Research on grading in physical education and health (PEH) continues to demonstrate both inequitable practices and outcomes some of which are associated with the students’ family background. A central goal for schools around the world is to compensate for students’ family backgrounds to promote greater educational equity. This study aimed to examine the effect of family background on grades in PEH in Sweden. The data in this study involved the total population of full siblings (N = 1,444,575) who were enrolled in Year 9 (ages 14–15) between 2000 and 2017. The results indicate an increasing impact of family background on PEH grades over time, particularly for foreign-born students, suggesting a decline in educational equity. These results highlight the need for targeted interventions and policy reforms to address growing inequities and ensure that all students, regardless of background, have equal opportunities to succeed in PEH

School grades are among the most common measurements used to analyze equality of outcome in education. Large or increasing ‘gaps’ in school grades between boys and girls and between students with different migration background are considered strong indicators of inequality. Based on students’ school grades, several studies have shown that equality in Swedish schools has decreased during the last two decades. Although equality has been described as one of the most important goals in physical education (PE), studies that focus on equality of outcome are lacking. Moreover, there have been no studies that focus on equality of outcome since the 2011 implementation of a new school grading system in Sweden. Therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute with new knowledge on equality in PE in Sweden – in regard to gender and migration background. The study is based on register data for all students enrolled in Swedish schools during the years 2012–2016 from Grades 6 and 9 and Year 1 in upper secondary school (N = 1,294,990). Based on a cross-sectional approach, analyses were conducted to explore general trends in students’ school grades in PE in the study period 2012–2016, and to calculate the percentage difference in PE grades between students with a Swedish background and both students with a foreign background and foreign-born students. After controlling for grade inflation, regression analyses with Wald tests were used to analyze how gender has moderated the relationship between migration background and school grades in PE in Sweden between 2012 and 2016. The results from this study suggest that (a) the intersection of gender and migration background is related to unequal school grades in PE, (b) there are gender equality issues in relation to students’ school grades in PE and, (c) the most prominent equality issues concern the group foreign-born girls.

This thesis is about equivalence in the school subject of sports and health. More precisely, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute with new knowledge on how equivalence in sports and health can be understood, measured, and has changed during the years 2000–2017. In welfare states around the world, as well as in Sweden, equivalence is a central goal – but what does equivalence really mean and entail? What should be equivalent, and when is the school (sufficiently) equivalent? How can equivalence be measured, and how has equivalence changed over time – has it deteriorated, improved, or remained unchanged? With a specific focus on the school subject of sports and health, this thesis addresses these very questions. To answer some of the questions, different perspectives on equivalence are presented, along with various methods for investigating indicators of equivalence. Additionally, the relationship between equivalence-relevant groups and outcome measures is examined over time. The equivalence-relevant groups are based on students’ gender, migration background, and family background, as well as their parents’ educational background. The two outcome measures are students’ grades in sports and health and students’ perceptions of sports and health. The empirical material in the study is based partly on register data, in the form of a total sample of grade statistics for 2000–2017, and partly on retrospective data from large research projects, which in turn contain empirical material about students’ perceptions of sports and health (N = 39,980). The results show that there are differences in grades, which have also increased over time, between students with different migration backgrounds and educational backgrounds. Moreover, there are even larger and increasing gender differences in the groups for students with low-educated parents and for students with a foreign background. The results also show that the effect of family background on grades in the 9th grade seems to have increased from 2000 to 2017. It is also evident that the effect of family background has increased the most for foreign-born students. In terms of students’ perceptions of sports and health, the results partially show something different compared to grades. Although there are differences between different equivalence-relevant groups, these differences are generally small. The differences in question remain small even after age, sports participation in leisure time, and parents’ educational background are considered. Generally, there are no clear differences in the way students describe what and how much they learned. However, one group that stood out a bit was girls with a foreign background, who reported to a slightly higher degree that there was nothing to learn in sports and health. In summary, the thesis highlights the difficulty – but also the importance – of more clearly defining the meaning of equivalence in school, as well as in sports and health. Additionally, this dissertation also points to knowledge gaps about equivalence in sports and health, which partly result from a lack of studies but can also be attributed to methodological shortcomings in previous studies. Finally, the dissertation indicates problems with equivalence, primarily linked to the increasing differences between students with different migration backgrounds and family backgrounds, along with the general differences that exist between different student groups and girls with a foreign background.

This study aims to explore police students’ self-rated mental health and physical activity levels and the relationship between them. Based on longitudinal and cross-sectional data (N = 722), two scales on mental health orientation were developed. The scales and levels of physical activity were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and X2. During police education, (1) the level of physical activity decreases for men, (2) there is a decline in positive health orientation for both sexes, and (3) women report a more negative health orientation. This raises questions regarding whether “enough” is done to provide police students with sufficient conditions for improving their health.

