Introduction: The benefit of socio-emotional learning (SEL) to student behaviour and academic attainment is widely known. Teachers are nowadays expected to deliver packaged programmes on socioemotional learning (SEL) interventions that they find hard to agree, seeing them be beyond the remit of their responsibilities and completely alienated from their subject knowledge.

Research Questions:

• Is there space for SEL-oriented teaching in PE lessons?
• To what extent is LS an effective approach to integrate SEL in the national subject of PE?

Method: This paper draws on the findings of a novel pilot project, the first of its kind, that employs a lesson study (LS) approach to actively involve teacher trainees in curriculum development and explicitly introduce socioemotional-oriented teaching in the context of physical education (PE). LS is a collaborative professional development approach for teachers to assess, evaluate and plan a sequence of lessons with a specific focus. The project was conducted in partnership with one mainstream secondary school in the Southwest of England for a period of two months during the summer term 2021-2022. Two teacher trainees and one qualified PE teacher agreed to design, evaluate and plan a sequence of 4 research lessons focusing on integrating SEL instruction in PE. Data collection involved 4 focus groups and 6 in dept evaluation interviews.

Results: Our findings provide insights into the tensions, challenges and significance of introducing explicitly socioemotional-oriented teaching in the national secondary curriculum highlighting the effectiveness of a lesson study approach in empowering teachers’ involvement in curriculum development. Conclusion: Evidence suggests that teacher trainees are motivated to teach SEL learning when it is integrated in their subject topic. Practical implications for teacher training and professional development are discussed.

Durlak J, Weissberg R, Dymnicki A, Taylor R, Schellinger K. (2011).The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Dev, 82(1), 405–432. Gómez, E. S., Núñez, M. J. S., Gómez, A. I. P., & Trapero, N. P. (2015). Lesson study and the development of teacher’s competences: From practical knowledge to practical thinking. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 4(3), 209-223.