The research examined the Nova Scotia Active Smarter Kids (NS ASK) Project, a Canadian adaptation of a Norwegian program that integrates bodily movement into curriculum lessons so students can learn while moving. Since 2017, when provincial government departments partnered with the original ASK team, more than 130 Nova Scotia schools have received training, and over 3,000 teachers have been introduced to the approach. Lessons are deliberately simple and non-competitive, often taking place outdoors, and typically involve relay-style tasks, word and number studies, or true/false activities using basic equipment such as numbered bean bags, large dice, hula hoops, and whiteboards.

To understand how teachers perceive the program’s effects, researchers at Dalhousie University conducted semi-structured interviews with ten teachers, five from elementary grades 4 to 5 and five from middle school grades 7 to 8. Interviews lasted an average of 46 minutes and explored how teachers conduct active lessons, what they observe in their students, and what obstacles they face. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, a method that treats coding as an interpretive, researcher-driven process rather than a mechanical extraction of themes. The analysis produced seven themes: four describing perceived wellbeing benefits, one describing the pedagogical approaches behind them, and two describing ongoing implementation challenges.

The wellbeing benefits teachers described were strikingly multi-dimensional. Physically, teachers reported that active lessons broke up sedentary time and offered inclusive, low-barrier opportunities for movement, particularly valuable for students who lack access to organized sports due to financial or time constraints. Unlike physical education, which can feel evaluative and skill-based, active lessons allowed students to experience success regardless of prior athletic ability. Over time, teachers noticed improvements in endurance, movement skills, and willingness to engage, suggesting that regular participation builds physical competence and confidence in everyday classroom contexts.

Cognitively, teachers described a reliable boost to engagement and focus, both during and after lessons. Students were more attentive, more eager to attend school, and more ready to learn when they returned to class. One teacher recalled a student saying she loved active lessons because she could move around when feeling fidgety, something never permitted in a traditional classroom. Teachers also described a kind of cognitive refresh, noting that morning lessons woke students up and pepped them up for the day. These observations align with a growing body of international evidence linking physically active lessons to improved executive function, on-task behaviour, and time-on-task, with the Norwegian ASK cluster-randomized controlled trial showing that students in the lowest academic tertile at baseline demonstrated significant improvements in numeracy and executive functions.

Socially, the collaborative, team-based format of active lessons fostered relationships, communication, leadership, and belonging. Students formed new friendships while working together, and students perceived to be on the margins, whether due to learning needs, social differences, or language barriers, became more visible and engaged when lessons were adapted to fit their needs. One middle school teacher described putting lesson questions into a student’s home language so the student felt more involved while classmates rallied around them. Teachers also reported stronger student-teacher relationships, gaining new perspectives on their students through shared participation in movement.

Emotionally, teachers emphasized joy, happiness, and emotional regulation. Students came in happier after outdoor lessons, looked forward to the next one, and asked when they could go back out. One teacher even suggested that the extra exercise could help battle the anxiety and depression running rampant among junior high students. The combination of movement, fresh air, and novelty appears to create optimal conditions for learning, aligning attention, motivation, and emotional states. However, teachers noted that competitive elements sometimes undermined these benefits, creating anxiety or reluctance among students who felt pressured by teammates or upset by losing, reinforcing evidence that low-pressure, non-competitive formats are essential for emotional wellbeing.

Underlying these benefits, teachers identified specific pedagogical approaches as catalysts: integrating movement throughout the day, creating peer learning opportunities, remaining adaptable and flexible in a low-pressure environment, and supporting outdoor, non-competitive lessons. These approaches align closely with Self-Determination Theory, which posits that wellbeing depends on satisfying three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Active lessons appeared to satisfy all three, allowing students choice in how they contributed, success in what they did, and connection with peers. Given the program’s frequent outdoor setting, the researchers also considered nature relatedness, a sense of connection to nature, as a complementary psychological need that may partly explain why students prefer outdoor lessons and experience greater focus and emotional regulation in natural settings.

Yet the study also exposed persistent barriers. Teachers described spatial constraints in small, older schools where classrooms could not accommodate active lessons in bad weather, forcing major disruptions to move desks and chairs. Equipment was in high demand, with shared items like dice and bean bags claimed early in the morning or even the day before. Time for lesson preparation was scarce, particularly when teachers covered for colleagues during planning periods. Weather, inadequate outdoor clothing, and limited accessibility for students with physical disabilities added further complications. One teacher anticipated that anything off the main path where lessons are usually set up would not be accessible to a wheelchair user, highlighting the risk that active learning, if not carefully planned, could inadvertently isolate students with disabilities.

Beyond resources, teachers navigated the status quo of existing school structures and cultures. Some were the only implementers in their schools, facing skepticism from colleagues who viewed outdoor, movement-based lessons as unstructured or non-essential. Curriculum pressures and traditional assessment expectations made it harder to evaluate students academically during active lessons, requiring teachers to rethink what assessment could look like. Despite these challenges, teachers persisted because they saw clear benefits for students. The researchers argue that realizing the full potential of physically active learning requires systemic shifts: better lesson planning resources, administrative support that values and prioritizes movement, investment in flexible and accessible spaces, durable equipment, targeted professional development around inclusive practice, policies that protect time for active lessons, and sustainable funding. If these barriers can be removed, more students across Nova Scotia and beyond may reap the wellbeing benefits of learning while moving.

