Enacting the hybrid code: specialist and generalist teacher dynamics within Italy’s primary physical education reform

Italy’s Law 234/2021 introduced specialist physical education (PE) teachers into primary schools, placing a strongly classified subject role within an institution historically oriented towards curricular integration. Drawing on Bernstein’s sociology of educational knowledge, this qualitative multiple-case study examined how ten specialist and ten generalist teachers, together with five headteachers, enacted the reform across ten full-time primary schools in Northern Italy. Data comprised 25 semi-structured interviews, 30 h of non-participant observation, and five specialist–generalist dyadic interviews. A theory-informed hybrid thematic analysis combined deductive use of classification, framing, and evaluative rules with inductive coding, within-case analysis, and cross-case comparison. Three interrelated tensions were identified: an epistemological mismatch between biomedical–technical preparation and holistic primary pedagogy; spatial and temporal boundary-making that reinforced strong framing; and micropolitical negotiation over assessment and evaluative authority. Two deviant cases showed that protected co-planning and shared assessment routines could soften these boundaries. The article’s main contribution is to demonstrate that stronger subject classification does not itself produce pedagogical coherence: without institutional mechanisms for translating between specialist and generalist knowledge, it may intensify fragmentation. The findings support institutionalised co-planning, shared evaluative frameworks, and stronger preparation for primary pedagogy.