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Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy

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posted on 2023-01-12, 18:01 authored by Johannes Carl, Anna Bryant, Lowri C. Edwards, Gillian Bartle, Jens E. Birch, Efstathios Christodoulides, Arunas Emeljanovas, Andreas Froberg, Joseph Gandrieau, Barbara Gilic, Ivo van Hilvoorde, Peter Holler, Teodora M. Iconomescu, Johannes Jaunig, Ida Laudanska-Krzeminska, Suzanne Lundvall

 

Background/objective

The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) embraces different person-centered qualities (physical, cognitive, affective/psychological) necessary to lead physically active lifestyles. PL has recently gained increasing attention globally and Europe is no exception. However, scientific endeavors summarizing the current state of PL in Europe are lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to comprehensively assess and compare the implementation of PL in research, policy, and practice across the continent.

Methods

We assembled a panel of experts representing 25 European countries. Employing a complementary mixed-methods design, the experts first prepared reviews about the current state of PL in their countries (categories: research, practice/policy). The reviews underwent comparative document analysis, ensuring a transnational four-eyes principle. For re-validation purposes, the representatives completed a quantitative survey with questions reflecting the inductive themes from the document analysis.

Results

The document analysis resulted in ten disjunct themes (related to “concept”, “research”, “practice/policy”, “future/prospect”) and yielded a heterogenous PL situation in Europe. The implementation state was strongly linked to conceptual discussions (e.g., existence of competing approaches), linguistic issues (e.g., translations), and country-specific traditions. Despite growing scholarly attention, PL hesitantly permeates practice and policy in most countries. Nevertheless, the experts largely anticipate increasing popularity of PL for the future.

Conclusion

Despite the heterogeneous situation across Europe, the analysis has uncovered similarities among the countries, such as the presence of established yet not identical concepts. Research should intensify academic activities (conceptual-linguistic elaborations, empirical work) before PL may gain further access into practical and political spheres in the long term.

History

Published in

Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness

Publisher

Elsevier

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Citation

Carl, J., Bryant, A., Edwards, L. C., Bartle, G., Birch, J., Christodoulides, E, et al. (2022). 'Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy', Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesf.2022.12.003

Print ISSN

1728-869X

Cardiff Met Affiliation

  • Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences

Cardiff Met Authors

Anna Bryant Lowri C. Edwards

Cardiff Met Research Centre/Group

  • Physical Health Education for Lifelong Learning

Copyright Holder

  • © The Authors

Language

  • en

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