Introduction: In Sweden, police education should promote students’ physical activity and mental health. According to national goals, police students should be provided with sufficient conditions to develop and maintain advantageous exercise habits and tools to handle various mentally and physically demanding tasks. The national goals also state that students’ physical fitness must be better at graduation than what the requirements are for admission (see Krugly et al., 2022). Although the improvement of students’ physical fitness and mental health are national goals, there is a general lack of knowledge regarding: 1) police students physical and mental health, especially from a Swedish perspective; and 2) how well police education promotes students’ level of physical activity during education. Against this background, the aim is to explore police students’ mental health and level of physical activity during police education in Sweden.

Methods: The data derives from the largest project in Sweden on police students’ physical and mental health, and consists of longitudinal data on police students answers of a self-rated questionnaire about exercise habits and mental health (N = 785). The data used in this study was gathered between 2019–2021, and consisted of four data collection points, from two police educations in Sweden. The analysis was conducted in two steps. First, exploratory- and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to create scales for mental health orientation. Second, these scales, together with the variable exercise habits, were used as outcome variables in t-tests, X2 test and ANOVA. Effect size measurements were calculated and interpreted based on established guidelines.

Results: The results show high psychometric support for two scales named positive health orientation and negative health orientation. Based on the scales and the variable of exercise habits, three primarily results emerge: 1) the levels of physical training for men decrease during education; 2) there are gender differences showing that women have a more negative health orientation; and, 3) the positive mental health orientation decreases during education for both men and women.

Discussion: Swedish police education should prepare students for physically and mentally demanding work. However, as this study concludes, this tends to not be the case, especially given that both the level of physical activity and the positive mental health orientation decrease during education. This raises questions on whether the Swedish police education is doing “enough” to provide the students with adequate conditions for improving their mental and physical health.

Krugly, S., Bjärsholm, D., Jansson, A., Rosendal Hansen, A., Hansson, O., Brehm, K., Datmo, A., Hafsteinsson Östenberg, A., & Vikman, J. (2022). A retrospective study of physical fitness and mental health among police students in Sweden. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. doi.org/10.1177/0032258X221089576

Little is known about the physical and mental health among police students. Based on data on Swedish police students’ physical fitness (N = 1736) and mental health (N = 407), the results show that: (a) there are gender differences; (b) the physical fitness changes during police education; in general, the students get stronger but less flexible, and the aerobic endurance increases for women but decreases for men; and (c) students’ self-reported physical activity and mental health affect their perceived police ability differently in relation to gender. Consequently, this study questions if the Swedish police education is preparing the students adequately for their future profession.

IntroductionIn physical education (PE), equivalence is a central goal in welfare states around the world. In Sweden, this means that the subject of PE should be equal and that schools are to compensate for students’ different backgrounds, such as family background, socioeconomic and migration background. However, even if equivalence is a central goal, little is known about how equivalence in PE in Sweden has changed both during the last decades and in comparison to the students’ average grade from all school subjects (so-called merit value). One well-established approach to examine equivalence in educational research is to analyze the correlation between full siblings’ grades. Although this is a valuable approach to examine equivalence, no studies have used it in PE (Jansson et al., 2022). Using this approach, the aim of this study is to analyze how equivalence in PE in Sweden has changed, both over the last two decades and in relation to the students’ merit value.MethodsThis study includes the total population of students (N=6,961,173) that were enrolled in Swedish schools between 2000-2017 in school year 6 and 9. The method is based on analyzing the correlation between full siblings that are born within a three-year period and their annually standardized grades in PE and merit value, using variance decomposition. One main advantage with this measure is that it considers all the aspects that full siblings share (e.g., socioeconomic, upbringing, living conditions and parenting). The analysis provides information about the extent of the total variation in PE grades and merit value that are explained by the family background of the students.ResultsIn relation to the total variation in students’ grades in PE and merit value, the proportion explained by variation between full siblings has increased between the years 2000-2017. Consequently, the results indicate that the importance of students’ family background, over the past two decades, has become more important for both students’ grades in PE and their merit value. However, the importance of family background has increased considerably more for students grades in PE, compared to their merit value. Furthermore, the largest increase in sibling correlation is found within the group of students born abroad.DiscussionPreliminary findings indicate that equivalence in PE in Sweden has deteriorated between 2000 and 2017. Possible explanations are that: 1) schools, and in particular PE, has become worse at compensating for students with different backgrounds (e.g., socioeconomic); and 2) the students have become more heterogeneous, and as such making it more difficult to compensate for students’ different backgrounds.

Jansson, A., Sundblad, G., Lundvall, S., Bjärsholm, D., & Norberg, J. (2022). Students’ perceived learning in physical education: variations across students’ gender and migration background in Sweden. Sport, Education and Society, 27(4), 421-433.Doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2021.1878129

IntroductionSport and trust-based governance is a cornerstone of Swedish sport management. There are more than 20,000 sport associations, and the sport sector receives approximately USD 20 million in public funding yearly. The Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC) is a non-profit umbrella organisation that coordinates the management of Swedish sport. SSC’s “what sport wants” is an appropriation document on the vision of the Swedish sport movement wherein SSC advise sport clubs to focus on inclusivity, hard to reach societal groups, and sport for the masses rather than the fostering of elite players. Concurrently, it is problematic that there is no research on what motivates sport clubs to apply what sport wants (Book, Hedenborg & Andersson, 2022). Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to contribute new knowledge on what influences Swedish sports clubs in carrying out what sport wants’s national goals for sport participation.