Subject of Research: Health

Article Title: Teachers' perspectives on physically active learning and student wellbeing in the Nova Scotia Active Smarter Kids Project

Article References: Campbell, J. E., Moore, S. A., Truong, S., Rainham, D. G., & Stone, M. R. (2026). Teachers' perspectives on physically active learning and student wellbeing in the Nova Scotia Active Smarter Kids Project. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 8, Article 1914074. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2026.1914074

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2026.1914074

Keywords: physically active learning, student wellbeing, education, physical activity, schools, Active Smarter Kids, Nova Scotia, teacher perspectives, Teachers', perspectives, physically, active

The researchers adopted a qualitative descriptive design, a methodology suited to capturing the texture of professional experience rather than measuring it numerically. Participants completed an open-ended questionnaire, and the responses were subjected to thematic analysis, a systematic technique for identifying recurring patterns of meaning across qualitative data. A single frequency item was analysed descriptively to gauge how often teachers reported integrating cultural content. The sample size of 42 sits comfortably within accepted guidance for thematic studies, where the analytical goal is depth of information rather than statistical generalisation.

Three major themes emerged from the analysis. The first concerned how teachers actually integrate and implement cultural identity in their teaching. The second addressed their perceptions of the impact of that integration and how cultural content in EFL teaching has evolved over time. The third focused on the professional development and institutional support teachers believe cultural integration requires. Together, the themes trace a full arc from classroom practice to perceived outcomes to the systemic conditions that make such practice sustainable.

In practical terms, the teachers described a remarkably varied repertoire. They reported incorporating local customs, national events, everyday practices, folklore, and historical narratives into English-language activities. A discussion prompt might centre on a Saudi festival rather than a Western holiday; a reading passage might be adapted to reflect familiar social routines; storytelling exercises might draw on regional folklore. The frequency and form of this integration, however, varied considerably from teacher to teacher, suggesting that culturally responsive EFL teaching in Saudi Arabia remains largely an individual craft rather than a standardised curriculum feature.

The theoretical backdrop for this work is sociocultural theory, which holds that learning is fundamentally a socially situated process mediated by the learner’s cultural tools and prior knowledge. When students encounter new vocabulary and grammar through familiar cultural frames, the theory predicts, comprehension and retention should improve because the new material anchors to existing mental structures. The study also aligns with the broader literature on culturally responsive teaching, which argues that instruction is most effective when it validates and builds upon learners’ identities rather than replacing them with foreign reference points.

The Saudi context gives this question particular weight. English has expanded rapidly in the Kingdom, driven by economic diversification goals and the educational ambitions associated with Saudi Vision 2030, yet educators have long debated how to teach it without eroding national and religious identity. Previous scholarship has analysed the cultural content of Saudi EFL textbooks and critiqued the dominance of native-speaker norms in materials. The new study adds the voices of practising teachers to that conversation, documenting how they perceive the balance between global competence and cultural continuity.

Teachers in the study perceived culturally familiar content as making English instruction more relevant to their students. They associated its use with higher engagement, greater participation, strengthened cultural pride, and heightened cultural awareness. The authors are careful to frame these as teachers’ perceptions rather than directly measured effects: the study did not experimentally test whether cultural integration improves engagement or learning outcomes. That caveat matters, but it does not diminish the finding that experienced practitioners consistently observe a connection between cultural relevance and student responsiveness in their classrooms.

The study also documents significant friction. Teachers reported constraints related to the scarcity of culturally relevant materials, limited curricular flexibility, and gaps in professional preparation. Many described improvising cultural content because textbooks offered little support, and some indicated that their initial teacher training had not equipped them with strategies for culturally situated instruction. These constraints echo findings from other EFL contexts, where teachers often act as cultural mediators without institutional recognition or resources for that role. The authors argue that appropriate materials, curricular support, and professional preparation are essential if cultural integration is to move from individual initiative to systemic practice.

The findings carry implications well beyond Saudi Arabia. Across the world, English is taught to learners whose lived realities differ sharply from the Anglophone settings that dominate many textbooks, and scholars in global Englishes have increasingly questioned the assumption that native-speaker standards should define the target culture of instruction. The Saudi study contributes empirical evidence that local cultural knowledge can function as a pedagogical resource, a bridge rather than a barrier, in the process of acquiring an international language. It suggests that the dichotomy between learning English and preserving identity may be false when teachers are given the tools to contextualise instruction.

For policymakers and teacher educators, the message is concrete. Curriculum designers could embed culturally relevant content in EFL materials rather than leaving it to improvisation; teacher preparation programmes could include explicit training in culturally responsive pedagogy; and schools could grant teachers the flexibility to adapt lessons to local contexts. The study, funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Northern Border University and approved by the university’s research ethics committee, involved voluntary participation with informed consent and confidentiality safeguards. Its authors conclude that local cultural knowledge is not a distraction from English learning but a foundation for it, provided the educational system supplies the materials, flexibility, and preparation that culturally situated teaching demands.

Subject of Research: Integrating Saudi cultural identity into English as a foreign language instruction

Article Title: Integrating Saudi cultural identity into EFL instruction: a qualitative study of teachers’ perspectives

Article References: Al-khresheh, M. H., Alruwaili, S. F., & Almayez, M. (2026). Integrating Saudi cultural identity into EFL instruction: a qualitative study of teachers’ perspectives. SN Social Sciences, 6(10), Article 501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-026-01809-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43545-026-01809-7

Keywords: cultural identity, EFL instruction, Saudi Arabia, language teaching, teacher perspectives, qualitative research, thematic analysis, culturally responsive teaching, sociocultural theory, teacher training, curriculum, global Englishes