Current research in Sport Pedagogy

Sport pedagogy is a discipline aimed at providing scientific data on the education and training in the different contexts in the field of sport and physical activity: education, coaching, recreation, rehabilitation … Using traditionally descriptive, correlational and experimental approaches, it is focused as much on the main actors (participants and educators) than on contents or on curricula. Its main objectives consist to improve the knowledge and the field practice of the physical educators and their trainers. Most studies in sport pedagogy are conducted in the school context as physical education remains a central concern of researchers. Nevertheless, since two decades, the place of the science of coaching grows slowly while researches in leisure and rehabilitation are still quite rare. In parallel, physical activity and the fight against one sedentary lifestyle became really important in the preoccupations of most of the researchers. Moreover, two important concepts are developing nowadays: accountability and literacy. This underlines that physical educators are expected to meet the goals that modern society emphasizes: efficiency and effectiveness. Quality is now regularly identified as a priority or even a prerequisite. Current researches in sport pedagogy is become complex as they mobilize more and more often complementary approaches taking into account all the involved actors and environment. Moreover, subjects became central with the development of action researches and communities of practices.