The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced physical activity (PA) behaviors of many people. Physical education (PE) is considered one of the privileged instruments to promote youths’ PA. We aimed to investigate the effects of lockdown on PE teachers’ behaviors promoting their students’ out-of-school PA and differences between three European countries. A sample of 1146 PE teachers (59.5% females) from France, Italy, and Turkey answered an online questionnaire about guiding students to engage in out-of-school PA, helping them to set PA goals, encouraging in self-monitoring PA, the pedagogical formats of these behaviors and feedback asked to students. RM-MANCOVAs were performed with a two-time (before and during the lockdown), three country (France, Italy, Turkey), two gender factorial design, using teaching years and perceived health as covariates. A significant multivariate main effect time × country × gender (p < 0.001) was reported for the behaviors promoting students’ PA, with French and Italian teachers increasing some behaviors, while Turkish teachers showing opposite trends. Significant multivariate main effects time × country were found for formats supporting the behaviors (p < 0.001) and for asked feedback formats (p < 0.001). The massive contextual change imposed by lockdown caused different reactions in teachers from the three countries. Findings are informative for PA promotion and PE teachers’ education.

This study aimed to evaluate whether primary school classroom teachers reported changes in physical education teaching self-efficacy (SE-PE) and work engagement (WE) during the first COVID-19 wave. A total of 622 classroom teachers filled in an online questionnaire on SE-PE and WE, referring to before and during the lockdown, and on perceived digital competence. While controlling for perceived digital competence, a mixed between-within Repeated Measures Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (RM-MANCOVA) was performed, using a factorial design with two time categories (before vs. during the lockdown) and three age categories (≤40 vs. 41–50 vs. ≥51 years). The RM-MANCOVA revealed that perceived digital competence significantly adjusted teachers’ SE-PE and WE values (p < 0.001). The analysis yielded a significant multivariate main effect by time (p < 0.001) and by time × age categories (p = 0.001). Follow-up univariate ANCOVA showed significant differences by time in teachers’ SE-PE (p < 0.001) and WE (p < 0.001), with a reduction in both values from before to during the lockdown. A Bonferroni post hoc pairwise comparison showed teachers’ SE-PE significantly decreased in all age categories (p < 0.001). The present findings confirm the importance of promoting SE-PE among primary school teachers, regardless of the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers’ self-efficacy and WE are essential to master the challenges of PE teaching.

COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced physical activity (PA) behaviors of many people. Physical education (PE) is considered one of the privileged instruments to promote youths’ PA. We aimed to investigate the effects of lockdown on PE teachers’ behaviors promoting their students’ out-of-school PA and differences between three European countries. 1146 PE teachers (59.5% females) from France, Italy, and Turkey answered an online questionnaire about guiding students to engage in out-of-school PA, helping them to set PA goals, encouraging in self-monitoring PA, the pedagogical formats of these behaviors and feedback asked to students. RM-MANCOVAs were performed with a 2 Time (before and during the lockdown) × 3Country (France, Italy, Turkey) × 2 Gender factorial design, using teaching years and perceived health as covariates. A significant multivariate main effect Time×Country×Gender (p<.001) was reported for the behaviors promoting students’ PA, with French and Italian teachers increasing some behaviors, while Turkish teachers showing opposite trends. Significant multivariate main effects Time×Country were found for formats supporting the behaviors (p < .001) and for asked feedback formats (p<.001). The massive contextual change imposed by lockdown caused different reactions in teachers from the three countries. Findings are informative for PA promotion and PE teachers’ education.

Most adolescents in industrialized countries are physically inactive and effective actions to counteract this situation are required. School physical education (PE) can promote students’ active lifestyle. The paper presents the protocol of the “Physical education for moving” (PE4MOVE) project, based on an Internet-supported professional training program offered to PE teachers in a region of central Italy. Secondary school PE teachers and their students are randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a wait-list control group. Teachers participate in a continuing professional development training (CPDt) designed to increase knowledge and competences regarding students’ physical activity (PA) promotion. The CPDt, developed according to recent recommendations, consists of a mixed-modality preliminary session on fitness testing, and webinars and online workshops on theory-driven strategies. Teachers are then required to apply contents during their PE classes. Teachers’ variables related to PA promotion, as well students’ approach to PA, PA levels and physical fitness are recorded at pre- and post-trial times. Upon its completion, the project may contribute to the field by providing evidence for the effectiveness of Internet-supported teachers’ training programmes, for the transferability of students’ motivation from PE to out-of-school settings, and for the relationship between teachers and students’ motivation.

Background: FitBack is an international network established to support the creation of physical fitness monitoring and surveillance systems for children and adolescents across Europe.Aims: As a part of the greater scope of the FitBack European project, the FitBack web portal was designed and tailored for various target groups, such as teachers, health professionals, policy makers, parents, and youths, with the aim to promote their physical and health literacy.Methods: The FitBack web portal is a free and multilingual online resource, and two of its webpages were evaluated: “Make interactive report” was evaluated by 78 secondary school students and 27 physical education teachers, and “10 steps to design a physical fitness monitoring system” by 14 physical activity promotion policy makers. Validated scales and open-ended questions were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative responses.Results: ‘Good’-to-‘excellent’ scores emerged for user experience (5.43–6.36 out of 7) and webpage usability (3.70–4.27 out of 5). Qualitative feedback highlighted positive comments and cues on how to improve website features.Conclusions: Results indicate that the current FitBack web portal is a clear and user-friendly mobile health tool, which includes relevant information on how to use and implement youth physical fitness monitoring and surveillance systems.

The present study aims to examine the motivational determinants underpinning changes in Physical Education teachers’ behaviors promoting physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown.