From policy to practice for school sport: Lessons from South Africa

Introduction: In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nation agencies and key stakeholders have invested in policy reform to address physical education and sport (PESS) as a basic human right and tool for societal transformation. Problem and aim:The national study aimed to provide key insights on how policies play out in the current school sport (SS) practices across four different types of public schools in South Africa. Methods of research:A realist evaluationwas conducted in 55 schools using a mixed method design. Qualitative methods included: (i) interviews with 55 school principals or their representatives and 65 teachers; (ii) two to four focus group discussions per school with232 teachers and 441 students from primary (n=274), secondary schools (n=251) of differential socio-economic status in rural and urban communities, and 76 students from schools for learners with special educational needs (LSEN).As part of the quantitative research method, 153 teachers and 2681 students,1333 from primary and 1348 from secondary schools, completed a self-designed questionnaire. Conclusion: Implementation practices demonstrate differential levels of functionality that articulates with differential access to multiple resources of which teacher-coaches are most influential for school-level change. The meaningful integration of PESS, school and community sport through resource sharing and multiple stakeholder engagement at all levels inform good practices. Top-down policy implementation and hierarchical power relations limits local agency for poorly resourced (lower quintile) schools, where leadership issues and contextual realities relate to differentialschool sport delivery approaches. A Freirian approach of reciprocal dialogue may enable social change outcomes at operational and structural levels through sport, as well as of within school sport practices.