Education Sciences

To date, it remains unclear how students position themselves within the tension between participation, achievement, and body norms in physical education (PE), as well as what role participatory structures play in this process. This paper, therefore, investigates the intersection of these dimensions by examining students’ experiences of participation in PE settings characterized by a high degree of diversity. Theoretically, the study is grounded in concepts of participatory and diversity-sensitive didactics, which serve as analytical frameworks for examining school practices. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with secondary school students across different grade levels. The data were analyzed using structured qualitative content analysis, yielding five main categories: moments of participation, self-positioning, understanding of the body, understanding of performance, and performance requirements. These categories are illustrated and interrelated through three exemplary student portraits. The findings indicate that participation in PE is a dynamic and negotiated process, shaped by teachers’ orientations and students’ agency, social dynamics, and prevailing body and performance norms. While some students benefit from inclusive practices, others encounter structural and symbolic barriers. The study highlights the potential of participatory, diversity-sensitive, and sensitizing teaching to foster agency, challenge exclusionary norms, and enable meaningful engagement for all students. These insights contribute to current debates on diversity, inclusion, and democratic education in PE.

Spanish educational legislation on cultural diversity has shifted in five decades from homogenizing frameworks to an explicit commitment to inclusion and interculturality. This article reports a qualitative documentary analysis of state laws and Royal Decrees from the Ley 14/1970 General de Educación to the Ley Orgánica 3/2020, de 29 de diciembre, por la que se modifica la Ley Orgánica 2/2006, de Educación to examine how cultural and linguistic diversity is conceptualized, how it is embedded in a competence-based curriculum, and which tools are provided for its implementation. The analysis addresses three dimensions: (a) policy conceptions of diversity, (b) curricular instruments (competences, learning situations, assessment), and (c) implementation mechanisms (resources, teacher development, equity monitoring). Results indicate a move from compensatory and assimilationist logics to rights-based, competence-based formulations, with clearer references to dialogue, mediation, and non-discrimination, but also a persistent gap between legal texts and school realities. The study concludes that the current framework enables more observable and assessable intercultural aims, while its impact depends on concrete support for school and teachers. This diachronic perspective on a medium-sized European system offers transferable insights for other countries seeking to embed intercultural competences and equity in curriculum assessment and teacher development.

This article examines Australian high school students’ knowledge of food and fibre industries based on their exposure to agriculture. This research explores the agricultural knowledge of students from year 7 to 10 students (N = 2603) from 47 schools across Australia in 2021. Through a survey, agricultural knowledge questions were classified into livestock (LK), crops (CK) and general knowledge (GK). Exposure to agricultural environments based on location and farming exposure were compared between the groups to assess their level of knowledge achieved. Agricultural knowledge levels in the CK and GK groups were comparable, with both significantly higher than LK. Exposure to agriculture impacted the level of knowledge achieved, increasing as students gained more exposure, particularly in livestock. The results highlight the importance of experiential learning to enhance student knowledge of agriculture. Future research should explore what the expected agricultural literacy is of Australian secondary students for each grade level, requiring benchmarks to be established.