In the bustling day-to-day work of teachers, where every lesson counts towards shaping young minds, hearts, and bodies, PE is often viewed simplistically as the curriculum of physical activity, games, and sports. But is it merely about health, or does PE have a deeper impact on students’ holistic development?

Dr Dean Dudley and colleagues recently conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis (Dudley et al., 2022) delving into this question, uncovering intriguing insights that could reshape how we view and implement PE in schools.

The study which spanned 135 research endeavours from over 20 countries and included more than 42,500 students, aimed to evaluate the effects of various PE lessons and interventions on students: psychomotor, cognitive, affective, and social development. What it found was paradigm shifting: PE interventions wielded significant influence across all four domains. Beyond just being a platform for physical activity, PE emerged as an incredibly powerful mechanism for enhancing multifaceted learning and development.

Dr Dean Dudley, Associate Professor (Health and Physical Education), Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University
Dean is internationally recognised for his work in physical education, learning assessment, pedagogy, and physical literacy. He was a 2012 Churchill Fellow and an expert consultant for UNESCO’s Quality Physical Education Guidelines for Policy Makers (2015). He was appointed as an advisor to the Australian Sports Commission National Sport Research Agenda in 2022, and Physical Education Specialist to the Oceanic National Olympic Committee (Education Commission) in 2023.