Alison Wrench

Identity Work: Stories Told in Learning to Teach Physical Education.

Pre-service teachers bring to their university studies particular world views and understandings of themselves and others around health and physical activity. Their biographies and experiences in school physical education, sport and oyther societal institutions inform these perspectives and understandings. These in turn work to mediate university learning, interactions with the physical education learning area and understandings of teaching and learning processes. The biographies of pre-service teachers can provide valuable insights into how and why particular constructions of self are possible within given historical times, locations and events. In the context of teacher preparation in physical education this research attempts to investigate the construction of a teaching identity and pedagogical practices. Specifically it attempts to reveal how various cultures of physical activity, fitness and sport shape the subjective experiences of pre-service teachers as well as how different theoretical frameworks can be used to provide particular readings and deeper understandings of the stories told. Pre-service teachers were asked to respond to a series of open-ended questions regarding their personal experiences of physical education, sport and teacher preparation as well as the implications of these experiences for notions of themselves as an emerging teacher in the learning area. In the process of analysis attempt was made to identify the meanings students made in these contexts and their influence on the construction of a teaching identity. The findings give evidence of the complex and multiple ways that teaching identities are constructed as well as the processes whereby particular pedagogical practices are adopted.

Connections, pedagogy and alternative possibilities in primary physical education

This research is concerned with how exposure to a diverse range of lived and personal experiences and then guided reflection of teaching episodes can be harnessed to assist student teachers in making meaningful connections with their diverse and complex learners. These strategies were used in a bid to promote critical perspectives and approaches by inviting student teachers to entertain alternative possibilities in teaching primary school health and physical education. The research draws on the past experiences of a group of generalist primary student teachers that revealed considerable diversity in subjectivities made and held around physical education, sport and physical activity. The breadth, contrast and contradiction in personal experiences and subjectivities provided an opportunity to problematise traditional practices and beliefs in the learning area. The cohort were then involved in a series of ‘lab school’ experiences where they were encouraged to reflect on their teaching experiences. The findings indicate that for some student teachers the connections made with real life and ‘lived’ experiences facilitated a more critical reflection and an enhanced desire to ‘do things differently’. However for others, sporting discourses in physical education were firmly entrenched and served to limit their engagement with alternative approaches.

Pleasure and Pain: Experiences of Fitness Testing.

The obesity crisis is a hegemonic discourse that has established common-sense understandings that young people are less active and fit than previous generations. Unquestioning acceptance of links between fitness and obesity in turn leads to unproblematic fitness testing of young people. Argument is made that fitness tests motivate and encourage participation in physical activity. Poststructural perspectives as informed by the work of Michel Foucault invite consideration of alternative possibilities around complex social phenomena such as the obesity crisis and pedagogical practices such as fitness testing. This research was informed by concerns about the unproblematic fitness testing of young people and calls for pedagogies of physical education that work to unsettle dominant discourses. The research investigates the experience of fitness testing from the perspective of university students pursuing health and physical education pathways through their degree programmes. Experiences of fitness testing were explored and the meanings made around participation, performances and results were interrogated.

Guessing Where the Goal Posts Are: Managing Health and Well-Being during the Transition to University Studies.

It is widely acknowledged that social conditions are directly associated with health and well-being. Significantly little is known about the impact of changing social conditions, including the transition to higher education, on young peoples health and well-being. This qualitative research investigated perceptions and factors that influence health and well-being for first year university students. Governmental practices adopted in managing health and well-being during transition to a university context, were also investigated. Empirical data were collected, in 2010, via an online student questionnaire. Participants were completing their first year of study in a School of Health Sciences at an Australian university. They were asked to respond to a series of closed questions to collect demographic data and open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of health and well-being as well as factors that impact on them personally as they transition into university studies. Findings indicate that there are significant factors that impact on student well-being during this transition. These include: geographical relocation, engagement with university learning, sense of community as well as managing time and competing demands. Findings also indicate that whilst young people accept an individualised responsibility managing health and well-being, the social conditions of transition to university render this complex and problematic.

Narrative inquiry in physical education research: the story so far and its future promise

At a recent international education conference, current life history and narrative research within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) was criticised for its seeming inability to ‘produce anything new’ and for lacking ‘rigour’. This paper aims to respond to the criticism and to reassert the strengths of narrative inquiry in the current moment. It maps out narrative and life history research (published in English) carried out in PETE, illuminating a spectrum of narrative approaches and a richness of theoretical perspectives. It underscores the need for PETE scholars to acknowledge the broad range of philosophical assumptions about knowledge and how we come to know as this underpins all research, whether carried out within a qualitative or quantitative research tradition, and to develop a climate of mutual respect for these various positions if we are to avoid stagnation, hegemony or blind spots in our research agendas.

PE: it’s just me: physically active and healthy teacher bodies

This paper focuses on the significance of embodied understandings to the emerging subjectivities and pedagogical practices of pre-service teachers undertaking a Physical Education (PE) specialisation through a B.Ed. (primary/middle). Data from a research project conducted at an Australian university with seven pre-service teachers will be presented through three themes: ‘Naturally’ sporty bodies; Healthy bodies; and Embodied pedagogical practices. Our findings suggest that through the configurative function of narrative identity, participants merge lasting dispositions around embodied physicality with acquired dispositions around embodied health, fitness and pedagogical practices. In doing so, they locate themselves in a contemporary narrative of PE which reinforces assumptions that bodies, subjectivities and lives can be shaped so as to protect against risks associated with obesity.

