the constructionist paradigm, an interpretivist study was conducted. The methodology chosen to construct meanings through capturing the context of each school was ‘evaluative’ and ‘multiple’ case study. The sites for the three case studies involved: one small; one medium; and one large-sized Brisbane Catholic Education primary school. The three case studies were selected as representative of different demographics and the methods engaged so as to enable precision of details were semi-structured interviews, reflective journal, observations and document analysis. Data gathered suggest that enacting the HPE key learning area is very achievable. Implementation is enhanced by HPE leadership, underpinned by clear communication. More so, barriers can be overcome through professional development and support. This study is significant nationally, and the findings may be of wider international interest. It models how school leaders can optimise the health opportunities within their context and models how PE teachers can become HPE teachers.

ABSTRACTIn Ontario, Canada, adolescent boys are increasingly developing a disinterest towards health and physical education (HPE) class, and also are withdrawing from HPE as soon as they institutionally are allowed to do so. To date however, there has been a dearth of research that has explored the various mechanisms that are dissuading boys from active participation, and prompting boys to develop a cultural disaffection towards HPE. Drawing on data from an ethnographic case study, this paper begins to provide some insights in further understanding the emerging disaffection towards HPE, and increasing attrition rates among Canadian boys. As illustrated in the study findings, this paper suggests that boys who disengage from HPE do so not because they are genetically predisposed to be lazy, or are unmotivated. Rather, their repeated experiences of explicit and symbolic abuse, degradation, and ignominy from teachers and peers alike dissuade them from active HPE participation. The findings of this study suggest the need for teachers to initiate a reflexive stance in their teaching practices, while concomitantly teaching students critical health literacy skills in an effort to meet the health and well-being needs of adolescent boys.

A field survey of ''physical and health education (PHE) in Basic Education curriculum: a study Ishiagu, Ivo local govt. area of Ebonyi State'' was undertaken in 2012 academic session with the following specific objectives: to assess the level of PHE facilities and literatures in the study area, to assess the level of PHE resource personnel in the study area, to assess the level of compliance of teachers to the curriculum content. Questionnaires, interview and field visit for PHE facilities was employed for the research. Systematic random samplings of the both the primary and junior secondary schools (this makes up the basic education in Nigeria) in the 11 villages that make up Ishiagu wasdone. Specifically, teachers and head teachers in the primary schools were covered while in the junior secondary schools, PHE teachers in one arm of the classes and the principals were covered. This serves as the representative unit for the area under study. Questionnaires were administered to one teacherin a class irrespective of the arms and the head teachers in the primary section. From each primary school, 7 questionnaires were administered. Within the 11 villages, this gives a total of 77 questionnaires administered.In the junior secondary schools, Ishiagu has 7 secondary schools. The PHE teachers and the principals covered in each secondary school were 4. In all the secondary schools, 28 questionnaireswere administered. This makes a total of 105 questionnaires administered. After the questionnaires were collated and coded, 100 were valid. Descriptive statistics was used in analyzing the collated data. The findings of the study indicated the following: that there are more female teachers at the basic education level, that the majority of the teachers are within the age range of 35 – 45 years, that PHE professionals, contact period, budget and facilities were significantly inadequate to realize the country's objective of PHE curriculum content implementation. Contrarily, PHE teaching aids were adequate, that majority of the basic education institutions are regular, formal, government owned and student/pupil per class is within the range of 20 – 30, that majority of the schools was fenced, have motorable roads, classes ventilated, lacks portable water, not connected to national grid but improvised with generating set for power supply, majority of the school have first aid facilities for emergency medical attention and mid day meal were brought from home, toilet facilities were markedly inadequate given the student toilet / ratio, surrounding bushes were utilized by most schools covered. It was recommended that adequate PHE specialists be employed by primary and junior secondary schools and to have an office tagged 'PHE Unit' where they will hold and attend to PHE needs of their respective institutions, that government and school proprietors should adequately fund school for PHE facilities and organize prized sporting activities within and between schools, that approval for school establishment and accreditation should compulsorily have provision for PHE facilities, personnel and teaching aids.

The overall aim of this study was to explore how upper secondary school students (age 16–19) in Sweden perceive physical education and health (PEH) through the assessment practices they experience in this subject. In particular, the study aimed to examine the students’ experiences of what can be considered as valid knowledge and what the students perceive to form the basis for assessment in PEH. Data were collected by conducting focus group interviews with a total of 38 students from four different upper secondary schools in southern Sweden. The focus groups cohered around discussing three different vignettes that were constructed based on various ‘pedagogical dilemmas’ identified through earlier research on valid knowledge and assessment in PEH. Data were analysed by drawing on Scott's (2008) institutional theory in order to demonstrate how regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive conditions shape practices and assessment in PEH. The results highlight that there is a misalignment between curriculum objectives and assessment in Swedish PEH practice, where the cultural-cognitive conditions as strongly associated with club sports are more influential in the construction of valid knowledge and assessment practice than the regulative and normative conditions as stipulated in the PEH curriculum. The results also demonstrate that there is an ongoing prioritisation of practical over theoretical knowledge in PEH practice, involving an emphasis on doing and being active without any clear learning objectives. It is argued that clearly communicated learning objectives and assessment criteria can help achieve a better alignment between curriculum intentions, pedagogy and assessment in PEH.