Schools are favorable settings for societal transformation and nurturing comprehensive youth development. Within schools, physical education (PE) and school-based physical activity (PA) stand out due to their positive and distinctive contributions to the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social learning outcomes, student’s health, and active lifestyles.1–4 With over 1.2 billion school-aged children estimated to be in compulsory school by 2022,5 and PE being a required subject in most nations’ curricula, schools and PE are well-positioned to impact global health.6 Furthermore, PE and PA are fundamental rights for every child in their education7 and are directly embedded in Sustainable Development Goals related to quality education, good health, and gender equality.8,9 However, society, schools and PE face significant challenges. Approximately 80% of children and adolescents continue not to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) PA recommendations that benefit their health.10,11 Persistent gaps between PE policies and actual implementation, the PE subject status, limitations in time allocation, research on PE policies, and the quality of PE and school-based PA opportunities are still challenges in many countries.6,12,13 Recognizing the potential and sociopolitical leverage PE and school-based PA experiences hold for positive youth development in several life domains, they have been targeted for urgent action in many intergovernmental policies and resolutions.9,14–16 Specifically, the WHO recently called action to implement and monitor evidence-based strategic policies to strengthen quality PE (QPE) and PA opportunities within schools worldwide.1,11,17,18
In response to action, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released the QPE guidelines for policymakers emphasizing the importance of creating planned, progressive, and inclusive learning experiences throughout school to help all children and adolescents lead active lives.7 The UNESCO QPE agenda now substantially impacts PE curricula, teaching practices, and student learning worldwide.1,7 Despite the “quality PE” definition being debated among PE educators worldwide, the QPE agenda should influence all aspects of PE, from policy to enacted pedagogy.1,8,19,20 A crucial element of this agenda involves the establishment of national policy frameworks on minimum benchmarks and key enablers of QPE, such as curriculum policy (eg, availability, mandatory status, time allocation, contents, cross-curriculum links, and school PA opportunities), human and infrastructural resources, advocacy, monitoring, and research.6–8,11 Monitoring and reporting the global implementation and impact of these policies, associated surveillance systems, and related research initiatives are needed but require undertaking.7,11,13 Tracking the progress of these elements can inform evidence-based policymaking and practices and may help to reduce PE’s challenges worldwide.8,11
Over the last decade, some formal initiatives have monitored PE nationally, across several countries, regions, and globally (Appendix; Table 1).6,21–29 The evidence shows that most systems are Europe-based or involve a limited number of countries in some world regions and that the time allocated for PE and PA at school are the most common areas of study. However, there is a misalignment of conceptual frameworks, diverse methodological approaches to collecting data, inconsistent implementation cycles, and a lack of policy-surveillance-research links. Such pitfalls potentially undermine worldwide efforts to benchmark, compare, track progress, and inform decision-making to drive QPE and school-based PA policy, surveillance, and research.11 The latter emphasizes the necessity of setting up a Global Observatory for Physical Education (GoPE!).30
Physical Education and School-Based Physical Activity Indicators per Surveillance System
Surveillance system | Time allocation for PE | PA at school and community partnerships | Compulsory PE curriculum | Teachers | Infrastructures materials | Assessment | PE surveillance | PA prevalence | National PE curriculum | PE and school-based PA research |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eurydice21 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
UNESCO6 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
OECD (PISA)22 | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
OECD23 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
EuPEO24 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
CEREPS (Naul)25 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
WHO (GSHS)26 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
WHO27 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
WHO (COSI)28 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
AHKGA (Aubert)29 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
Abbreviations: AHKGA, Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance; CEREPS, European Council of Research in Physical Education and School Sport; COSI, Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative; EuPEO, European Physical Education Observatory; GSHS, Global Student Health Survey; OECD, Economic Cooperation and Development; PA, physical activity; PE, physical education; PISA, Program for International Student Assessment; UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; WHO, World Health Organization.
The Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!)31,32 has become a well-established system monitoring country-level progress in PA surveillance, research, and policy. GoPA! facilitates evidence-based PA promotion and supports national and global PA advocacy. After 10 years of successfully monitoring and evaluating the national PA of adults worldwide, GoPA! realized an urgent need to initiate a comparable high-quality surveillance system of PE and school-based PA policies, surveillance, and research. The GoPE!30 was launched to address these gaps.11 Affiliated with GoPA!, GoPE!’s mission is to monitor and promote QPE and PA in schools worldwide. To achieve this goal, GoPE! developed a worldwide systematic surveillance system of QPE and school-based PA. GoPE! will inform and allow comparative analysis for cross-sector decision making every 5 years so that each country, region, and continent can have the opportunity to check their status and progress on policy, surveillance systems, and research indicators on these subjects, for the benefit of all school-aged children and school communities.
