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This essay aims to elucidate effective teaching through the utilization of instructional models in physical education. In this essay, Rink’s seven essential teaching tasks provide the foundational structure, complemented by an examination of four legitimate student outcomes in physical education: physical, cognitive, social, and affective domains. A literature review of 222 research studies on teaching effectiveness of nine instructional models reporting on teacher behaviors and student outcomes was coded following a four-step reliability coding process to establish a consensus on the articles included. This essay serves as a resource for comprehending the application of instructional models in physical education curricula, highlighting the need for continuous research into their efficacy and the replication of studies to validate outcomes across various educational settings. In addition, it highlights the importance of integrating K–16 teacher assessment data within these models to demonstrate the educational impact across learning domains.

Physical activity (PA) is an essential component of the physical education classroom, whether it is used to practice motor skills, increase motor competence, or provide experience and opportunities to nurture lifelong PA participation. This chapter outlines the history of PA in the school setting, beginning with physical education and expanding through a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program model including PA during the school day (e.g., recess and classroom-based activity), PA before and after school (including active commuting), staff involvement, and family and community engagement. We begin by discussing the theoretical underpinnings of PA in the school setting and then outline previous research around PA implications. Ideas and suggestions for how the field of physical education and PA in schools can move the field forward together to embrace PA during the school day while being culturally and socially just are presented. Finally, future directions and implications for research are discussed.

Demand for supporting the delivery of high-quality physical education (PE) has never been more important, and continuing professional development (CPD) that results in changes in PE teachers’ practices and improvements in student learning outcomes is in short supply. PE-CPD has historically fallen short of meeting this end, though there are written descriptions of successful PE-CPD spanning the past 4 decades. In this paper, we examine shared features of effective PE-CPD, identify and review gaps in PE-CPD literature, and discuss lessons learned to enhance future efforts by policymakers and stakeholders responsible for designing, planning, and facilitating learning opportunities for physical educators. We conclude with a critical discourse challenging readers to consider the following four questions: (a) What is the purpose of CPD? (b) What is worth knowing regarding CPD? (c) What can be done to improve the quality and quantity of CPD? and (d) Who should be doing something about it?

This paper is a reflection, a critique, and, hopefully, an inspiration to think about how future generations can reshape physical education in the United States. To do so, we first pay homage to our pioneers, who, we argue, were transformative leaders because they used research to respond to the sociopolitical issues of their time. In saying this, we reflect on how these ideas from that time were critically important but have also been developed for a different time, place, and demographic of people. We then trace the social justice research in the United States by highlighting the promises and pitfalls of current scholarship because it often asks “tough questions” but provides “weak solutions.” To conclude, we believe that the future of physical education needs to be about allowing those “new voices” to become the future leaders of our field. In so doing, they will change the landscape of physical education knowledge, movement, and practices.

In this paper, we provide an overview of physical education (PE) policy and advocacy research in the United States. We examine the past policy and advocacy work that has been completed in the field and make connections to international policy work. We examine the potential changes the future holds for developing scholarship in the area. We define policy and advocacy and explain how teachers as policy actors are key figures in any policy enacted. The paper also examines the relationship between PE and the public health arena, which completes a lot of PE-focused policy research. The paper concludes with a focus on PE teacher education and the work that higher education must do to help educate future professionals to be advocates for policy change.

The purpose of this article is to overview the history of research in physical education teacher education (PETE), discuss contemporary trends, and identify future directions for scholarship and teacher education practice. Teacher education is defined as formal and informal experiences that contribute to teachers’ education across their careers. Using the phases of occupational socialization and Kosnik and Beck’s “seven priorities of teacher education” to frame an analysis of literature from the 1980s through to the present, a brief summary of research on PETE is provided, using the chronological categories of past and present. The analysis takes into account implications for PETE that were left by the global pandemic, where traditional PETE practices were significantly disrupted by a shift to online learning. The chapter is concluded by listing questions regarding PETE that researchers and teacher educators might tackle in the future.

Occupational socialization theory has been used to guide research related to the lives and careers of teachers and, more recently, teacher educators for around 50 years. Across this time, much has been learned about the factors that attract or deter prospective recruits from seeking occupations in the field, the effectiveness of professional development programming, and individuals’ experiences working in educational systems or scholarly contributions toward larger institutional missions. In this paper, we provide an overview of research stemming from occupational socialization theory before presenting and discussing vignettes that provide illustrative examples of the socialization of physical education teachers and faculty members in action. Building from the discussion across these vignettes, we describe lessons learned related to applying the findings of socialization research in practice before closing with research recommendations. We emphasize topical and methodological diversity in socialization research and provide example studies linked to the current literature.