Systemic Coherence for Non-Linear Pedagogy and Integral Development in School Physical Education: An Interpretive Synthesis and Teacher Education Framework

School physical education (PE) has often relied on linear progressions in which teachers demonstrate, pupils practise prescribed techniques, and achievement is judged through visible reproduction of preferred movement forms. Non-linear pedagogy (NLP) and the constraints-led approach (CLA) offer an alternative ecological-dynamics rationale for supporting pupils’ integral development, including motor competence, adaptable movement capability, and dispositions for lifelong physical activity and physical literacy. However, existing review work has not sufficiently explained why principled NLP/CLA designs remain unevenly enacted across ordinary school PE systems. We conducted a theory-informed interpretive synthesis drawing on critical interpretive synthesis and thematic synthesis. A structured English-language search of ERIC, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Google Scholar (2010–2025) was combined with title-and-abstract screening, full-text assessment, backward and forward citation chaining, and purposive retention of foundational or Singapore-context records, and reporting was strengthened through PRISMA-like transparency aids adapted to interpretive synthesis. The final coded corpus comprised 36 included sources: 9 empirical studies, 3 reviews, 9 conceptual or practitioner texts, 6 theoretical or critical sources, 4 review-method papers, and 5 Singapore policy, context, or professional-learning documents used as an illustrative policy lens. Through iterative coding, descriptive theme development, and analytical integration, we identified six coherence domains shaping enactment: teacher beliefs and knowledge; curriculum and lesson structure; assessment and accountability; systemic and resource constraints; professional development ecosystems; and stakeholder and cultural factors. These domains informed a Systemic Coherence Framework spanning micro, meso, and macro levels. The synthesis suggests that assessment coherence may be a high-leverage condition because it links curriculum legitimacy, reporting, and teacher defensibility, but its comparative influence across domains remains a hypothesis for future empirical testing. The framework is offered as an analytic heuristic rather than a prescriptive model and is intended to help researchers, teacher educators, school leaders, and policy actors diagnose where curriculum intent, assessment language, professional learning, and organisational routines support or inhibit ecologically informed practice.