Besides the GoPA! framework,31–33 which is based on socioecological models of health,34,35 the conceptual framework of GoPE! is also derived from: (1) the European Physical Education Observatory24 (EuPEO)—where categories were established with an explicit reference to the UNESCO QPE7 and multilevel layers (national, school, PE teachers and students) and (2) the socioecological models of PE—which allows employing individual, interpersonal, environmental, national, and global lenses through which to view and understand PE,36,37 and (3) WHO’s whole-of-school approach for promoting PA through schools.17 The GoPE! conceptual framework is presented in Figure 1.
Advocacy for quality physical education and school-based physical activity—The GoPE! Conceptual framework. GoPA! indicates Global Observatory for Physical Activity; GoPE!, Global Observatory for Physical Education.
Citation: Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2025; 10.1123/jpah.2024-0170
The GoPE! is guided by the following research questions: (1) What is the worldwide status of PE and school-based PA policy, surveillance, and research in primary and secondary educational levels? (2) Are there any differences in national and regional indicators and by country’s income? (3) How is this changing over time? (4) Is there an association between PE and school-based PA policies, surveillance, and research capacity in a country and the PA levels of its children and adolescents? This paper presents GoPE!’s conceptual framework and describes the standardized research protocol as a cross-continental and evidence-based surveillance system.
Methods
GoPE!’s Countries Representation
To maintain comparability with GoPA!,32,33,38 GoPE! consider a list of 218 countries/states/economies (from now on referred to as “countries”). The list of countries can be found elsewhere.33,38 Countries will be categorized into 6 world regions, following the WHO regional classification39: Africa (AFRO), Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), Europe (EURO), The Americas (PAHO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). Countries will also be categorized into country income levels following the World Bank classification40: high income (HIC), upper middle income (UMIC), lower middle income (LMIC), and low income (LIC).
GoPE!’s Country Contact Network
GoPE! aims to establish a global network of independent, dynamic, collaborative, and evidence-based researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in PE, PA, sports, and public health sectors. The GoPE! Country Contacts will be local representatives who, by accessing the GoPE! online workflow system, will review, complete, and approve the data collected independently by the GoPE! Research Working Group. The reviewed data will be included in the GoPE! Country Cards—the main output of GoPE!, which will also be confirmed by the GoPE! Country Contacts. Country Contacts, whose main area of interest is PE and who can promote changes in PE at different systemic levels (policymakers, national representatives of PE associations, researchers, teacher educators, and PE teachers), will be prioritized. The GoPE! Country Contact must be knowledgeable about the country’s educational system, PE and PA policies, surveillance initiatives, and research. All GoPE! Country Contacts will be encouraged to collaborate with other representatives to help them. This is particularly relevant when PE is not their specific area of intervention (eg, educational researchers, policymakers, and PA researchers).
Several steps will be taken to build the GoPE! Country Contacts network. First, an online survey will be sent to the GoPA! Country Contacts asking if they consider themselves available and if they meet the GoPE! Country Contact profile. If not, a suggestion from a local expert who could become the GoPE! Country Contact for the represented country can be made. Second, Country Contacts will be identified by searching academic databases and PE literature, international and national PE and PA organizations, governmental websites, universities and other educational institutions, and professional websites. An official invitation to become a GoPE! Country Contact will be sent to the chosen country representative. GoPE! Country Contacts will be informed about: (1) data ownership—data belongs to the country, GoPE! Country Contacts, and GoPE!; (2) translation—GoPE! encourages the translation of the GoPE! Country Card to the country’s official language; (3) publications—GoPE! encourages Country Contacts to engage in the publication of the country’s data; and (4) PE and PA advocacy. A reminder will be sent if there is no response to the initial invitation within 3 weeks. A final reminder will be sent if there is no answer after 2 weeks. If there is still no response within 1 week, a new local expert will be chosen, and a new invitation will be sent. The development of the GoPE!m Country Contacts network has no ending date and can keep expanding. Figure 2 shows the timeline and overview of the steps in the review process and the GoPE! Country Card production involving the Country Contact and the GoPE! Core Team.
Timeline and overview of the steps between the GoPE! Country Contact and the GoPE! teams. GoPE! indicates Global Observatory for Physical Education.
