The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and others have emphasized the need for all physical education (PE) professionals to prioritize attention to, and action on, PE policy to improve quality provision. Yet, policy neglect remains arguably normative in PE due, in part, to a lack of preparation for policy in higher education and professional learning programmes. Furthermore, research on what such preparation should entail has not been conducted. Therefore, in this research we asked: What are the key facilitators, barriers, and content in the development of PE professionals’ policy capacity (i.e. policy interest, understanding, and involvement/action/initiative)? When considered alongside the existing literature, these findings highlight that: (a) dispelling unrealistic traditional policy myths and fostering complex policy perspectives is central to policy capacity development; (b) particular configurations of policy-focused learning communities are a key way to do that; and (c) one must determine their personal policy purpose to engage in such work.
Jenna R Lorusso is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research Fellow in the Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, University of Limerick.
Contact: jenna.lorusso@ul.ie; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3583-6417; Follow on X: @JennaRLorusso
Lorusso, J., MacPhail, A. & Viczko, M. (2025) Understanding the development of physical education professionals’ policy capacity. Sport Education and Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2025.2495818.
Ann MacPhail is Associate Vice President Doctoral College at UL.
Contact: ann.macphail@ul.ie; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1875-0582; Follow on X @AnnMacPhail1
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