MethodsThe data consists of self-rated answers (N = 1,937) from a questionnaire, distributed to all non-profit sport organizations in southern Sweden in 2017, 2018 and 2020. The questionnaire focused on sport organizations’ 1) perceived support from SSC, 2) perceived trust in SSC, 3) competence in what sport wants and, 4) how frequently the sports associations worked with equity (including anti-discrimination and inclusion). X2-test and regression analyses were used to analyze differences between the years 2017, 2018 and 2020, and the relationship between perceived support from SSC, perceived trust in SSC, competence in what sport wants, and how frequently the sports association worked with equity. Effect size measurements were calculated and interpreted based on established guidelines.

ResultsPreliminary results indicate that sport organizations’ perceived support from SSC has decreased significantly and continuously between 2017 (M = 3.0), 2018 (M = 2.9), and 2020 (M = 2.8). It does not seem to be any differences in perceived trust in SSC and equity. The results also show that, competence in what sport wants (β = .225), and perceived support from SSC (β = .278) can predict to which extent sport organizations work with equity (R2 =.278).

DiscussionPreliminary results indicate that more support and trust in SSC lead to increased realization of what sport wants. However, since the results show that perceived support for SSC has decreased between 2017, 2018, and 2020, this study illuminates an urgency of maintaining a strong relationship between Swedish sport clubs and SSC. Moreover, the results confirm the efficiency of the trust-based management model used in Sweden, which seemingly leads to deliverables among the participating associations.

Book, K., Hedenborg, S., & Andersson, K. (2022). New spatial practices in organised sport following COVID-19: the Swedish case. Sport in Society, 25(7), 1343–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2022.2031017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to critically examine previous studies’ claims about the magnitude of gender differences and gender inequality in physical education (PE) in Sweden. Method: The data were based on students’ (N = 39,980) perceptions of PE and were gathered from four large research projects in Sweden. Three effect size measures (Cramer’s V, rsquared, and Cohen’s d) were calculated for gender differences. Results: In general, there are small gender differences; and after controlling for students’ grade, “sports capital,” and parents’ “educational capital,” the differences are practically irrelevant. Conclusion: This study provides compelling evidence that there are small, or even irrelevant, gender differences in students’ perceptions of PE in Sweden. Moreover, given that previous research asserts that large gender differences can be used as an indicator of inequality, this study suggests that gender inequality issues related to students’ perceptions of PE are relatively small.

Working as a police officer involves mentally and physically demanding tasks. During the Swedish police education, students should be provided with sufficient conditions to develop and maintain advantageous exercise habits and tools to handle mentally and physically demanding tasks (see Krugly et al., 2022). However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding Swedish police students exercise habits and overall mental- and physical health.

The aim is to explore police students’ mental health and physical activity levels during police education in Sweden.

The data consisted of police students answers of a self-rated questionnaire about their physical and mental health. The data used in this study was gathered between 2019–2021, and consist of four data collection points, from two police educations in Sweden. The analysis was conducted in two steps. First, exploratory- and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to create scales for health orientation. Second, these scales were used as outcome variables in t-tests, X2 test and ANOVA. Effect size measurements (Cohens, d, Crames V and Phi) were calculated and interpreted based on well establish guidelines.

Two scales were developed (i.e. positive health orientation and negative health orientation), and both showed high psychometric support. Based on the scales, two primarily results emerged: 1) results showed that women had a more negative health orientation in general and that positive health orientation, for both genders, decreased between semesters one to four; and 2) more women conducted two hours (or more) per week of physical exercise. Moreover, physical training among men decreased continuously during their education.

Conclusions and ImplicationsBased on the results, this study questions whether police education in Sweden doing enough to prepare students for a mentally and physically demanding profession.

There is limited knowledge about PhD students’ backgrounds and how these backgrounds affect their research, particularly in sport sciences. Therefore, this study aims to contribute with knowledge about the backgrounds of sport sciences PhD students by investigating whether their backgrounds affect both becoming PhD students and how they conduct their research. Importantly, the study descriptively presents PhD students’ stories about their backgrounds and explores whether there are general themes in these stories. Guided by an auto-monographic approach, we asked PhD students at the Department of Sport sciences at Malmö University to “describe whether my background influenced me to become a doctoral student in sport sciences and whether my background affects my research.” Although the PhD students’ narratives include many perspectives and experiences, they also raise questions about the diversity of the group—they reveal a lack of cultural and socioeconomic diversity in the group. As a result, this article raises questions about whether “enough” is being done, by Malmö University and Department of Sport Sciences, to attract PhD students with different backgrounds.

På Plikt- och prövningsverket genomförs flera olika tester. När det kommer till att testa de prövandes fysiska förmåga används bland annat ett konditionstest på cykel och ett isokinetiskt styrketest som kallas Isokai.I den här texten ges information om testerna, grundläggande träningsråd för att klara dessa samt råd inför fortsatt träning. Råden är uppdelade i två delar. I den första delen beskrivs träningsråd för styrketräning och i den andra för konditionsträning.

