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Purpose: This systematic review aimed at identifying, categorizing, and analyzing peer-reviewed literature on organized before- and after-school (B&ASP) physical activity programs from 2000 to 2020. Methods: We analyzed 291 articles that fit the inclusion criteria from five databases. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Guidelines were followed. Results: Research on B&ASPs has increased and been published in 157 journals across 26 countries. Most studies were quantitative. Most studies used a theoretical or conceptual framework and reported reliability, validity, and trustworthiness. Varied additional foci of impact were reported through different physical activities. However, physical activity was usually not measured. Interventions were 1–520 weeks long and conducted in different study contexts. Many studies targeted marginalized groups but did not utilize critical theory. Conclusion: Further studies should aim to better understand the nuances of B&ASPs, and critical theories could be useful. The lack of journals for B&ASP research limits scholars' ability to move the field forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For years, physical activity settings had portrayed a discourse that does not allow to add new and different elements in its practice. This discourse established a status quo that has affected in many ways the structure, the pedagogy and practice of physical activity settings. This is the case of out-school programs. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the process of co-creating an after-school sports club implementing a student-centered pedagogy. Methods: This was an activist research project framed in two semesters. A key aspect of activist research is rooted in social interaction and a student-centered pedagogy is central in its framework. Participants included a doctoral candidate (lead author), a university professor (peer debriefing and second author), 3 college graduate and undergraduate students and 13 middle school students. Data collected included 11 peer-debriefing meetings, 22 youth debriefing meetings, 22 researcher journal entries and 13 debriefing meetings with the college adult participants. Findings: Implementing a student-centered pedagogy such "as" the Student-Centered Inquiry as Curriculum approach helped to co-design and co-create this process within the sports club, which are divided into three sections: (1) design process of a student-centered sports club, (2) challenges and successes process of a student-centered sports club design, and (3) 'Can we play the real sport? -- Co-creating a student-centered sports club curriculum. Conclusion: Co-creating a student-centered after-school sports club had two key elements: collaborative work and time. These two key elements helped a student-centered pedagogy central to an activist approach to become the bridge that facilitates youth engagement in out-school settings such as an after-school sports club.

Social aspects among Mexican society are based on gender hierarchy influencing every decision-making process. I was taught from a young age that every decision needed to come from me. While I had the opportunity to learn an activist approach to working with youth during my doctoral journey, I never thought it would challenge the epistemology of my personal and professional life. An activist approach is based on critical and feminist pedagogies. As such, Chicana feminist theory invited me to question what has been inherited, learned and imposed throughout life, and how this created a conflict between what I was taught and what I was learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges of a teacher-centered facilitator implementing a student-centered pedagogy. This paper is the result of a four-year critical autoethnography project using an activist approach for working with youth in an after-school sports club. Findings are divided into three sections: (1) learning to understand the influence of cultural backgrounds on becoming an activist teacher/researcher over time, (2) how to negotiate the discomfort and challenges faced in the process of moving from a teacher-centered to student-centered positionality and (3) moving from discomfort to comfort with a student-centered approach. Through this process I began to take inventory of my historical upbringing, creating a space for self-reflexivity that allowed me to deconstruct 'old ways' and merge them with 'new'.

This collaborative self-study explores how educators' pedagogical identities developed in the process of learning to use a Student-Centered Inquiry as Curriculum (SCIC) approach in activity settings within a community of practice (CoP). Participants included a university professor, college instructor, postdoctoral student and doctoral student. Data included 16 weekly field notes and debriefings following observations, teacher artifacts, 16 weekly collaborative group meetings, and 3 90-minute interviews per teacher. Culture, values, beliefs and professional background were critical for the development of the teachers' pedagogical identities in the process of learning to use a SCIC approach within a community of practice. These experiences created for some, places to further develop their ideas about teaching, whereas for others they caused great discomfort and a sense of personal loss. The CoP facilitated the development of the teachers' pedagogical identities, changing positionalities, and negotiating culture, values, beliefs and professional backgrounds.