Gender encounters: becoming teachers of physical education

Pre-service teachers of physical education (PE) bring understandings about gender and bodies to their university studies. These understandings are partially informed by biographies and experiences and bear potential to mediate learning and processes of becoming teachers. In this paper we explore technologies of power/knowledge and technologies of self that inform understandings of gender and the constitution of PE teacher subjectivities. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with pre-service teachers studying at an Australian university. Foucaults theoretical perspectives around the constitution of subjects were drawn on to analyse data. Findings reveal that discursive practices frame particular ‘truths’ around gender and, hence, possibilities for being teachers of PE. Discourses of sport were significant in establishing a male norm for bodies and subjectivities. This was problematic for female participants who also turned to discourses of nurturing in constituting their subjectivities. Implications are raised for PE teacher educators with regard to disrupting hegemonic discourses as means for developing pedagogies for greater justice.

Emotional connections and caring: ethical teachers of physical education

The field of physical education (PE), as it exists in teacher education, is dynamic as ways of preparing teachers to meet the needs of young people in contemporary times change. Such endeavours are underpinned by concerns about school-based PE, the alienation of students from PE, and responsibility for producing healthy students. Concerns also exist around a perceived propensity amongst pre-service teachers of PE to steadfastly retain initial beliefs and values and resist more socially critical perspectives and pedagogies. An engagement with socially critical discourses in teacher education is critical if PE is to be a site of inclusion rather than marginalisation and exclusion. This paper examines how a group of pre-service teachers of PE, who experienced a teacher education programme, at an Australian university, that was infused with strong social justice discourses constituted subjectivities and pedagogical practices. We explore how, emotional connectivity, and an ‘ethic of care’, instil broadened perspectives and engagement with socially critical pedagogical practices. Whilst emotions and caring are generally perceived as marginal attributes in the field of PE, we suggest that the affective domain is significant to effective pedagogical practices, subjectivities of teachers of PE and the reality of teaching. We seek to trouble ‘truths’ disseminated by hegemonic discourses that construct PE teaching as a technical undertaking, founded on disciplinary knowledge and curricular expertise. We close by providing possibilities for others working with PE pre-service teachers around foregrounding affective dimensions of pedagogical practices and teacher subjectivities and propose that these possibilities might address calls for a new type of PE teacher.

Health literacies: pedagogies and understandings of bodies

The development of health literacies, in relation to health, well-being, safety and physical activity, is a key pillar of the ‘Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education’. Implications, therefore, arise for teachers of health and physical education (HPE) and their pedagogical practices. These practices of HPE inform ways of thinking, the acquisition of dispositions and constitution of subjectivities. They also impact on student success and positioning in relation to societal and cultural assumptions. We argue that bodies, including how they move, are exercised, nourished, represented and understood, should be central to pedagogies for developing health literacies. In this paper, we use interview and media excerpts to explore pedagogical practices and understandings in relation to bodies. We attempt to analyse practices of the body as they relate to health literacies. In arguing for socially critical pedagogical practices around bodies, we highlight the need to develop critical health literacies that disrupt common sense readings of ‘acceptable’ and ‘desirable’ bodies as lean, youthful and able-bodied. We conclude by identifying implications for pre-service teacher and in-service teacher education around the development of socially critical pedagogical practices and health literacies.

Pedagogies for inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities in PE

ABSTRACT Background: Laws and legislation have prompted movement from special education towards inclusive education, whereby students with disabilities are included in mainstream physical education (PE) classes. It is widely acknowledged that including students with disabilities in PE presents significant challenges in relation to meeting the diverse needs of all students. Significantly, little is known about how teachers include junior primary students with a disability in PE. Aims: This paper aims to explore pedagogical practices for the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities in PE as well as environmental accommodations teachers make. In order to address these aims, the research undertaking was guided by the question: ‘What pedagogies do teachers draw upon to include junior primary students with disabilities in PE’? Methods: This qualitative research undertaking incorporated a critical case study approach, which utilised semi-structured interviews and field observations as data collection tools. Three teachers of PE in primary schools located in Adelaide, South Australia, participated in the research undertaking. Given this small sample group we make no claims for generalisability, but seek to provide connections for others teaching in PE. Results: Findings are presented in three general themes of: Relationships for inclusion, Practices of Inclusion and Complexity and inclusion. Participants’ statements are used to illuminate discussions about discourses drawn on and to make links between previous research and theoretical perspectives. In general terms, findings revealed that despite barriers, such as catering for multiple forms of disabilities with minimal assistance from support staff and negotiating school environments, participants embraced inclusion and made pedagogical modifications to ensure meaningful involvement in PE lessons for all students. This research also identified the important role teachers play in terms of relationships, adaptations and safe learning environments, which collectively enable the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities. Conclusion: Students with disabilities warrant specific recognition and access to educational resources including within the field of PE.