Introduction

According to accumulated data, COVID-19 related restrictions can lead to considerable inactivity and sedentary lifestyles. The Swedish COVID-19 response consisted of guidelines rather than restrictions, which could possibly have a positive impact on activity levels remaining high. To investigate to which extent self-rated physical activity changed during the Swedish COVID-19 response, two cross-sectional surveys (N = 10,560) were conducted. The data constitutes the most comprehensive material on COVID-19 and physical activity extracted from Sweden. The aim is to contribute with new knowledge about general trends in physical activity during the Corona-pandemic in Sweden.

Methods

The method used is based on a quantitative cross-sectional retrospective approach. This approach makes it possible to clearly illustrate how the respondents’ (N = 10,560) answers differ depending on whether the questions referred to physical activity “before COVID-19” or “during COVID-19”. The data was collected on two different occasions (dataset 1 & dataset 2). Both surveys were digital questionnaires. The first dataset was distributed through social media, and The Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, whereas the second survey was distributed via e-mail. Dataset one was collected between 8 April 2020 to 14 august 2020, while dataset two was gathered from 8 December 2021 to 22 January 2021. The analysis included descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlations, and ANOVA. Cohen’s guidelines were used to establish what should be considered small, medium, and large differences.

Results

Overall, the results convey that there are significant differences for many people in everyday exercise performance during COVID-19. The most striking result is that many respondents report the same amount of everyday exercise, however, less physical training, and more sedentariness. Moreover, the result shows that elderly respondents were more affected than younger people, yet younger people reported more increased time sitting down. In terms of gender, although the Cohen guidelines categorize the difference as small, women had higher scores on sedentariness and reduced physical activity. 

Discussion

Both datasets reveal that patterns of physical activity have changed during COVID-19. However, contrary to what some studies conducted in Sweden have argued, within our datasets, differences across gender and age yielded only small differences. This deviates from studies that report that COVID-19 had a substantial negative impact on certain demographic groups. We conclude that respondents report less physical training regardless of demographic specificities. That elderly report less movement aligns with the outcomes of similar large-scale studies conducted in other countries. Finally, we suggest that one reason for differing results could be the use of different definitions when employing questionnaires to gain information on perceived physical activity. 

Introduction: Education equality is a central goal in well-fair states around the world. In Sweden, the school and the subject physical education (PE) should be equal and compensate for students’ different backgrounds, e.g. socioeconomic, - and migration background. Although equality is a central goal, little is known about how equality in PE has changed during the last decades (Jansson et al., 2021). One approach to study equality is to analyze how grades for biological siblings correlate – this captures all aspects that siblings share, among others, socioeconomic, - and migration background. Although this approach is well established in educational research, there are no studies in PE-research (Jansson et al., 2021). As a result, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which students’ backgrounds have affected their grades in PE. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze how equality in PE in Sweden has changed over the last two decades. 

Method: The method is based on quantitative analyzes of students’ (N = 5,848,642) grades in PE, between the years 1999-2019. The method is based on analyzing correlations between siblings’ grades, using variance decomposition. More precisely, analyzing the correlation between full siblings, born within a three-year window, and their annually standardized grades in PE. In addition to socioeconomic, - and migration background, the measure takes into account all the aspects that full siblings share, such as: upbringing, genetic factors, living conditions, parenting and regional factors. 

Results: In relation to the total variation in students’ grades in PE, the proportion explained by variation between siblings has increased between the years 1999-2019. That is, the results indicate that the importance of students’ family background, over the past two decades, has become more important for students’ grades in PE. Furthermore, the largest increase in sibling correlation is found within the group of students born abroad.

Discussion: The results indicate that equality in PE in Sweden has deteriorated. This can be explained by that, between 1999 and 2019, (i) the student group has become more heterogeneous, i.e., it has become more difficult to compensate for students’ different backgrounds; (ii) PE has become worse at compensating for students with different backgrounds, e.g. lower socioeconomic background.

Reference: Jansson, A., Sundblad, G. B., Lundvall, S., Bjärsholm, D., & Norberg, J. (2021). Students’ perceived learning in physical education: variations across students’ gender and migration background in Sweden. Sport, Education and Society, (1)1-13. Doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2021.1878129

Introduktion

Idrotten Vill är idrottsrörelsens idéprogram, och inbegriper den svenska idrottsrörelsens vision och idéverksamhet, idag och i framtiden (e.g., värdegrund, hälsa, utveckling, organisation). Idrotten Vill ska vägleda Riksidrottsförbundet och SISU Idrottsutbildarna regionalt i Skåne (RF-SISU Skåne) i sitt arbete och uppdrag gentemot idrottsföreningar. Men det är oklart i vilken utsträckning RF-SISU Skåne medverkar till att Idrotten Vill omsätts, och dess betydelse för Skåneföreningars vardagliga utövande. Följaktligen är det av stor betydelse att undersöka hur, och i vilken utsträckning, RF-SISU Skåne medverkar till att idrottsföreningar integrerar Idrotten Vill i sina verksamheter. En bristande kunskap kan leda till felaktiga slutsatser om hur, och i vilken grad Idrotten Vill omsätts i praktiken, samt i förlängningen en obalanserad svensk idrottsrörelse där föreningar avviker från nationellt eftersträvansvärda gemensamma principer. 