Background: Student-Centered Inquiry as Curriculum (SCIC) is an activist approach [Oliver, K. L., and H. A. Oesterreich. 2013. "Student-Centered Inquiry as Curriculum as a Model for Field-Based Teacher Education." "Journal of Curriculum Studies" 45 (3): 394-417. doi:10.1080/00220272.2012.719550] inspired by years of research with youth. It was designed as a means of listening and responding to youth in order to better facilitate students' interest, motivation, and learning in physical education settings. While we have a strong and growing body of activist research with youth in physical education, SCIC as a specific approach to working with youth is in its infancy; thus, there is a need to further explore the challenges teachers/researchers face learning to use this approach to teaching. Purpose: This study explores how educators, in different contexts, learn to use an activist approach called SCIC, in order to better facilitate students' interest, motivation, and learning in physical education and physical activity settings. Research setting and participants: Participants included a university professor, a college instructor, a postdoctoral student, a doctoral student, and a pre-service teacher. Data were collected between January and May 2016.Data collection and analysis: Data collection included weekly field notes and debriefings following observations, teacher artifacts, weekly collaborative group meetings, and two individual interviews per teaching participant. Discussion and conclusions: The main challenge that emerged was learning how to move from a theoretical understanding of student-centered pedagogy to the practice of student-centered pedagogy. Specifically, the amount of time that was necessary to build a foundation that allowed for student and teacher understanding, respect, and comfort, negotiating teacher and student assumptions that were embedded in the status quo of physical education (PE), and the struggle to gather and use meaningful data to guide pedagogical decisions. We negotiated these challenges through our professional learning community whereby we worked to all be able to see and name what was happening in our individual classes and collectively planned what was needed to move forward through these challenges.

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BackgroundPurposeMethodResultsDiscussionConclusionAfter-school programs (ASP) provide safe and enjoyable setting for youth to participate in sports and physical activities (PA). The flexibility in the structure of ASPs can facilitate non-traditional approaches to teaching PA which consider the context of the community, students’ backgrounds, and focuses on positive youth development. REACH takes a non-traditional approach that aims to provide youth in under-resourced communities with a safe space for PA and learning through a sport-centered curriculum.The objective was to highlight the perspectives of Latino boys regarding their lived experiences in an after-school soccer and literacy program in a diverse urban school. The research questions were: (a) what are the lived experiences of young boys in a year-long after-school program in a diverse urban setting? (b) What opportunities did REACH provide that helped the young boys negotiate barriers to being physically active?Twenty-three Latino boys participated in the REACH after-school sessions over a school year. Four pre-service teachers facilitated soccer sessions at REACH. Data were collected through boys’ weekly journals across 28 weeks and interviews with ten boys at the end of the year. Coaches’ reflexive journals were used to triangulate the data. Data were independently coded using constant comparison and analyzed following a collaborative qualitative analysis procedure. Trustworthiness included triangulation of data, negative cases checks, multiple coders, and peer-debriefing.The results presented in this article are part of a larger year-long mixed-methods curriculum intervention. Two themes are presented to represent the perspectives of the boys in participating in REACH. In the first theme, we discuss student choice that was expressed in the way youth chose to participate in REACH and engage in PA during out-of-school hours. The second theme presents the students’ identifying the barriers they face to being physically active and the ways REACH provided a space for them to reflect on those barriers.Students’ choice was expressed in participants’ engagement in physical activities and sports in and outside of REACH and as a fundamental aspect that enhanced enjoyment in the program. Thus, participating in the program led students to enhance their physical activity enjoyment in and out of the program as well as learn about life skills through sport. With a focus on positive youth development, discussions and journaling in REACH encouraged the boys to reflect on life skills that focused on character and the development of positive relationships. Participants described varied barriers they faced to being physically active in and out of schools. REACH provided a safe space where participants could talk about and develop awareness about aspects of their community such as violence.REACH provided a safe space for students to be active, learn sports skills, and engage in interest-based activities. The safe space provided in REACH also encouraged Latino boys to reflect on the barriers to being physically active outside of the program with the intent of possibly transferring what was learned in the program to their lives. Having a choice was a fundamental aspect to enhancing the boys’ enjoyment in REACH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]