Beyond Physical Activity: Cultural Inclusion and Socio‐Emotional Wellbeing Among Muslim Pupils in Diverse School Contexts

Dear Editor,

The recent article by Antonio Morcillo‐Martínez and colleagues examining the relationship between socio‐emotional skills (SES) and physical activity (PA) among primary and secondary students provides important evidence supporting holistic learner development [1]. Their findings demonstrated that physically active learners exhibited more favorable socio‐emotional profiles, reinforcing the role of school‐based interventions in promoting learner wellbeing and social‐emotional learning (SEL) [1].

While these findings are valuable, SEL frameworks may remain incomplete when the experiences of culturally and religiously marginalized learners are insufficiently addressed. For many minority students, socio‐emotional wellbeing is shaped not only by physical engagement but also by whether they feel culturally recognized, psychologically safe, socially accepted, and represented within school environments.

This perspective emerged strongly in our recent mixed‐methods study examining the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) Program among Muslim pupils in Kalinga Province, Philippines [2]. Muslim learners in our study consistently described how culturally affirming educational spaces helped them feel “accepted,” “recognized,” and more confident in participating in school activities. Participants emphasized that the acknowledgment of their cultural and religious identities within the school environment strengthened their sense of belongingness, inclusion, and emotional security.

These findings are particularly important because Muslim learners in minority educational contexts may experience cultural invisibility, marginalization, or limited representation within mainstream educational systems. Our findings suggest that inclusive and identity‐responsive educational practices may help reduce these barriers by strengthening self‐esteem, interpersonal connectedness, educational participation, and socio‐emotional wellbeing among Muslim pupils [2]. In culturally diverse school settings, learners' sense of belongingness may be equally important as participation in PA in shaping healthy socio‐emotional development.

The implications for school health policy and practice are substantial. School wellbeing initiatives should integrate culturally responsive pedagogy alongside PA and SEL interventions. School health frameworks and learner wellbeing assessments should likewise recognize cultural belongingness, identity affirmation, and inclusivity as essential dimensions of socio‐emotional development, particularly among culturally and religiously diverse learners [3, 4].

Future school health research may further explore how culturally inclusive educational practices interact with PA and other school‐based wellbeing initiatives in influencing socio‐emotional outcomes among minority learners. Recognizing cultural inclusion as a core dimension of socio‐emotional development may help schools create more equitable, psychologically supportive, and socially inclusive learning environments for Muslim pupils and other historically underrepresented student populations [5, 6].

Funding

The authors have nothing to report.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.