Syfte och teoretisk ram

Syftet är att bidra med ny kunskap om vilka faktorer som påverkar Skånebaserade idrottsföreningars arbete med de gemensamma principer som beskrivs i Idrotten Vill (e.g., värdegrund, hälsa, utveckling, organisation). 

Ett teoretiskt ramverk kring förtroendebaserad styrning (trust based governance) i kombination med ”Hawthorne effekten” (Mayo, 1930) används för att tolka det empiriska materialet. Utifrån trust based governance är det en viktig utgångspunkt att individer väljer att följa Idrotten Vill eftersom de känner tilltro till RF. Utifrån det här perspektivet är tilltron till en välmenande stat en stark drivkraft för såväl agerande samt genomförande av ideell idrottsverksamhet (Bringselius, 2018). Tilltro i kombination med uppskattning från RF kan resultera i ”Hawthorne effekten” (en ökad produktivitet).

Metod

Under våren 2021 skickade RF-SISU Skåne ut en online-enkät till 2,128 ideella idrottsföreningar i Skåne. 652 föreningar (31 procent) besvarade enkäten. Enkäten distribuerades via e-post mellan 2021-02-12 – 2021-04-01 och bestod av 142 frågor/påståenden, exempelvis rörande jämställdhet och kunskap/utbildning. Metoden bygger på statistiska analyser i form av deskriptiv statistik, t-test, effektstorlek och regressionsanalyser. 

Resultat

Sammanfattningsvis kan man säga att enkäten visar att föreningar som uppger att de under det senaste året fått stöd, kunskap eller utbildning i Idrotten Vill eller i RF:s anvisningar för barn och ungdomsidrott även upplever mer stöd och förtroende för RF-SISU Skåne. Dessa föreningar uppger vidare att de under det gångna året aktivt engagerat sig mer i sin förenings värdegrund, jämställdhetsfrågor och innovativa verksamhetsfrågor. 

Diskussion och slutsatser

Baserat på enkäten kan man säga att de föreningar som fått stöd, kunskap eller utbildning i Idrotten Vill och RF:s anvisningar för barn och ungdomsidrott, också har en starkare samhörighet till RF-SISU Skåne. En ytterligare implikation, tagen från industriell sociologi, som skulle kunna appliceras är ”Hawthorne effekten” (Wickström & Bendix, 2000). Den bekräftar att arbetarens produktivitet är knyten till extern uppskattning (e.g., att en RF medarbetare för en dialog med föreningar om deras vardag och utmaningar). 

Introduktion: Skolan och skolämnet idrott och hälsa (Ioh) ska vara likvärdigt och kompensera för elevers olika förutsättningar och bakgrund. Det finns dock en begränsad kunskap om i vilken utsträckning familjebakgrund, migrationsbakgrund och kön under de senaste decennierna har påverkat två utfallsmått som är viktiga utifrån ett likvärdighetsperspektiv, elevers betyg i Ioh och elevers uppfattningar av Ioh. Den bristande kunskapen kan leda till felaktiga slutsatser om i vilken utsträckning Ioh uppfyller sitt likvärdighetsuppdrag och hur likvärdigheten i Ioh har förändrats över tid.

Syfte och teoretisk ram: Syftet är att bidra med ny kunskap om hur likvärdighet i skolämnet Ioh kan förstås, mätas och har förändrats. Resultatet analyseras och tolkas utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk knutet till begreppen likvärdighet (equivalence) och jämlikhet (equality). Utifrån olika perspektiv (exempelvis: lika jämlikhet, tillräcklig jämlikhet, prioritaristisk jämlikhet och turjämlikhet) diskuteras och problematiseras resultaten med fokus på vad som kännetecknar jämlikhet och likvärdighet i Ioh. Eventuella förändringar i likvärdighet diskuteras och tolkas utifrån nationella faktorer (exempelvis segregation) och faktorer knutna specifikt till Ioh (exempelvis ämnesinnehåll).

