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Purpose: Our purpose was to gather and evaluate accurate, up-to-date information on physical education (PE) policy implementation across multiple U.S. states and regions. Methods: A U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy questionnaire was developed and completed by 4,845 public-school PE teachers from 25 U.S. states. The U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy assessed PE quantity (days per week and minutes per week), class sizes by grade level, and practices that limit PE access. Descriptive statistics and correlations of PE minutes per week with class size were calculated in aggregate and individually by state. Results: Aggregate PE quantities in elementary, middle school, high school, and for students with disabilities were well below the recommendations (150 min/week elementary and 225 min/week secondary) and varied between states. Average students/class varied by state, and significant positive correlations between weekly PE minutes and students/PE class were observed. Discussion: PE access is limited across the United States, and stronger commitment to PE policy and policy implementation is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative Filmmaking (CF) is a relatively new, participatory, visual research method in which participants are trained in digital filmmaking to collect and analyze their own data in the form of creative short films and to disseminate their findings through film screenings and discussions. In this comment article, we present qualitative insights that delve into the perspectives of a group of CF participants as they reflect upon their experiences using CF and the impact that the method had on them as project participants. Participants were young adult educators who used CF to explore and evaluate the process of building community support for a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program in rural Madagascar. After the original project was completed, they participated in a focus group discussion with the researchers who created the method and answered questions about the process and impact of the method. The participants discussed the transformative power that CF has to elicit emotions and self-reflection among both filmmakers and audiences, and to generate visual evidence that can be used for education and advocacy about complex topics such as CSE. Plain English summary: Collaborative Filmmaking (CF) is a research method where participants make short films to collect and share information. Participants to create their own data through filmmaking, then share their findings with others through film screenings and discussions. This comment article focuses on a group of young adult educators in Madagascar who used CF to address how they engage communities in the comprehensive sexuality education program that they provide to local school children. After the CF project, the educators joined a group discussion where they shared their thoughts on how engaging with the CF method affected them. They talked about how CF helped them express emotions, reflect on their experiences, and create powerful visual evidence about their work. They also talked about how CF can be used to raise awareness and spark conversations about complex topics like sexuality education. In short, CF is a method that not only generates data to answer research questions, but also helps participants learn from and reflect on their experiences, with the resulting films serving as powerful tools for advocacy and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth climate movements have increasingly adopted an intersectional approach to activism, highlighting how diverse social categories (inter alia, race, gender, social class, sexuality) intersect with power structures and systems of oppression. This article explores the educational value of practices of intersectionality as they unfold in activists' everyday lives, both within the climate movement and in its relationship with other movements. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic data from young climate activists belonging to the School Strike for Climate chapters in Portugal's two largest cities (Porto and Lisbon), we account for both private and public activist events—such as activists' meetings, school occupations, and protest actions—and the connections with other activist causes, including feminist, anti-fascist, pro-housing, and LGBTQI+ rights. We show that intersectionality in youth collective action translates into: (i) a political commitment to anchor the climate struggle in systemic injustices that affect minoritized groups and non-normative identities, and (ii) a pragmatic strategy to uphold the public relevance and reach of youth climate mobilization. Simultaneously, our data reveal how the intersectional framework in climate activism translates into informal educational experiences that are significant for political socialization and collective learning, challenging conventional pedagogical processes and hegemonic education systems. This article contributes to expanding traditional notions of education, emphasizing the importance of climate activism as localized political spheres that promote opportunities for participatory learning, aimed at co-constructing just, democratic, and inclusive futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen Science (CS) has been conceptualised as research where the public contributes to science, with the outcome being new knowledge. We discuss CS projects in schools in Finland and Poland addressing the challenges of linguistic diversity. In this project, we have been committed to Co-creative CS (CCS), where non-professional participants are involved in all stages of the research process and the control over the process is shared. First, we review the state of the art in CS research on multilingualism with a focus on CCS, schools and the youth. Then the highlights and challenges of our learning journey are discussed through experiences of co-designing the projects and the choices made by various participants during the research process. The main insight has been to add the dimension of engagement and social activism to the central outcomes for CCS projects in schools. Thus, we envision CCS not only as science education increasing the youth’s capacity to contribute to the knowledge economy, but rather as a tool for connecting academics with the public for co-creating new pathways to engagement and social activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]