The problem with physical education in schools is that it is mainly oriented on performance. There is a strict grading system that is not tailored to the individual capabilities of students. This leads to less sporty students feeling even worse about their bodies and loosing trust in their physical capabilities and developing an aversion against sports and movement in general that is often maintained into adulthood. This can result in a lack of movement later on in life which has a high impact on one’s physical and mental health and also can possibly cause severe physical health and mental health problems later on. Physical education actually offers great potential that goes beyond the obvious physical benefits: it has been proven that sport promotes neuroplasticity in the brain [1]. Neuroplasticity refers to the development of new synapses or the formation of neurons in the brain [4]. Among other things, sport promotes the release of neuromodulators such as dopamine and serotonin, as well as neurotrophic substances such as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). These substances promote growth and accelerate and enhance neuroplasticity [4]. This plays a central role in learning processes, but also in building self-confidence. In addition to boosting pupils’ self-esteem, this could also improve their academic performance, which in turn strengthens their self-esteem.
To reinforce this point, I would like to quote Dr Barbara Prüller-Strasser, a researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry at the Biozentrum Innsbruck:
“Movement leads to more neurons participating in a learning situation after a cognitive stimulus. Thus, sport can improve attention and learning ability before mental activities.” [1]
Physical activity is also closely linked to general mental well-being and can prevent mental and neurological disorders [1]. This is why it is important to design physical education in a way that it reaches its full potential and is beneficial for every student.
The main research question is how physical education needs to be changed in order to benefit the mental health of students and to help them build healthy self-esteem. Questions that also need to be considered are what impact movement has on stress reduction, academic success, physical abilities and the body-mind-connection in general.
Personal motivation
During my own school days, I perceived physical education as rather limiting to my personal development. Instead of promoting my individual abilities, failing the strict assessment system and the relentless comparison with my classmates led to a high level of frustration in physical education, which prevented me from pursuing any sporting activities for years. It was only through personal development that I realised the potential of exercise in terms of emotional and physical health. I find it very sad that this potential is not being exploited in school physical education. I would like to see future generations benefit more from physical education and develop a healthy relationship with their bodies and exercise. Especially in a society where working at a screen is widespread, I consider physical activity to be essential. Furthermore, I ask myself how I, as a designer, can contribute to raising awareness of the lost potential of physical education and what contribution I can make to solving the problem from a design perspective.
Possible problem solving approaches
There are different possible approaches on how to solve the problem. One of them could be changing the curriculum of sports education classes to fit the individual student, focussing on their individual progress instead of imposing a strict grading system on them and comparing them to their physically stronger classmates. Theoretical input on the benefits of physical activity should also be included. This could also happen via educating the sports teachers on the body-mind-connection and giving them tips on how to support young people in building self-esteem. Changing the curriculum as a solution is going to be hard to achieve due to bureaucracy. Therefore, it may be more helpful to incorporate special movement-action-days that dedicate one whole day to education about movement, mind and body. This could replace the Federal Youth Games that are very performance oriented.
Another approach could be to educate the students outside of the school context. This could happen on social media or in an app specially designed to guide them to a healthy relationship with their body and also on how to “survive” physical education classes without feeling minor, for example teaching them how to deal with comparing oneself with peers in a healthy way and how to enjoy physical activity as much as possible.
Expected challenges
Challenges of this topic could be finding the right persons for interviews, the almost unchangeable curriculum of schools and the broadness of the topic. Until now it remains unclear to what extent physical education in schools can be impacted and if the problem can be solved from outside of the system. Another challenge, due to the complexity of the topic, is that it might be hard to maintain the focus on the interaction design aspect of the topic, making sure not to drift into other subject areas.
Next steps
The most important step is to collect relevant literature and other sources to deepen the research and create a profound scientific basis for problem solving attempts. Another sensible step is to conduct surveys to find out how physical education is currently perceived in schools and how it has been perceived by different generations. This will, on the one hand, rule out personal bias and, on the other hand, highlight any generational differences that may exist. In addition, the aim is to find out on what basis the current concept of physical education was developed in order to better understand and evaluate it. One potentially relevant approach is the Trimm-dich movement, which was initiated by the German Sports Federation in the 1970s as a campaign to promote more exercise [3]. More in-depth research on this topic could yield promising approaches to solving the problem. It is necessary to examine the extent to which the ideas behind this movement can be transferred to the present day and to the specific context of physical education. Furthermore, it will certainly be helpful to find people as early as possible with whom subject-specific interviews can be conducted later in the research process, in case the available literature does not provide sufficient insights.
References
- [1] 2. Fachtagung zu Sport, Ernährung und Psyche. URL: https://www.i-med.ac.at/mypoint/news/694959.html (zuletzt aufgerufen am 15.11.2025)
- [2] Vanutelli, Maria Elide; Hommel, Bernhard; Cancer, Alice: Moving the mind, thinking the body: new insights on the mind-body connection from the neuroscience of movement, sports, arts, yoga, and meditation. URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10879547/ (zuletzt aufgerufen am 15.11.2025)
- [3] Trimm-dich Bewegung. Website des Deutschen Sportbunds. URL: https://www.dosb.de/service/trimmy (zuletzt aufgerufen am 13.11.2025)
- [4] Hütter, Franz; Lang, Sandra Mareike: Neurodidaktik für Trainer. Trainingsmethoden effektiver gestalten nach den neuesten Erkenntnissen der Gehirnforschung. Bonn: managerSeminare Verlags GmbH, 2017.