Citation: Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2025; 10.1123/jpah.2024-0170
GoPE!’s Dimensions and Indicators
In addition to the previously mentioned frameworks,7,17,24,33,34,36 a nonsystematic desk review was also conducted to identify formal surveillance systems and initiatives capturing national data on PE across several countries in the last decade.1,6–9,11,15,21–29 The respective conceptual frameworks of all these sources were extracted, analyzed, compared, and condensed through a collaborative, iterative, and qualitative analysis, helping to inform the GoPE! dimensions and indicators. In that process, the following criteria for operationalization were adopted: representativeness, comparability, feasibility, validity–reliability, reach, and policy-actionability. Thus, the first round of GoPE! Country Cards comprises 5 dimensions and 28 indicators: (1) country and demographic data (14 indicators), (2) PA participation (3 indicators), (3) PE policy (6 indicators), (4) PE surveillance (1 indicator), and (5) PE and school-based PA intervention research (4 indicators).
Table 2 shows the indicators of each GoPE! dimension, the sources, and the methodological approach established to operationalize each indicator. After the evidence is collected, the GoPE! Country Contact will validate or correct the data. The GoPE! Core Team will take a final step to validate the evidence, by involving a minimum of 2 researchers in that process.
The GoPE! Dimensions, Indicators and Sources of the Methodological Approaches
Dimension | Indicators | Methodological approach/sources |
---|---|---|
1. Country and demographic data | 1.1 Country41,42 1.2 Capital42 1.3 Total population43–45 1.4 Literacy: youth rate (15-24 y of age)46 1.5 Government expenditure on education47 1.6 Official entrance age to primary education5,48 1.7 Official entrance age to secondary education5 1.8 Duration of primary education5,48 1.9 Duration of secondary education5,48 1.10 Duration of compulsory education5,48 1.11 Duration of the compulsory school years of primary education5,48,a 1.12 Duration of the compulsory school years of secondary education5,48,a 1.13 School-age population at primary education5,48 1.14 School-age population at secondary education5,48 | World Bank40,41,43,46,47 World Data42 UNESCO5 OECD Education at a Glance48 UNICEF49 National/governmental official sources |
2. PA participation | 2.1 PA prevalence (total) 2.2 PA prevalence (boys) 2.3 PA prevalence (girls) | Guthold et al10 GSHS50 Araújo et al51 Inchley et al52 Other potential databases/sources |
3. PE policy | 3.1 Existence of a national official PE curriculum for the compulsory school years of primary education 3.2 Existence of a national official PE curriculum for the compulsory school years of secondary education 3.3 Existence of a national policy that requires mandatory PE for the compulsory school years of primary education 3.4 Existence of a national policy that requires mandatory PE for the compulsory school years of secondary education 3.5 Existence of a national policy requiring minimum and mandatory PE time for the compulsory school years of primary education 3.6 Existence of a national policy requiring minimum and mandatory PE time for the compulsory school years of secondary education | Search through: (1) Country’s ministry of education websites (2) International reports (3) Google (4) Search databases |
4. PE surveillance | 4.1 Existence of a national, formal, and external surveillance system to evaluate the PE policy implementation for the compulsory school years that are: (1) ruled by an examination body under the guidance of the educational authority and (2) implemented continuously and systematically | (1) Provided by the GoPE! Country Contact and confirmed by the GoPE! Core Team (2) Country’s Ministry of Education websites (3) International reports (4) Google Scholar (5) Search databases |
5. PE and school-based PA intervention research | 5.1 Number of articles 5.2 Contribution to research worldwide 5.3 Research articles quintiles 5.4 Position in the ranking | (1) Systematic umbrella review (2) Studies suggested by the GoPE! Country Contact |
Abbreviations: GoPE!, Global Observatory for Physical Education; GSHS, Global school-based student health survey; OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; PA, physical activity; PE, physical education; UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; UNICEF, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
aMost recent country-specific information from official governmental sources or international reports.
Country and Demographic Data
Evidence will be collected from 6 international databases by 1 GoPE! Core Team member. All data will be independently analyzed and confirmed by a second GoPE! Core Team member. Within this dimension, Country Contacts will also be able to provide other updated information from official national/governmental sources.
Physical Activity Participation
Data from sources will be collected for boys, girls, and both genders combined (aged 11–17).10,50–52 The age-standardized prevalence of physical inactivity using the WHO Standard Population 2016 by Guthold et al10 is the data source where data will be obtained for most countries. Similar to GoPA!, in GoPE!, we aim to present the prevalence of PA instead of physical inactivity. Thus, the estimate will be calculated using the formula: PA = 100 – age − standardized prevalence of physical inactivity. Other sources with data from a few countries will be used if standardization criteria are met.50–52 The GoPE! Country Contact can also provide a different source of information—in such cases, the source will be evaluated in terms of standardization. In doing so, the provided source must conform to the following criteria: (1) comply with WHO guidelines for PA among children and adolescents; (2) be based on self-report PA instruments; and (3) have a national/subnational sample selected randomly, with a minimum of 100 participants, from at least 3 different ages between 11 and 17 years. Due to the potential negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the methodological approaches and the PA levels of the population,53 for the first round of the GoPE!, it was decided to include only PA data collected before and after 2020.
