Appreciating complexity, endemic tensions and selectivity in proposals for program improvement and new institutional designs

Abstract

The several papers constituting this special edition offer important contributions to school physical education and physical education teacher education programs. The ensuing analysis showcases some of these contributions via a two-component categorization: program improvement proposals and new institutional designs. The analysis also probes for these papers' selectivity and silences. Core issues are raised about the extent to which these proposals have international relevance and utility, keep pace with new designs for schooling, capitalize on school–family–community connections, provide young people with twenty-first century competence and take stock of fast-growing research evidence about exercise-related behavior change. These papers can be appreciated all the more because they have stimulated the identification and analysis of such core issues.

Keywords:

• Physical education
• Physical education teacher education
• Institutional design
• Globalization
• Twenty-first century skills