European Physical Education Observatory

The European Physical Education Observatory Project (reference:2017-3678/001-001) is funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Sport program, through the Collaborative Partnerships scheme. The partnership covers eight European countries (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland), including a total of twenty-two researchers affiliated with professional associations of Physical Education teachers and universities or research centers.In parallel, representing The Netherlands, KVLO in partnership with the Mullier Institut and the University of Münster Sport took part in the project as Observers, contributing to the project in specific tasks and moments, previously agreed with the consent of all partners, during the first meeting of the project, in January 2018. At a later stage, SNEP, from France, privately, decide to ask for the University of Strasbourg support with their data collection and analysis. The project was coordinated by the Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon and co-coordinated by the Portuguese Society of Physical Education in a process of planning and preparation of project activities, in addition to the responsibility for the management of data collected in Portugal and its dissemination. The project eligibility period was established between the 1st January 2018 and the 31st December 2020, later extended to 30th June 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The EuPEO project, following the General Data Protection Act (EU2016/679), was duly authorised by the system of Monitoring of school surveys of the General Directorate of Education, and the Ethics Council of FMH-UL. EuPEO´s project mission was to inform a range of selected European schools and the platform of future European Physical Education Observatory, bridging the gaps between guidelines, concepts for monitoring and evaluation, between sectors of health, education, and sport, as well as a different set of indicators for quality physical education and school sport. To achieve the proposed mission, the project converted previous experiences of monitoring and evaluation in Physical Education (PE), in health-enhancing physical activity(HEPA), and in the sectors of public health and education, in a comprehensive but applicable monitoring system through the development of the EuPEO online platform, an IO3-Manual for External Assessment (MEA) and an IO4-toolkit which prepares and enables the school’s internal monitoring (TIM) in relation to the quality of PE and school sports (SS). EuPEO project was scheduled in two main parts, composed of 4 work packages and a set of 31 tasks/activities. The first part was dedicated to tool development and early testing, and the second phase was dedicated to the piloting of the EuPEO tools concluding with the scientific and professional dissemination of five intellectual outputs, all available in English and the national languages of the partner countries (Czech, French, German, Portuguese, and Slovenian). During the first phase, the initial versions of the piloted instruments (ESQ, ECQ, NELAS, EPQ) were developed and reported through IO1(national intermediate reports) and IO2 (European intermediate report). These were then partly revised and integrated into the IO3 EuPEO MEA and the IO4 EuPEO TIM to be piloted as the final EuPEO version. The second pilot phase of implementation of the EuPEO MEA and TIM began in November 2019. After piloting the EuPEO MEA and TIM, with the respective evaluation from each partner in their countries, the final changes and updates were made resulting in the final versions of IO3 and IO4, as well as in the IO5 which were all disseminated through the different national and the international multiplier sport events in 2021.