When it comes to teaching social and affective outcomes pertaining to health and physical activity within Physical Education (PE) settings, such learning historically has been observed as manifesting itself as hoped-for-by-products rather than intentionally-taught-for curricular outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore understandings and experiences of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Meaningful Physical Education (MPE) utilizing democratic and reflective pedagogies. A qualitative case study design was implemented in an alternative high school setting in the USA across 10 months. Participants included the Teacher–Researcher (TR), one Physical Education (PE) teacher, a critical friend, two teaching assistants, and 16 ninth-grade alternative high school students aged 14–15 (eight girls/eight boys). Methods involved a TR journal, post–lesson teaching reflections, interviews, and focus groups, with inductive and deductive analysis applied. The following themes were constructed: It really made you think; making movement meaningful; being a better classmate; and doing things differently. Results demonstrate how utilizing democratic and reflective approaches grounded in social constructivist learning theory innovatively promoted SEL and MPE. It allowed students to reflect, interrogate and discuss how movement experiences inside and outside of PE influenced their pursuit of a physically active life. Participants articulated experiencing a more inclusive learning experience that challenged the purpose and subject matter of previous PE and physical activity. Teaching for SEL and MPE using common language and terminology around pre–identified and defined competencies, skills, and features drawn from these conceptual frameworks as demonstrated here, can help contribute to more concrete and uniform learning experiences within and across settings. Doing so led participants to demonstrate more holistic and broader understandings of what constituted participation in PE and physical activity, as well as how to promote and participate in meaningful movement and physical activity within and outside of school to promote healthy living. We call for further embedding of democratic and reflective pedagogies in PE teacher education and professional development that provides teachers and students with the opportunity to do so going forward.

Despite growing attention on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education settings (Jones, S. M., McGarrah, M. W., & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1625776), there also has been an increasing concern that the existing understanding of SEL is not based on diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural perspectives (Hurd, E., Brinegar, K., & Harrison, L. (2021). Equity-based social emotional learning (SEL): A critical lens for moving forward. Middle School Journal, 52(3), 2–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2021.1893994). The purpose of this research was to explore teacher educators’ perspectives on promoting an equity-based approach for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in physical education teacher education (PETE) from an international perspective. Using an international comparative case study design (Penn, R. (2019). International comparative case studies: Multiple methods in action. Sage.), 18 teacher educators were recruited from 10 different countries (Australia; Brazil; Cyprus; China; Finland; Germany; Ireland; New Zealand; South Korea; The United States). Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted using a video-conferencing system to collect data on the participants’ perspectives on promoting equity-based SEL in PETE. Using a systematic process of inductive data analysis by Miles et al. (Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Sage.), four findings were generated: (a) Respecting differences with culturally responsive pedagogy, (b) Embedding diversity across different phases, (c) Critical introspection on self and others, and (d) Having intentional and difficult conversations. Based on the findings, more research needs to be conducted in the future to investigate how PE teachers incorporate equity elements into their SEL practices in real-time school settings.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore students’ perspectives and experiences of social and emotional learning (SEL) during physical education high school classes. Method: Using a case study design, focus group and individual interviews were implemented with 42 students. Based on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s SEL framework, deductive and inductive qualitative data analysis was conducted. The trustworthiness of this study was enhanced through peer debriefing process with various strategies. Result: Four themes were generated from the data analysis: Think about it more in depth, You can say how you feel, Care and support, and Different levels of buy-in. Discussion/Conclusion: Students’ SEL experiences in this study were overall aligned with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s SEL competencies and framework. This study suggests that more research is needed to better understand students’ SEL experiences holistically.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the student’s experiences of social and emotional learning in a community-based youth soccer program grounded in the hybridization of the teaching personal and social responsibility model and the cooperative learning model. Methods: This research was guided by a case study design. Qualitative data were collected over 28 weeks. Twenty-three children (n = 23) participated in the study. Eleven individual interviews, six focus group interviews, two rounds of student drawing activities, and 22 researcher’s self-reflection journals were taken during the program. Inductive analysis and constant comparison were used for data analysis. Results: Four themes were drawn from the collected data: trying your best, respecting each other, learning and working as a team, and making your responsibilities at home and school. Conclusion: The study provided evidence that the hybridization of teaching personal and social responsibility and cooperative learning could be an effective pedagogical approach for students’ social and emotional learning development in sports-based youth development programs.