Metod: Metoden bygger på kvantitativa analyser, dels av elevers (N = 5,848,642) betyg i Ioh mellan åren 1999-2019, och dels av elevers (N = 39,980) uppfattningar av Ioh. Metoden som inkluderar elevers betyg bygger på analyser av korrelationen (i form av variansdekomposition) mellan helsyskon, födda inom ett treårsfönster, och deras (årsvis standardiserade) betyg i Ioh. Detta mått beaktar alla de aspekter som helsyskon delar, exempelvis föräldrars socioekonomiska bakgrund, uppfostran och genetiska faktorer. Metoden som inkluderar elevers uppfattningar av Ioh bygger på re- analyser av data som samlats in inom ramen för fyra stora svenska forskningsprojekt/nationella utvärderingar. I analyserna undersöks storleken på könsskillnader i elevers uppfattningar av Ioh, och hur dessa skillnader är relaterade till elevers idrottsdeltagande och föräldrars utbildningsnivå.ResultatI förhållande till den totala variationen i elevers betyg i Ioh, så har andelen som förklaras av variation mellan syskonpar ökat sedan 2000. Sambandet mellan helsyskons betyg i Ioh har alltså ökat i styrka mellan åren 2000 och 2019. Resultatet tyder på att betydelsen av elevers familjebakgrund, under de senaste två decennierna, har fått större betydelse för elevers betyg i Ioh. Baserat på data om elevers uppfattningar av Ioh så visar resultaten från tre effektstorleksmått (Cramers V, r-kvadrat och Cohens d) att det generellt finns mycket små könsskillnader, och efter att ha kontrollerat för elevers idrottsdeltagande på fritiden och föräldrars utbildningsnivå är skillnaderna praktiskt taget irrelevanta.

Diskussion och slutsatser: Resultatet som visar att familjebakgrund har blivit viktigare för elevers betyg i Ioh tyder på att likvärdigheten Ioh har försämrats. Detta kan bland annat, dels förklaras av att elevgruppen blivit en mer heterogen, vilket kan medföra att det kompensatoriska uppdraget blivit svårare. Dels, förklaras av att skolan de senaste två decennierna blivit sämre på att kompensera för elevers med mer ofördelaktiga förutsättningar. Resultatet som visar att det finns små, eller till och med irrelevanta, könsskillnader i elevers uppfattning av Ioh tyder på att problem med ojämlikhet mellan könen relaterade till elevers uppfattning av Ioh kan vara relativt små.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its related measurements have challenged physical activity in various ways, ranging from closed fitness facilities to virtual curfews. Correspondingly, there is currently a rising scholarly interest in investigating how people have navigated their physical activity during the pandemic, and, especially, if physical activity has decreased or not. Accordingly, surveys and studies are rapidly accumulating. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review is to summarize, categorize, and map literature published before May 2021 on physical activity amid COVID-19.This study consists of a mixed methods explanatory sequential design, based on an outcome-oriented pragmatism of the middle. Firstly, a systematic literature review on Scopus was conducted, followed by a VOS-viewer bibliometric analysis. Subsequently, a focused literature review was written. The point of integration of methods was embedded. The systematic review resulted in 1,335 articles, which were used for two separate VOS-viewer visualizations. The illustrations reveal where research comes from, which journals have published most on physical activity during COVID-19, and how the research is globally cited. Furthermore, based on the review, three clear topical trends of research emerge; spatial transitions, frequencies of physical activity, and motivations to exercise during COVID-19. The bibliometric data demonstrates that research from only a few countries seem to be impactful, whereas the review portrays that conclusions in regard to whether physical activity has decreased or not lack agreement, possibly as a result of disclosing different definitions of physical activity.

Students’ perceived learning in physical education (PE) is an important yet neglected area of research. Increased knowledge about students’ perceived learning can provide teachers with useful information to promote meaningful learning experiences in PE. Moreover, perceived learning can potentially be an alternative measurement to school grades when analyzing equality of outcome. Given that gender and migration background are associated with equality issues in PE, these groups are of particular focus in this study. With this background, the aim of this paper is threefold: (a) to explore students’ perceived learning in PE in Sweden, (b) to analyze what perceptions of PE are most prominent, and (c) present a way to quantitatively illustrate how perceptions about PE vary across gender and migration background. The analysis was based on a question about students’ perceived learning and was conducted in two steps. First, the students’ answers were categorized using qualitative content analysis. The analysis shows that the perceived learning in PE can be categorized into the following categories: ‘Physical doing’, ‘Emotional experiences’, ‘Health’, ‘Do not learn’, ‘Outdoor Education’ and ‘Social interaction’. Second, by quantitatively illustrate all answers in relation to the six categories, the result showed that the category of ‘Physical doing’ (36%) was the most prominent, and thereafter, in descending order are the categories of ‘Emotional experiences’ (22%), ‘Health’ (18%), ‘Do not learn’ (10%), ‘Outdoor Education’ (10%) and ‘Social interaction’ (4%). The results also showed that regardless of gender and migration background, students have somewhat similar perceptions of what they learn in PE. In this study we: (i) present a categorization of students’ perceived learning in PE, (ii) show that physical doing is a prominent aspect in students answers, lastly (iii) by quantitatively illustrate students’ perceived learning in PE, this study also suggest an alternative measurement to analyze equality in PE.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects both for the global sport community as well as for individual exercisers around the world. Due to a wide range of imposed measurements to prevent the disease, day-to-day physical activities for entire populations are restricted by physical distancing, cancelled tournaments, and closed gyms. Sweden has chosen to apply recommendations instead of restrictions, however, little is known about how individuals in Sweden reason around, and act out their personal sport participation. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to increase knowledge of how sport participation was motivated from a micro perspective during the first wave of COVID-19. The paper is based on a mixed-methods-study with data from a questionnaire (N = 1,141) and material from semi-structured interviews (N =90). The results indicate that respondents who were already active before the pandemic remained active or even increased their activity levels. To investigate this further, the interviews were analyzed with critical discourse analysis to uncover how respondents justified their continued/increased personal sport participation. These could be summarized as (discursive) strategies of perpetuation based on (i) specific contexts, (ii) scientific and (personal) experienced knowledge of covid-19, and (iii) trust in others’ ability to follow recommendations to prevent the spread. Accordingly, this study contributes with new knowledge of how sport participation in Sweden was motivated, and, from a larger perspective, how a pandemic may influence attitudes toward health and exercise in an advanced Western capitalist society.

