The German Association of Physical Education Teachers in North Rhine-Westphalia (DSLV NRW) has launched a campaign to strengthen school sport by raising public awareness of the topic and giving a platform to voices advocating for school sport. The idea is simple: a portrait photo and a short statement in support of school sport are published on the campaign website and on social media. Together, these contributions demonstrate the broad support behind this important cause.

Katharina Ludwig has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled “Physical Activity in the Classroom – An Empirical Study on the Short- and Long-Term Effects of Classroom Activity Breaks on the Executive Functions of Secondary School Students.” The examination committee consisted of Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber, Prof. Dr. Michael Pfitzner (University of Duisburg-Essen), and Prof. Dr. Dennis Dreiskämper (TU Dortmund University). The dissertation makes an important contribution to the Learning and Movement at School research network.

At the beginning of July, the University of Münster hosted its first interfaith and democratic football event at the Preußen Stadium. Rather than focusing on goals and competition, the event emphasised dialogue, fair play and mutual respect. The tournament was organised by the Faculty of Islamic Theology, the Faculty of Catholic Theology and the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Following its successful debut, the event is planned to return next year.

At the closing event of the Days of Teacher Education at Münster Castle, students of physical education pedagogy and didactics presented the teaching materials they had developed on the theme “Strengthening Democracy – Shaping Education.” Through podcasts, posters, and practical teaching resources, they demonstrated the diverse role of democracy education in the context of physical activity, play, and sport.

As part of the Bundesliga bewegt Club Calls organised by the Bundesliga Foundation (formerly the DFL Foundation), Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a presentation on democratic core competencies in children’s physical play. Under the title “Children in Charge!?”, he highlighted the unique potential of sport for democracy education and presented empirical findings on both guided and unguided physical activities, demonstrating how democratic participation can be fostered through children’s movement and play. He also shared key insights from the Münster Democracy Festival 2025.

The Willibald Gebhardt Institute hosted the international CEREPS Summit at the Franz Hitze House in Münster. More than 60 researchers, practitioners and representatives from politics and sport discussed current developments in youth sport in schools and sports clubs, including topics such as physical activity promotion, inclusion and all-day education. The Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Münster contributed to the planning and organisation of the international conference through its Physical Education and Teaching Research unit.

The Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Münster will launch a new certificate programme on 5 February 2027 focusing on the development of all-day education through physical activity, play and sport. The practice-oriented continuing professional development programme comprises 60 learning units and is based on current research findings on promoting children’s and young people’s development in all-day schools. It is aimed at teachers, educational coordinators of all-day school providers, early childhood educators, social pedagogues, coaches, instructors and volunteers working in all-day education who wish to contribute to the further development of their schools and educational settings.

Further information and registration

In the BMBF project ComeSport, the Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport departments are developing training courses for teachers on the subject of social media and body image in physical education. A meeting with other project partners has now taken place at Leipzig University. The first training sessions have already been tested.

At this year's Research Day of the Centre for Educational Research in Sport on 11.09.24, Brigitta Höger (Pädagogische Hochschule Oberösterreich) presented her exciting research on the perspectives of young people on sport-related social media offerings. In addition, Marion Golenia and Kathrin Aschebrock (AB Bildung und Unterricht im Sport) from the project Quality at the all day education presented current results on participation opportunities in primary schools, comparing the children's perspective with that of adults (teachers and OGS staff).

From 17-18 September, the international ‘Workshop on Systematic Observation in Educational Research’, organised by Dr Kathrin Kohake, took place for the 8th time at the University of Münster. At the annual network meeting of European users of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, current study results from various educational contexts were presented and discussed. The programme was framed by two renowned keynote speeches: Dr Bridget Hamre from the USA and Prof Dr Charalambos Charalambous from Cyprus. The event was sponsored by the DFG, the University of Münster's Internationalisation Fund and the Unfallkasse.