ePhyLi Webinar: Unpacking Physical Literacy

By Nigel Green, IPLA Chair

 As part of the ePhyLi project, Nigel Green provided a webinar to unpack the concept of physical literacy, consider how physical literacy is understood in different countries and discuss the current considerations related to assessment.

Main Highlights

Nigel provided a brief introduction to the concept, sharing how Margaret Whitehead’s work has had a tremendous impact on the acceptance of the concept of physical literacy worldwide. He shared the reasons why Margaret developed the concept and highlighted the importance of the three philosophies (Monism, Existentialism and Phenomenology) that underpin physical literacy. Nigel explained how the definition had been modified in different cultures and countries, and how consensus statements have supported the spread of the concept worldwide. He explained why it was important to focus on the key principles that underpin the concept – Holistic focus, Inclusion, Empowerment and Person-Centred. Nigel then shared how the Sport England consensus work has developed and how it now has a clear focus on key principles, to support teachers, coaches, health professionals, community workers and planner, in their work in the future. Finally, Nigel considered how assessment has been a bone of contention with some arguing that there should be no assessment and others providing varied tools to assess the concept. The merits of each development were considered with suggestions made for how to move forward.

Lessons Learned

There is still a lot of work to be done in sharing an understanding of the concept of physical literacy with practitioner and providers of movement and physical activity opportunities. It is important to accept that different definitions of physical literacy, related to cultural or countries interpretations, should be accepted if they are in line with the key principles associated with the concept. More work needs to be undertaken in relation to assessment or charting of progress, and the biographical map suggested by Young et al. (2025) that links closely with the IPLA Matrix, should be considered an appropriate and useful strategy to pursue.

Next Steps – The ePhyLi eBook https://www.ephyliproject.eu/_files/ugd/a72e85_80e4cfc5392142ed810a879f99477a49.pdf , which is in five different languages, so far, provides eight learning modules that can be accessed online or used for face to face teaching to support teachers or trainee teachers of physical education. This is also complemented by a consolidated report https://www.ephyliproject.eu/_files/ugd/a72e85_ae3c25829dc44f8ba59c699220c080e0.pdfand a digital game that can be accessed on a phone.

The webinar can be accessed in full at: https://youtu.be/fb7vceLRVbc