In the global lockdown following COVID-19, Sweden stands out as a deviant case. While most countries in Europe imposed severe restrictions on their citizens, measures in Sweden were comparatively moderate and aimed at balancing constraints with openness. In this chapter, we paint a broad picture of the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for Swedish sports, outdoor recreation, and physical activity on both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, we show how the Swedish government’s measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 affected the conditions for sports and physical activity. Furthermore, we analyze governmental aid to sports organizations and how these actions were received by the Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC). On the micro level, we provide examples of how the pandemic affected individuals with regards to leadership, sports, physical activity, and outdoor recreation. 

General description on research questions, objectives and theoretical framework

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), states in the declaration of Berlin (2013) that physical education (PE) “is the most effective means of providing all children and youth with the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding for lifelong participation in society” (UNESCO, 2013, p. 3). There are undoubtedly several important outcomes in PE and according to the Swedish Education Act, all students (regardless of their gender, nationality or socioeconomic background) should have: a) equally good possibilities to education in PE; and b) students with poorer prerequisites should obtain additional resources in PE, as a compensatory function (Gustafsson, Sörlin & Vlachos, 2016).

Students’ perceptions of PE is an important outcome, mainly due to its positive relation to students’ participation in sports/physical activity (PA) during leisure time and, maybe more importantly, to a lifelong interest in PA and health (Chung & Phillips, 2002; Kjønniksen, Fjørtoft & Wold, 2009; Portman, 2003; Solmon & Lee, 1996; Wallhead & Buckworth, 2004). Furthermore, gender equality has been described as one of the single-handedmost important challenges in PE, both internationally and in Sweden (Larsson & Redelius, 2008). Research has shown that gender inequality in PE has been a long-standing problem that have significant negative effects in several domains (Chzhen, Gromada, Rees, Cuesta & Bruckauf, 2018; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2015a, 2015b; OECD, 2017).

Although several international and Swedish studies have examined gender equality in PE, most studies have focused on only one aspect of equality, that is, equal opportunities, which briefly means whether equal opportunities are provided for students to gain positive perceptions of PE. However, little is known about gender equality in PE from other aspects of equality. One of these aspects is the compensatory function in PE. An important question regarding the compensatory function that needs to be analyzed is whether gender gaps in students’ perception of PE are decreasing or increasing. Drawing on the concept of gender equality, large gender gaps in students’ perceptions of PE can indicate inequalities. Additionally, research has shown that boys may be `favored´ by how the subject manifests itself in the everyday practice in Sweden. In other words, large gender gaps in students’ perceptions of PE indicate that “certain HPE practices reward students based on gender […] and contribute to inequality and discrimination” (Gerdin et al., 2019, p. 274).

In several Swedish studies, research has shown that boys, in general, report more positive perceptions of PE (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2018; Quennerstedt, Öhman & Eriksson, 2008, see also Swedish National Agency for Education, 2010). Although that the `favored boys´ hypothesis (also referred to as `PE on boys conditions´ hypothesis) is frequently cited and used in Swedish PE-research, few studies are methodology and empirically conducted in a way that allows the hypothesis to be tested. In Sweden, most studies in PE-research are conducted in line with null hypothesis significance testing. However, the effects sizes (ES) are only in rare cases reported. Consequently, little is known about the magnitude of gender differences’ in students’ perceptions of PE. Hence, an important aspect of gender equality in PE is lacking. That is, if PE is fulfilling its compensatory function in that the subject close gender gaps in students’ perceptions of PE. Increased knowledge about the magnitude of gender differences in PE is important to strengthen gender equality, so that all students, regardless of gender, can get positive perceptions from their PE lessons. Against this background, the aim is to analyze the magnitude of gender differences in students’ perceptions of PE in Sweden from equality perspective.

Methods/methodology

The data consists of students (N=32, 610) perceptions of PE. The data was collected from the largest studies/projects in Sweden between 2005 and 2018: Evaluation through follow-up (UGU) (N=19,670); School-Sport-Health (SIH) (N=3,537); Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) (N=6,996) and Swedish National Agency for Education (SNAE) (N=2,407). The data consists of students’ self-reported answers on a large variety single-items questions about their perceptions of PE with likert-scales response alternatives. The participants were a national sample of students and the schools/classes were randomly selected. In addition to gender, the background data include national background, participation in PA outside school and their parents’ educational level.