Physical Education Policy and Surveillance
Regarding the dimension “physical education policy,” GoPE! aims to find evidence on indicators for the compulsory school years of primary and secondary education, separately, based on the International Standard Classification of Education.19 For the “physical education surveillance,” due to its specificity and potentially reduced frequency, the research will also be conducted for the compulsory school years without the need to be stratified by school level. The surveillance purpose(s), education level (ie, primary, secondary, or both), and specificity (ie, general vs PE) will be reported. Table 3 presents the possible answers to each of these indicators and what methodological steps follow each option.
Answers for Dimensions of PE Policy and Surveillance
Dimension | Answer options | Meaning of the answer | Consequent methodological steps |
---|---|---|---|
PE policy | 1. Yes, for all school years 2. Yes, for some of the school years | The policy related to the searched indicator exists on the national level for all compulsory school years. The policy related to the searched indicator exists on the national level for some of the compulsory school years. | (1) GoPE! researcher collects the data independently. (2) GoPE! Country Contact confirms or improves data by providing evidence. (3) GoPE! Core Team confirms the final data independently. |
3. Only at a subnational level | There is no national policy, but there might be existent policies at a subnational level (understand the subnational level as the country’s division in regions/states/cantons/districts/provinces, considering the highest division level immediately under the national level). | (1) GoPE! Country Contact provides related data for one of the country’s regions. The example region will be the one that better represents the country’s PE policy status for the searched indicator. (2) GoPE! Core Team confirms the final data independently. | |
4. No | No evidence meets the indicator. | (1) GoPE! Researcher collects the data independently. (2) GoPE! Country Contact confirms or improves data by providing evidence. (3) GoPE! Core Team confirms the final data independently. | |
PE surveillance | 1. Yes | There are one or more national, formal, and external surveillance systems to evaluate the PE policy implementation for the compulsory school years that are: (1) ruled by an examination body under the guidance of the educational authority and (2) implemented continuously and systematically. | (1) GoPE! Country Contact provides the answer and the evidence to support that answer. (2) GoPE! Core Team confirms the final data independently. |
2. No | There is no surveillance system that meets the requested criteria. |
Abbreviations: GoPE!, Global Observatory for Physical Education; PE, physical education.
To collect the data, the GoPE! Core Team created a GoPE! Research Working Group who conducted a pilot study to finalize the development of the protocol. After an initial meeting outlining the protocol, data collection took 10 days in 1 country. Results led to crucial protocol changes, including integrating national educational system characterization and utilizing artificial intelligence for indicator prompts. GoPE! will assign researchers to specific countries. Quality control measures, such as internal surveys and document analysis, will ensure data accuracy. The GoPE! core team will independently verify collected data using a search strategy for each researcher’s assigned country. Data from all countries will undergo analysis by the GoPE! Core Team before the revision by GoPE! Country Contacts.
Physical Education and School-based Physical Activity Intervention Research
To inform the research indicators presented in dimension 5 of Table 2, an umbrella systematic review will be conducted to: (1) assess existing systematic reviews and meta-analysis focusing on PE and school-based PA intervention research; (2) determine the quantity and details of interventions per country, their key attributes, and their effectiveness; and (3) appraise the quality, strengths, biases, and constraints of the published systematic reviews. This work’s protocol is registered in the Open Science Framework database.54 Furthermore, the reference lists of the systematic reviews will be searched. The studies that met the following Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study Type criteria will be included in a list of publications created for each country: (1) children (5–10 y of age) and/or adolescents (11–17 y of age) attending school, (2) PE and other school-based PA interventions, (3) any comparison group, (4) PA as the main outcome, (5) intervention study or intervention related studies with different designs, (6) school as the main context, and (7) empirical research papers published in peer-reviewed journals, and (8) data of the study collected before and after 2020. On a second phase, during the data revision, the GoPE! Country Contacts will be also asked to provide other studies that meet the predefined criteria. Publications written in languages other than English, Portuguese, or Spanish but with an English abstract will be included in this phase, after being reviewed and confirmed by the GoPE! Core Team.
