Previous research suggests that despite believing in the importance of equitable education and despite recognising that social justice is an espoused focus within Health and Physical Education (HPE) curricula (Ministry of Education, 2007), New Zealand HPE teachers are uncertain how to teach for and about equity, diversity, and social justice (Philpot, 2023; Philpot et al., 2021). In order to explore this ‘gap’ in the research and practice literature we have initiated an ongoing collaborative inquiry with teachers to understand how to support and enact pedagogies for equity and social justice in Physical Education. This paper focusses on two research questions that underpin this project: (1) How do teachers construct and enact pedagogies for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in HPE in their individual setting? (2) What enables teaching for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in HPE? This project employs a collaborative approach based on building a professional community of inquiry (Burgh, 2021) that enables teachers (practitioner partners) to work alongside university academics to research their own practice. The annual research cycle involved four phases that focus on building relationships, exploring the concept of teaching for and about social justice, exploring practice problems, developing context specific interventions and evaluation strategies, implementation and reflection. Data collection methods included researcher and participant journaling, focus groups with teachers and students, and student focus groups. The nine pedagogies of social justice (Gerdin et al. 2021) was used as a heuristic to thematically analyse (Braun and Clarke, 2022) the data and generate three broad findings that are reported in this presentation. Firstly, inclusion emerged as a key foci of the practitioner partners. The teachers worked to adapt their practices to better serve increasingly diverse student populations. Secondly, many of the teachers strived to incorporate indigenous Māori language and knowledge into their classroom, a practice that was supported by policy and school leadership teams. Finally, the study highlighted the significant role of professional learning communities in fostering teacher agency to enact pedagogies for equity and social justcie. The collaborative nature of the research process enabled teachers to share experiences, reflect on challenges, and co-develop solutions. This study underscores the importance of teacher collaboration, ongoing reflection, and adaptability in fostering inclusive and equitable educational experiences. These findings have implications for PETE programs and professional development initiatives, highlighting the need for sustained support in the enactment of social justice in PE settings.

Braun, B., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic Analysis: A practical guide. Sage. Burgh, G. (2021). The narrow-sense and wide-sense community of inquiry: What it means for teachers. Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, 41 (1):12-26 Gerdin, G., Smith, W., Philpot, R., Schenker, K., Mordal Moen, K. Linnér, S., Westlie, K., Larsson., L. (2021). Education for Social Justice and Equitable Health Outcomes – The Promise of School Health and Physical Education. London: RoutledgeMinistry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media Limited. Philpot, R. (2023). ‘Sometimes unfair is fair’: New Zealand HPE teachers’ perceptions of social justice, Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, DOI: 10.1080/25742981.2023.2270464 Philpot, R., Gerdin, G., Smith, W., Linnér, S., Schenker, K., Westlie, K., Mordal Moen, K., & Larsson, L. (2021). Taking action for social justice in HPE classrooms through explicit critical pedagogies. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 26(6), 662-674.