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Article
Peer-Review Record

Exploring Capacity and Professional Development Needs of Teachers: Moving Toward Inclusive and Engaging Physical Education for Girls

Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050590
by Danielle Bianca Bates 1,* and Serene Kerpan 2
Reviewer 1: Anonymous
Reviewer 2:
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050590
Submission received: 10 February 2025 / Revised: 15 April 2025 / Accepted: 23 April 2025 / Published: 9 May 2025

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The purpose of this study was to understand teachers' knowledge, perspectives, and experiences on inclusive and engaging PE for girls, for the development of physical education teacher professional development. It is a pertinent theme, particularly in an increasingly sedentary population and in a critical period (adolescence). The work is fluid and structured, however aspects can be improved. So, here are the suggestions:

Summary

Suggestion retired Background, Method, Results, Discussion

Suggestion the first time you report abbreviations, put it in parentheses in full.

Suggestion check turns puts PE sometimes physical Education, PD?

Suggestion indicates the number of focuses groups.

Suggestion in the discussion report the main result.

 

Introduction

Suggestion: a better alignment between the defined objectives and the results presented; highlight the innovative character of the study compared to the existing literature.

Methodology

Suggestion: reformulate line 78 – 81.

Sample:

Suggestion: identification of inclusion and exclusion criteria; deepen the sample selection

 

Procedures indicate the reference of the approval by the Ethics Committee and date.

Suggestion: go deeper because you choose two different methodologies: interview and focus group. What criteria considered for the constitution of the elements that make up the focus group?

Suggestion: Deepen the means of designing the semi-structured script. The experience and training of those who conducted the interviews and focus groups.

Results

Suggestion - line 185 indicates how many?

Clarification in the way it reports on focus groups.

Suggestion: it would also be pertinent to explore the mentions considering the experience, gender, and training of the participants in the different dimensions evaluated. It does so in some dimensions, but it would be equally interesting to do it in all.

Discussion

Suggestion to deepen how the characteristics of teachers, their experience, training, and gender influence the way they respond to the themes under study. Another aspect to consider is the specific conditions in which the study developed, in which the functioning of Physical Education classes was conditioned.

It would also be relevant to indicate the practical implications of this study, such as the need for teacher training/awareness of the subject.

Suggested checking small grids in formatting.

Author Response

Thank you for your suggestions and comments. We have made significant revisions and additions based on your suggestions. Our responses to each comment can be found in the PDF attached. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, 

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on conducting this study. It is an important study that contributes to the field of Physical Education, the topic is topical and still needs attention to this day to pursue gender equality within sports and PE with a particular focus on girls. 

As you yourselves point out, the small sample size and the limited environment in which teachers were recruited is a major limitation regarding the generalization of the results. Please try to explain in more detail which decision tree was used to accept data saturation and consequently terminate the interviews after 10 participants. I referred to a source that provides guidance on an average number of participants for this type of study. 

I think it makes sense to already mention informed consent and position advice from the ethics committee for conducting the study in the methodology. What specific advice was there for the study by the ethics committee and how was it applied in the study? 

 NVIVO was used, but it is not clear how it was used and what results were obtained. I think it would be useful to write that out more explicitly as well so that the study is easier to replicate. 

I also think it would be useful and transparent to append the semi-structured questionnaire so that other researchers can also use it to bring your study results to a broader level.  

I have given some comments and suggestions in the text itself based on comments. I think it makes sense to look at those and work with them to further optimise the article. 

Where I am still a bit hung up on this work is that in the suggestions and observation remain rather vague or abstract. It would be an added value for the reader of this work to make some of the suggestions and concepts more concrete so that they can be used more effectively and efficiently in PE practice.  

Reconsider keyword selection. Most of the keywords appear in the title of the manuscript and it is unusual to use the same words again. 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you for your suggestions and comments. I have made significant revisions and additions based on your suggestions. My responses to each comment can be found in the PDF attached. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for considering the suggestions and tackling the challenges of this manuscript. You have addressed them well. 

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