The 39th Annual Conference of the Sports Pedagogy Section of the German Society for Sports Science took place from May 14 to 16, 2026, at the Hessian State Sports Federation. Under the conference theme “Educational Biographies in Sport - Stakeholders in Dialogue” the event focused on key societal transformation processes and their significance for sports pedagogical practice, research, and teaching.
The Sports Pedagogy (Sports and Education) research group, led by Prof. Dr. Vera Volkmann, was represented with several presentations and took the opportunity to engage in academic exchange with colleagues from German-speaking countries. The conference group was rounded out by Paulina Evers from the University of Hildesheim (see group photo on the right).
During the conference, Manja Radtke presented her dissertation proposal on “Physical Education Teacher Training in a Migration Society - The Significance of Experience-Based Learning Opportunities for Professional Development” and received valuable feedback on her project.
Philipp Beck contributed a presentation on his dissertation project “Formative Assessment in Physical Education - Reconstructions from the Bielefeld Laboratory School from the Perspectives of Teachers and Students.” As part of this, he was able to present excerpts from his project and engage in fruitful conversations and discussions with other researchers.
A symposium provided a forum for discussion on the topic “Evaluating Physical Education - A Comparison of the Subject-Specific Didactic Pyramid and the Supply-Utilization Model” by the FaBiS research group (Subject-Specific Education in Physical Education) with Prof. Dr. Vera Volkmann, Prof. Dr. Ilka Lüsebrink (University of Education Freiburg), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Helga Leineweber (University of Münster), and Prof. Dr. Petra Wolters (University of Vechta). In their presentation, they addressed a subject-specific refinement of the pyramid as well as a comparison of the supply-use model, facilitating discussion during the symposium.
Paulina Evers was also able to fruitfully introduce her research topic into the discourse during her participation in the pre-conference session for early-career researchers, thereby further developing it. Student Maximilian Fröhlich also attended the conference and accompanied the Sports Pedagogy department. He gained exciting insights into how much time research takes up for faculty members alongside teaching.
Our conclusion: A successful conference with new ideas, constructive feedback, and engaging discussions that provided valuable inspiration for our future work.
Translated with DeepL