GoPE!’s Outputs
The GoPE! Country Card will be the main output of the GoPE!. The GoPE! Country Card will consist of a 1-page infographic compiling the data gathered using a rigorous and evidence-based standardized methodology. They will enable the comparison of results among countries, world regions, income levels, and sets of cards within a 5-year periodicity. The other outputs that will be created and disseminated are: (1) the GoPE! Almanac presenting the GoPE! researchers, the operational team, the Country Contacts, the methodological details of data collection, the GoPE! Country Cards, and additional information for each country; (2) the research papers; (3) the GoPE! webpage and newsletter; and (4) the GoPE! PE Policy Directory—an online platform with relevant PE policies and surveillance systems across different countries, regions, and income levels.
GoPE!’s Ethical Considerations
The GoPE! complies with international ethical guidelines from the UTHealth Houston, Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB # HSC-SPH-24-0230). Before participating in GoPE!, all participants will voluntarily provide informed and written consent.
Discussion
This paper presents a conceptual framework and research protocol for GoPE!. GoPE! is a novel cross-continental surveillance system that will monitor and help countries determine their needs and improve their policies, surveillance, and research on PE and school-based PA. An important strength of GoPE! is that it is based on the successful surveillance systems of GoPA!31–33 and EuPEO24 and how the GoPE!’s conceptual framework integrates those with the socioecological model of PE,36 UNESCO’s QPE,7 and the WHO’s whole-of-school approach17 established agendas. Consequently, GoPE! stands out by providing a comprehensive and applicable methodological approach relying on independently collected data, confirmed by local representatives, and implemented over a 5-year cycle. GoPE! is a response to the call for the urgent need for a PE and school-based PA worldwide surveillance system,11,14 addressing the limitations of other surveillance systems.6,21–29 Inspired by the GoPA!,31,33 2 distinctive products of the GoPE! will be the GoPE! Country Cards and the worldwide collaborative network of PE, PA, sports, and public health local experts that will confirm the data and advocate for QPE and PA experiences at schools.
Through GoPE!’s work, we will gain critical insights for informing the development and implementation of comprehensive PE policies and actions, which have high relevance worldwide. In the short term, the findings from GoPE! will inform the design of dissemination and implementation strategies to improve PE and school-based PA policies, surveillance systems, and research in the GoPE! countries. In the longer term, our findings can help identify policy gaps, set priorities, and benchmark progress toward more QPE and PA opportunities at school and, consequently, more active, equitable, and healthy societies.
GoPE! addresses some dimensions of UNESCO’s QPE framework.7 These dimensions were chosen due to their relevance and feasibility. GoPE! also involves other dimensions: the country and demographic data, the PA participation, and the existing research on PE and school-based PA intervention research. In the forthcoming iterations of GoPE!, we recognize the potential for enhancing this vision by incorporating additional indicators, such as PE teachers and infrastructural/material resources already accounted for in surveillance systems.6,21,23,24,27,29 Other dimensions such as the PE teaching–learning processes, aspects of inclusion,7,8,17 and the gap in implementing PE policies6,21 can also be considered. These dimensions were not included at this stage due to the lack of standardized data sources allowing global comparisons. Next, the 5 GoPE!’s dimensions are discussed separately.
Country and Demographic Data
Identifying general indicators, such as the country’s regional location and income classification, is crucial, as it facilitates comparative analyses. Indeed, existing evidence suggests variations in PE and PA indicators across different regions and incomes.6,7,10–12,32 Most PE surveillance systems predominantly focus on European or developed nations, and their scope is often limited, failing to encompass a comprehensive range of countries within each region. To solve this limitation, GoPE! aims to reach all countries across all regions. Regarding the educational indicators, GoPE! uses the International Standard Classification of Education system, an official framework to facilitate international comparisons of education systems. To enhance standardization and feasibility, supported by available data,5,48 GoPE! focused on the compulsory years of primary and secondary education.
Physical Activity Participation
Evidence suggests that schools and PE can impact young people’s lifestyles related to PA and health3,12,53 and many other social, affective, cognitive, and physical aspects of learning and youth development.1 Despite the ongoing debate about the main mission of PE55 worldwide, typical curricular aims embrace cognitive, psycho-motor, and affective outcomes associated with an active, healthy lifestyle and physical literacy.6,7 Besides PE, many policies urge schools to consider their different domains for PA promotion.11,14,15,18 Thus, GoPE! includes PA participation among children and adolescents in its rationale. We acknowledge that PA is complex and that education is crucial in changing human behavior. However, schools and PE are only part of the solution of the systemic approach needed14 to address the challenge of having more active populations throughout life. By relying on existing databases, the first round of GoPE! Country Cards will only present data on adolescent populations, as data on children’s PA is lacking in most world countries. Using available data is a strength of GoPE!, but we must also consider its limitations. Most countries only have self-reported data and very few have data on children’s populations. Also, with the potential increase of literature during the forthcoming years in diverse world regions, the focus on PA in PE classes and other school-based domains might generate more specific and contextualized indicators.56,57 We expect the launch of GoPE! will help solve this gap in the long term. A PA prevalence indicator will allow us to ecologically explore correlations between PE policy, surveillance, and research indicators with the proportion of adolescents meeting PA guidelines.