The statistical analyses were conducted through T-test and Mann–Whitney U-test in which gender was the independent variable and the single-items questions (of students’ perceptions of PE) were the dependent variables. In the analyses, several important factors and possible confounders were controlled for. To control for confounding factors, the analyses (T-test and Mann–Whitney U-test) were conducted separately for students’ national background (dichotomously coded), high/low participation in PA outside school (dichotomously coded) and parents educational level (six categories). Effect sizes (ES), in terms of Cohens d and eta squared (η²), were calculated for each question/item. Thereafter, and based on the ES for each question/item, a mean ES (MES) was calculated, separately for each study (UGU, SIH, SSI and SNAE) and separate for students’ national background, high/low participation in PA outside school and parents' educational level. 

Expected outcomes/results 

Based on the primary findings, boys report more positive perceptions towards PE in general. However, in terms of Cohens d, eta squared (η²) and the well-known guidelines from Cohen (1988), the general MESdifferences for each study are small and varies – for Cohens d between .48 – .085. Furthermore, gender differences in PE seems to be closely related to parents’ educational level. The MESfor gender differences seems to be substantially larger within the group with low-educated parents and slightly larger within the group of students with a foreign background. Furthermore, the MES of the gender differences, does not, seem to be larger/smaller within the group of students reporting that they regularly conduct PA during leisure time. Finally, the MESfor the gender differences seems to have decreased between the years of 2005 and 2018. However, this only applies within the group with high-educated parents. In general, the results show that: (i) PE in Sweden is challenged with the important but complex task to provide a PE that promote positive perceptions for all students’ and counteract gender inequality; (ii) when controlling for theoretically important confounders, such as socioeconomic background, the gender differences are extremely small. This raises new questions about the possibilities to understand and analyze gender differences in students’ perceptions of PE, without considering students socioeconomic background, national background and participation in PA outside school?

References

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences(2nd ed.). Hilllsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Chung, M., & D. A., Phillips. (2002). The relationship between attitude toward physical education and leisure-time exercise in high school students. The Physical Educator, 59(3),126–138.

Chzhen, Y., Gromada, A., Rees, G., Cuesta, J., & Bruckauf, Z. (2018). An Unfair Start: Inequality in Children's Education in Rich Countries, no. 15, UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, Florence. 

Gerdin, G., Philpot, R. A., Larsson, L., Schenker, K., Linnér, S., Moen, K. M., Westlie., K Smith, W., & Legge, M. (2019). Researching social justice and health (in)equality across different school Health and Physical Education contexts in Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. European Physical Education Review, 25(1),273–290.

Gustafsson, J.-E., Sörlin, S., & Vlachos, J. (2016). Policyidéer för svensk skola[Policy ideas for Swedish school]. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.

Kjønniksen, L., Fjørtoft, I., & Wold, B. (2009). Attitude to Physical Education and Participation in Organized Youth Sports During Adolescence Related to Physical Activity in Young Adulthood: A 10-year Longitudinal Study. European Physical Education Review, 15(2),139–154

Larsson, H., & Redelius, K. (2008). Swedish physical education research questioned Current situation and future directions.Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 13(4),381–398.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2015a). Improving schools in Sweden [Elektronisk resurs] : an OECD perspective. Paris, France: OECD.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2015b). The ABC of gender equality in education: aptitude, behaviour, confidence. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017). Educational Opportunity for All: Overcoming Inequality throughout the Life Course, OECD Publishing, Paris, France.

Portman, P. A., 2003. Are physical education classes encouraging students to be physically active? Experience of ninth graders in their last semester of required physical education. The Physical Educator, 60(3),150–160.

Solmon, M. A., & Lee, A. M. (1996). Research on social issues in elementary school physical education. Elementary School Journal, 103(2),229–239.

Swedish Schools Inspectorate. (2018) Kvalitetsgranskning av ämnet idrott och hälsa i årskurs 7–9. Stockholm, Sweden: Skolinspektionen

Swedish National Agency for Education. (2010). På pojkarnas planhalva?: ämnet idrott och hälsa ur ett jämställdhets- och likvärdighetsperspektiv. Stockholm: Skolverket.

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Wallhead, T. L., & Buckworth, J. (2004). The role of physical education in the promotion of youth physical activity. Quest, 56(3),285–301.

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Although students' perceived learning is central in physical education (PE), few measurements are available. Furthermore, little is known about how students' perceptions of PE effect students' perceived learning in PE. Therefore, the aim was to develop a scale to assess students' perceived learning and a measurement to assess students' perceived contentment in PE, and furthermore, to analyze the interrelationship between students' perceived learning and students' perceived contentment in PE. A total of 1203 students in Sweden who were aged 12-16 years participated. The results from the exploratory (n = 601) and confirmatory (n = 602) factor analyses as well as the validity and reliability analyses showed that there was psychometric support for the one-dimensional model perceived learning in PE and for the three-dimensional model perceived contentment in PE. The structural equation modeling analyses showed that both competence and joyfulness were directly and positively related to students' perceived learning.