Physical education and inclusion: A bibliometric study

Abstract

The possibilities offered by the Physical Education (PE) subject in the educational setting are extensive and go well beyond the mere development of basic motor skills. Our society and schools are diverse and pursue sustainable development goals in which inclusion is a core factor in ensuring quality education. For this reason, the general objectives of this paper were to perform a bibliometric study about inclusion in PE and also to conduct content analysis. The bibliometric analysis studied the production, collaboration and impact of the publications. The content analysis studied the keywords used, methodological aspects, the contribution made by PE and the results. The search was performed in the Scopus database which yielded a total of 103 articles. The results in terms of output point to a major increase in the presence of scientific publications in journals in the social sciences over the last 10 years, mainly from countries such as the USA, Brazil and Spain. Most of these studies are collaborative, there being only one author working alone as a major producer. However, their impact quantified in terms of citations was scant. The content analysis revealed a majority of non-interventional studies with a predominance of qualitative methodologies in order to improve the competencies of students with special educational needs (SEN) and attitudes towards them in the primary and secondary stages. Generally speaking, adapted games from the games and sports block were used as PE resources to promote inclusion.