Physical Education Policy
Based on a socioecological approach to PE,36 policies, such as a national strategy and the PE curriculum, are macrolevel factors that influence day-to-day practice in schools. While some researchers have been studying PE policy for many years,58 limited investigation into this important topic still prevails internationally.13 GoPE! aims to enhance the field and will create a PE policy directory specifically. This directory will be a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. For the first round of GoPE! Country Cards, following the Comprehensive Analysis of Policy on Physical Activity framework,59 we will focus mainly on the following elements of policy: scope of analysis (availability and content), type (formal written policies), level (national), and stage of policy (endorsement/legitimization). In the future, other elements for analyzing policies may be considered.
Based on UNESCO QPE report,7 national strategies for PE should be present at both primary and secondary levels. Complementarily, WHO14 highlights the importance of strengthening the national education policy, as well as implementing and monitoring it to ensure the provision of QPE and whole-of-school PA approaches. Therefore, a national PE curriculum endorsed by a governmental authority can be an important policy for establishing a country’s minimum standards, regardless of its organization. This national policy can serve as a foundation for establishing a minimum standard that can be autonomously operationalized at a “subnational” level (ie, division of a country into regions, states, cantons, districts, or provinces). The “national PE curriculum” indicator has been included in several PE surveillance systems,6,21,23–25 and it is part of GoPE!. We acknowledge the complexity and diversity of PE curriculum regulation levels worldwide. Consequently, in countries with “no national PE curriculum” and where PE is regulated at a subnational level, the GoPE! Country Contact will be asked to provide such information. Future work of GoPE! could include in-depth analyses of existing PE policies and curricula at a subnational level, as well as case studies to evaluate, for example, PE policy implementation.
Compulsory PE among all school grades and for all primary and secondary school students is recommended.7,17,19,60,61 In situations where PE is not mandatory, evidence shows that PE participation tends to be lower.6,62 Therefore, this common indicator in PE surveillance systems6,23–25,27,29 is also part of the GoPE!. Appropriate compulsory curriculum time allocation is required to facilitate QPE for all students. The indicator amount of time is present in all analyzed PE surveillance systems and is often measured as PE mean curriculum time (eg, minutes per week) and/or number of lessons (eg, daily PE).6,21–29 Specifically, many organizations and researchers address the importance of establishing a minimum amount of time for PE and of having daily PE as part of the policy.7,15,16,18,60,61,63 For example, UNESCO recommended a weekly curriculum time allocation for PE of 120 (primary schools) and 180 minutes (secondary schools). However, there seems to be a decreasing trend in the time allocated for PE worldwide6 and daily PE participation.63 For strengthening policy and practice around this important indicator, UNESCO7(p47) stated that “national strategies for physical education should recommend curriculum time allocation.” Thus, GoPE! decided to establish the indicator “Existence of a national policy that requires minimum and mandatory PE time for the compulsory school years of primary and secondary education.” The focus will be on what is written in the policy regarding the minimum time and if it is recommended or required (mandatory). This is because policies formulated with firm language and requiring specific actions clearly define the standards and responsibility for implementing PE.64 In the future, GoPE! can evaluate the details of each policy and curriculum, as well as get information on possible disconnects between what is written in the policies and what is implemented at the country level.
Physical Education Surveillance
Policy needs continuous and systematic surveillance evidence to evaluate its effectiveness and the status of its implementation.7,11,14,31,65 In PE, the policy implementation gap is a recurrent problem.6 However, PE surveillance occurs infrequently worldwide.6 Given the importance of surveillance systems and that “policy implementation, and the delivery of quality PE, should be supported by clear systems for monitoring and quality assurance, accompanied by support systems that assist teachers and schools in developing strengths and addressing weaknesses,”7(p46) GoPE! established the indicator “Existence of a national, formal and external surveillance system to evaluate the PE policy implementation for the compulsory school years that are: (1) ruled by an examination body under the guidance of the educational authority, (2) implemented continuously and systematically.” This indicator is fundamental for understanding the national surveillance systems related to PE policy implementation globally.
