Education policies and curriculum documents in many European countries
promote the social and moral development of young people as a cross-curriculum goal
and place that goal at the center of the education process. All subjects, including physical
education (PE) are required to contribute to the social and moral development of the
children. Scholars have argued that PE and especially the PE teacher play a crucial
role in the social and moral development of children. There is however little scientific
evidence that underpins the positive contribution of PE to this development. Scholars
also understand the social and moral domain in diverse ways. Little is known about
how teachers themselves think about their responsibilities with respect to the social
and moral development of their students through PE and how they understand and
operationalize such curriculum goals.