Sport, Education and Society

Intergenerational learning to shape the future of health and physical education

Existing research suggests that intergenerational learning can strengthen the education system and profession by facilitating, for example, robust professional discourse (Biesta et al., 2015), sustainable workforce development (Nurani & Lee, 2024), and individual and institutional wellbeing and performance (Garcia-Martine et al., 2025). This special issue aims to explore intergenerational learning and its value as a mechanism for collaborative support in navigating the contemporary challenges posed by rapid societal change, particularly within the health and physical education (HPE) and the health and physical education teacher education (HPETE) community (MacPhail, 2020). 

This Special Issue builds on a previous work published in Sport Education and Society (Enright, Alfrey & Rynne, 2016), which explored being and becoming a HPE academic in the neoliberal university. Enright et al. (2015) examined a process of intergenerational learning that involved senior academics responding to anonymous letters from early-career academics about issues in the field and questions on career paths. This intergenerational learning was unidirectional, with early-career academics positioned as learning from senior academics. For this special issue, rather than treating intergenerational learning as one-directional, we focus on its multi-directional possibilities. As such, we aim to translate in practice how our notions of learning and working together can be expanded. Intergenerational learning can encourage: wisdom transfer (across generations, not just from senior to early career); communities of learners; cultural continuity; and a deep understanding of contemporary challenges. Therefore, we recognise multi-directionality when knowledge is shared equally amongst people at distinct phases of their careers, regardless of academic position, years of experience, career stage, institutional role, etc.

This Special Issue invites scholars to contribute to the burgeoning field of intergenerational learning. Through exploration, interrogation and problematisation of intergenerational learning itself, or by using it as a lens through which to explore some of the ‘grand challenges’ (MacPhail & Lawson, 2020) in the field of HPE, a broad range of submissions are encouraged. MacPhail and Lawson (2020) conceptualise grand challenges as important, yet complex problems that invite global, collaborative, and cross-boundary thinking and solutions; the authors see grand challenges as catalysts for collaborative redesign of systems (e.g., HPE and HPETE). We position inter-generational learning within this conceptualisation. Grand challenges in contemporary HPE of late have included policy, social justice, health education, cultural responsiveness, neoliberalism, the subject squeeze, the digital age, research and development, professional learning and development, however, submissions should not be limited to these. The exploration of diverse, contextual grand challenges is welcomed and encouraged, as explored through the lens of intergenerational learning.

Sport, Education and Society (SES) is an international journal which published research on pedagogy, policy, and the body across physical education, sport, and health contexts. Research in SES is underpinned by critical theories and understandings. This Special Issue is focused on the bringing together diverse voices across generations, fostering innovative methodologies, and acting as a catalyst for new avenues of research in looking at/into grand challenges in HPE and HPETE. We welcome collaborative methodologies to ensure equity in generational input, for example, collaborative self-study, collaborative autoethnographies, collaborative arts-based methodologies, collaborative narrative inquiries, amongst other collaborative innovative methodologies.

This Special Issue will comprise of approximately ten manuscripts.