Physical Education and School-based Physical Activity Intervention Research
An umbrella review of worldwide PE and school-based PA interventions for promoting PA is being conducted. The indicators proposed will allow us to identify the number of existing interventions in each country and per school domain, informed by the WHO whole-of-school approach,17 and to establish a series of regional and global comparisons about the status of research in this field. For feasibility reasons, the first round of GoPE! focuses on the intervention studies included in systematic reviews, each with its inclusion/exclusion criteria. The next step is systematically reviewing worldwide PE and school-based PA multilevel intervention studies, including other potential outcomes besides PA. Future research may also consider systematically reviewing the quality of PE research papers and the moderate to vigorous PA levels in PE and during the school day. This research indicator may also benefit from focusing on other study types on PE, rather than only interventions.
Conclusion
GoPE!’s conceptual and methodological framework will provide a consistent and feasible worldwide model of actionable dimensions contributing to a minimum common denominator of QPE and school-based PA. GoPE! responds to an urgent request to establish a worldwide surveillance system. GoPE! is a global resource and knowledge translation platform that will monitor and facilitate regular critical periodic data collection and analyses to enable countries to determine their needs and opportunities to improve policy, surveillance strategies, research, and practices related to QPE and PA opportunities at school. In doing so, GoPE! will inform PE and PA at school promotion, advocacy, and agenda-setting efforts to achieve international goals and recommendations, contributing to having more active and healthier young people, schools, and societies across countries, world regions, and income groups.
Acknowledgments
The authors extend their gratitude to the esteemed members of the GoPE! Research Working Group, including Aia Boldovskaia, Dora Carolo, Miguel Corrula, Sara Martins, and Tiago Carreira (University of Lisbon, Portugal); Angela Caballero and Juliana Mejía Grueso (Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia); David Sanchéz-Oliva and Rubén Llanos Muñoz (University of Extremadura, Spain); Conor Philpott and João Mota (University College Cork, Ireland); Andressa Sobrinho (University of São Paulo, Brasil); Dana Masarykova (University of Trnava, Slovakia); and Manolis Adamakis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece). Additionally, the operational team, comprising Cíntia Borges, Paulo Ferreira, and Lucas Ferreira (Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil), are recognized for designing the GoPE! cards and developing the GoPE! workflow system and website, respectively. Author Contributions: Conceptualization: Martins, Costa, Ramirez Varela, Dudley. Drafting of the manuscript: Martins, Costa, Cristão. Review and editing of the first draft: Ramirez Varela, Dudley, Tassitano, Onofre, Pratt, Hallal. Writing of the manuscript: Tassitano, Hallal, Dudley. Review and editing of the second draft: All authors. Revision and approval of the final version of the manuscript: All authors. Funding: This work was supported by National Funds through FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the scope of UIDEF—Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Educação e Formação, UIDB/04107/2020,
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Appendix
Detailed Methods and Indicators of Physical Education Surveillance Systems and Reports
Surveillance systems | Methods | Indicators |
---|---|---|
Eurydice21 | Specific for PE: yes; frequency: 2013; countries (regions): 30 (EURO); data collection: short questionnaire completed by national units; monitoring approach: government-driven; data stratified by educational level: yes. | National, large-scale initiatives and monitoring; curricular content; recommended taught time in compulsory years; pupil assessment; teachers (qualifications, specialization, education); extracurricular PA and sports; planned reforms. |
UNESCO6 | Specific for PE: yes; frequency: 2013 (2000, 2009); countries (regions): 232 (all); data collection: survey with a pluralistic approach to data generation (sources: survey questionnaire, PE-related studies, media/other publications, expert opinion), and diverse participants; monitoring approach: stakeholder-driven, including government officials; data stratified by educational level: yes. | The general situation of PE (legal requirements); PE provision during compulsory years; PE curriculum, time allocation, monitoring; PE subject and teacher perceived status; PE resources; PE equity issues; PE–PA partnership pathways; PE teacher education; PE best practices. |
OECD (PISA)22 | Specific for PE: no; frequency: 2017; countries (regions): 72 (AFRO, EMRO, PAHO, WPRO, and EURO); data collection: school questionnaire (self-report by principal); student questionnaire; monitoring approach: stakeholder-driven (student self-report); data stratified by educational level: no. | PE frequency (number of days per week attending PE classes); physical exercise before and after-school (yes/no). |
OECD23 | Specific for PE: yes; frequency: 2019; countries (regions): 18 (PAHO, WPRO, and EURO); data collection: desktop research, comparative survey (self-report), meta-analysis, and case studies with inputs from multiple participants; monitoring approach: research, experts and government-driven; data stratified by educational level: no. | International comparative questionnaire: Curriculum regulation, existence, mandatory status, scope, and contents; required instruction time per year (policy); extracurricular PE and PA; settings and facilities of PE; assessment policies and practices in PE; workforce development, qualifications, and teacher support in PE. |
