Laura Azzarito

A reconceptualization of physical education: the intersection of gender/race/social class.

Over the past several years, numerous reports have reported data documenting declining participation in physical activity among youth. We argue that the gender, race and social class differences in these data have not been an important consideration, and that understanding the implications of these differences is crucial for improving physical education curriculum. Because schooling should carry the responsibility of educating children to adopt and maintain a physically active lifestyle, the most prominent physical education curriculum in the United States, the sport-based physical education curriculum, requires the reconceptualization of current practice. As a basis for this reconceptualization, we begin by extending the analysis of gender as a unitary category to a dynamic relational analysis of gender, race and social class. Therefore, by using feminism/poststructuralism as a theoretical framework, we deconstruct historically dominant gender, race, and social class discourses around the body in sports and physical education to demonstrate the fluidity and contradictory nature of these categories. Finally, we conclude by highlighting the usefulness of feminism/poststructuralism for investigating racialized masculinities and femininities in future physical education research, and suggest pedagogical approaches that might further reconceptualize todays multi-activity sport-based physical education curricula and pedagogy.

Perceptions of athletic superiority: a view from the other side

In physical education classes all learning that occurs does not fall under the carefully planned and structured lessons presented by teachers (Kirk, 1992). Physical education and athletics are inextricably related by teachers who often serve as coaches of athletic teams. These teacher/coaches often unconsciously transmit values from the athletic realm to physical education classes. This unplanned and unrecognized transmission of values and beliefs is known as the ‘hidden curriculum’ (Fernandez‐Balboa, 1993, p. 233). Often entrenched in this hidden curriculum are race‐based stereotypes that provide students with distorted perceptions of physical abilities based on race. This qualitative study seeks to examine this phenomenon from the European American perspective. European American former and present athletes were interviewed regarding their sports experiences and views. Results indicate that European American athletes in this study appeared to be steered away from developing lofty athletic aspirations. This appears to be a consequence of strong race–sport stereotypes.

Performing Identities in Physical Education: (En)Gendering Fluid Selves.

Abstract This paper shows how a group of young people and researchers, through their reading of images, performed “identity work” within discourses of the body and gender in physical education. To explore young peoples identity narratives and physicality, the researchers used an ethnographic method using photo-elicitation. Findings in this study showed the complex ways girls and boys, picked up, resisted, and negotiated male and female body signifiers by “doing girl” and “doing boy” in the school context. Given these results, the researchers discuss several implications for educators and scholars to consider in working toward the new gender agenda in physical education.

Unsettling the Body: The Institutionalization of Physical Activity at the Turn of the 20th Century

The turn of the 20th century was a time of major political and economic fluctuation and demographic shifts in American cities. As a result, physical health and physical supremacy became serious concerns. Between 1880 and 1930, the Progressive Era, politicians, doctors, and educators advocated for physical activity with the intent to improve individual living conditions, health, and well-being. Exploring the history of the playground movement provides insights into the impetus for legalizing physical education in American public schools. In this paper, we examine the complexity and multiplicity of competing educational and political discourses emerging from the playground movement at the turn of the century—civilized play and democratic play. Democratic play provides an example for physical education researchers and physical educators about creating and sustaining progressive physical education curricula and adopting pedagogies that “unsettle the body” to subvert the racial and gender order in physical education classes today.