The ‘signature’ and the ‘pedagogy’ within signature pedagogies: refining (auto)biographical pedagogies and pedagogies of professional learning to teach about and through social justice

Background: Physical education is a space with great potential for young people to challenge social inequities and dominant discourses. This potential, however, requires teachers to be adequately prepared to teach about and through social justice. Research identifies two primary issues in the context of learning to teach ‘about’ social justice: pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) socialisation process and lack of action-oriented approaches. Concerning learning to teach ‘through’ social justice, democratic approaches to teaching seem essential for embracing and enacting social justice within the classroom. Hordvik and Beni's (2026. “Signature Pedagogies of Teacher Education in Physical Education: A Scoping Review.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 31 (3): 458–474) conceptualisation of signature pedagogies in physical education teacher education (PETE) suggests that (auto)biographical pedagogies and pedagogies of professional learning hold promise in the context of learning to teach about and through social justice in PETE. Yet, these signature pedagogies need to be refined to align with personal beliefs and contexts. Purpose: To analyse the practices of two teacher educators (TEs) enacting (auto)biographical pedagogies and pedagogies of professional learning within the frame of care(-full) teaching, with the intention to refine them as potential avenues for learning to teach about and through social justice. Methods: The study took place during one academic year. A cohort of 63 third-year PSTs, their two TEs, and a critical friend participated. Data were generated qualitatively through the TEs’ reflective diaries and teaching artefacts, critical friend’s observations of the lessons, PSTs’ assignments, and three focus groups with PSTs. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings: Two main themes were generated. First, critical awareness of social (in)justices was co-constructed between TEs and PSTs by breaking down complex concepts, respecting PSTs’ learning pace, and creating a community to foster critical awareness collaboratively. Second, how care(-full) teaching practices were modelled, shaping PSTs’ experiences in learning to teach about and through social justice. Conclusions: The paper advocates for in-depth analysis of teaching practice and signature pedagogies, highlighting the importance of elements that, like satellites, shape the planning and teaching process. The authors encourage TEs to reflect on their own ‘signature within the signature’ and ‘instructional alignment’ as a foundation for meaningful experiences that enhance PSTs’ learning to teach about, through and, eventually, for social justice.