Education is the most powerful mortar building a nation’s future; physical education, on the other hand, is an indispensable component that ensures both the physical and spiritual robustness of this foundation. In the process extending from the late Ottoman period to the founding years of the Republic, and from there to today’s digitalizing world, physical education and sports lessons have been more than just a "field of movement"; they have served as a strategic tool for social transformation, modernization, and character building. This work aims to provide a comprehensive contribution to the literature by addressing the historical, political, and pedagogical evolution of physical education and sports in Türkiye through a holistic perspective.

Our book presents the journey of physical education in our country to the reader with a chronological and thematic flow. The journey, which begins with the first steps inherited from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic, deepens with the goal of raising a "robust and healthy generation" shaped by the founding ideology of the Republic. In the subsequent chapters of the work, the effects of post-1980 neoliberal policies on education, the radical changes in the teacher training system, and the institutionalization processes of Schools of Physical Education and Sports (BESYOs) are meticulously examined.

Focusing not only on the past but also on the present and the future, our study details the transition from the behaviorist approach to the constructivist model, and the transformation of teaching methods from teacher-centered structures to student-centered and inclusive models. The new vision shaped by the "Turkey Century Education Model" (Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli - TYMM) is analyzed along the axes of values education, physical literacy, and digitalization, thereby revealing the new paradigm of physical education in the 21st century. Many contemporary topics, ranging from the evolution of assessment and evaluation approaches to the integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality into the curriculum, have been covered in depth by our expert authors.

This book serves as a testament that physical education and sports are not merely lessons for acquiring physical skills, but a multidimensional discipline that supports the cognitive, affective, and social development of the individual, instills lifelong healthy habits, and internalizes social values. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the chapter authors who contributed to the creation of this work—which we believe will be a reference source for academicians, teachers, policymakers, and students—for sharing their expertise and academic rigor with us.