EuPEO24 | Specific for PE: yes; frequency: 2020; countries (regions): 8 (EURO); data collection: Manual for External Assessment (Country Questionnaire + National External Learning Assessment System − inputs from PE professional associations), and the Toolkit for Internal Monitoring (School Questionnaire + Pupil Questionnaire + Learning Assessment System) (not going to be detailed in this work). Monitoring approach: research and multiple stakeholders-driven (self-report); data stratified by educational level: no. | MEA—Country Questionnaire: Country context characterization; PE national government policy; teacher workforce and teacher education; curriculum flexibility in PE (organization, time allocation, assessment, . . .); school sports; other forms of PA (active learning, extracurricular PA). MEA—National External Learning Assessment System: Physical, psychological, social, and cognitive domains of learning outcomes. |
CEREPS (Naul)25 | Specific for PE: yes; frequency: 2020; countries (regions): 17 (EURO); data collection: specialists self-report around the themes provided; monitoring approach: experts-driven; data stratified by educational level: yes. | Structure of the national school system; historical background of PE and school sport; aims of current PE and school sport curricula; the promotion of active learning with PA at school; extracurricular settings at school and outside schools; purpose, structure, aims of PE in PE teacher training; current research/findings of PE studies in the country; new PE research studies. |
WHO(GSHS)26 | Specific for PE: no; frequency: 2021 (2003–2008, 2009–2012, 2013–2017, and 2018–2020); countries (regions): 94 (by 2013; AFRO, EMRO, PAOH, WPRO, and EURO); data collection: GSHS questionnaire. The PA module includes questions about PA, active transportation, PE, sedentary behavior, and sleep; monitoring approach: stakeholder-driven (student self-report); data stratified by educational level: no. | Number of days per week being physically active for a total of at least 60 minutes per day; number of days per week walking or riding a bicycle to or from school; number of days per week attending of physical education classes. |
WHO27 | Specific for PE: no; frequency: 2021 (2015 and 2018); countries (regions): 27 (EURO); data collection: An online survey (self-report) is applied to member states representatives (government officials). The WHO reviewed the responses and provided feedback to ensure data quality. Country profiles are confirmed; monitoring approach: government-driven (self-report); data stratified by educational level: yes. | PA prevalence; PE in primary and secondary schools; schemes for school-related PA promotion; schemes for active travel to school promotion; PE monitoring (questioned, but not presented as one of the 23 major indicators). |
WHO (COSI)28 | Specific for PE: no; frequency: 2018–2020 (2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2012–2013, and 2015–2017); countries (regions): 45 (EURO); data collection: school- and PE-related data questionnaire (self-report by principal/teachers of sampled classes); family questionnaire about student’s PA and sedentary behavior; monitoring approach: stakeholders-driven (self-report); data stratified by educational level: no. | School questionnaire: Availability of outdoor playground area/indoor gym; PE in the school curriculum (for which grades); frequency of PE lessons (minutes/week). Family questionnaire about their child: The usual mode of travel to school; child’s membership of sports clubs or dancing courses; time spent on PA with sports clubs or dancing; time spent playing actively/vigorously outside school hours. |
AHKGA (Aubert)29 | Specific for PE: no; frequency: 2022 (2014, 2016, and 2018); countries (regions): 57 (AFRO, EMRO, PAHO, WPRO, EURO, and SEARO); data collection: Report Card teams used a harmonized process for gathering, assessing data, and assigning grades to the 10 indicators; monitoring approach: mainly research-driven, also co-production (government officials were part of some research group); data stratified by educational level: no. | Overall PA indicator: % of children/adolescents who meet the PA recommendations (∼60 min/d); % of children/adolescents meeting the PA guidelines on at least 4 d a week (alternative). School indicators: % of schools: with active school policies; where the majority of students are taught by a PE specialist; where the majority of students are offered the mandated amount of PE; offering PA opportunities (excluding PE) to the majority of their students; with students who have regular access to facilities that support PA; % of parents who report their children have access to PA opportunities at school. |
Abbreviations: AHKGA, Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance; CEREPS, European Council of Research in Physical Education & School Sport; EuPEO, European Physical Education Observatory; GSHS, Global Student Health Survey; MEA, Manual for External Assessment; OECD, Economic Co-operation and Development; PA, physical activity; PE, physical education; PISA, Program for International Student Assessment; UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; WHO, World Health Organization. Note: World regions—AFRO, African Region; EMRO, Eastern Mediterranean Region; EURO, Europe; PAHO, The Americas; SEARO, South-East Asian Region; WPRO, Western Pacific Region.