Maree Dinan-Thompson

‘Body practices—exposure and effect of a sporting culture?’ Stories from three Australian swimmers

This paper contributes to sport, sociology and the body literature by exploring the ‘exposure and effect’ of culture, in particular bodily practices placed on three adolescent swimmers immersed in the Australian swimming culture using an ethnographic framework. The research reported is particularly notable as it addresses two distinct time points in the swimmers’ lives. The first section explores the adolescent experiences of three female swimmers within the cultural context of Australian swimming by articulating some of the specific body practices and ‘memes’ (ideas, symbols and practices) that they were exposed to and/or engaged within relation to the body. The second section of this paper focuses on the same three swimmers in the ‘present day’, some 10–30 years after being immersed in the Australian swimming culture as adolescents. It excavates their body practices and the relationships they now have with their body, and thus pursues the sustained impact of the body practices and ‘memes’ they were exposed to as adolescents. Analysis employs concepts drawn mainly from Foucault, particularly his thesis in regard to ‘disciplinary power’, ‘regulation’ ‘classification’ and ‘surveillance’. At a club (amateur) and National level, Australian swimming is revealed as an institution, a site and culture where particular techniques of power have become concentrated and have been brought to bear on individuals in systematic ways, with sometimes damaging effects arising for athletes’ long-term health and well-being, particularly if the individuals concerned continue to engage with cultural practices in regard to the body post-career.

A Kickstart to Life: Australian Football League as a Medium for Promoting Lifeskills in Cape York Indigenous Communities

This paper presents evidence collected from an evaluatory study of the Kickstart program conducted by Australian Football League (AFL) Cape York in far North Queensland. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Kickstart program in meeting its overall objective of enhancing lifeskills of Indigenous Australians through participation in AFL. Evidence collected via interviews with Indigenous youth, parents, teachers and Kickstart stakeholders (including community representatives) suggest mixed meanings surrounding the interpretation of “lifeskills”, and yet improvement in the education, attitudes and lifestyle choices of Indigenous youth in the selected Cape York communities.

Claiming ‘educative outcomes’ in HPE: the potential for ‘pedagogic action’

This paper will propose and privilege educative outcomes in Health and Physical Education (HPE), reflecting that one of the five propositions in the Draft Shape of Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2012a) can be regarded as the bonding agent. The paper recognizes current research in HPE and refers to the long-standing positioning of (successful) ‘learning’ at the forefront of subjects, activities and curriculum (Hayes, Capel, Katene, & Cook, 2006). It explores gaps and potential in ‘pedagogical work’ (Tinning, 2008) and ‘pedagogic action’ (Penney, 2013) that may prioritize and legitimate, or challenge, how topics, curriculum, assessment and activities can be emphasized over learning. It argues that foregrounding educative outcomes requires knowledge building in relation to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; that the significance of the interplay and alignment of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment is key to attaining educative outcomes; and that the notions of cumulative and segmented learning (Maton, 2011) in HPE deserve exploration. A text analysis of sections of the Consultation document will be utilized to demonstrate how learning is potentially the bonding agent, how curriculum documents make it legitimate (or not) and how comprehensive and developmental learning are situated in the text. In addition, excerpts from a case study of student and teacher voices in one school event is utilized to raise and provoke discussion about student learning, perceptions about learning in HPE and raise challenges about the interplay between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The final section of the paper proposes challenges for teachers of HPE with issues to consider in generating ‘pedagogic action’ (Penney, 2013) for educative outcomes in HPE.

Assessment literacy in primary physical education

Internationally, assessment is acknowledged as a critical aspect of pedagogical practice and accountability systems, and as having a fundamental bearing upon what knowledge and ways of articulating knowledge come to be valued in schools. Teachers’ assessment literacy is arguably fundamental to their ability to successfully engage with multiple expectations of assessment and to facilitate assessment as a process that continually supports learning. Informed by Hay and Penney’s ((2013) Assessment in Physical Education: A Sociocultural Perspective. London: Routledge) assessment literacy framework, a qualitative case study investigation was undertaken with 18 primary physical education teachers in a regional area in Australia to gain insight into their assessment practices. The study utilised informal interviews, survey and document analysis. Primary physical education teachers were shown to be engaging with the comprehension, application, interpretation and critical engagement elements of the assessment literacy framework, albeit with limitations. Assessment practices appear to be embedded in teaching practices but were, in the main, superficial. Data analysis highlighted gaps in knowledge about assessment, a focus on accountability and performance, and a lack of moderation and student engagement in assessment. This study directs attention to the tensions, uncertainties and complexities associated with developing assessment of physical education and the challenges associated with extending quality and efficacy in assessment practices.

Insideness and outsideness—an autoethnography of a primary physical education specialist teacher

The purpose of this study is to provide an authentic and legitimate voice to the physical education (PE) specialist teacher in the primary school and to give an insight into professional knowledge. An autoethnographic approach has been used to invite readers to enter my world of the primary PE specialist teacher and observe and respond to its social and cultural practices. Teacher professionalism as a cultural practice is defined, perceived and enacted in different ways over the three years I spent as a primary PE specialist teacher. The places and spaces in which primary PE operates are investigated using the conceptual framework of Relph’s Place and Placelessness. I found myself both in and out of places and spaces that raised questions about the role of the primary PE specialist teacher, the issue of non-contact time in Queensland schools, the influence of performance cultures and the possibility (or not) for enacting an activist democratic professionalism.

Big Change Question Does Critical Theory Have any Practical Value for Educational Change

Based on theoretical frameworks developed in my doctoral research, my contribution to this paper demonstrates the conceptualisation of critical theory as having great value in practical applications to research. Various interpretations of critical theory are presented and in particular, the ‘structurational model of curriculum’ (DinanThompson, 2002) is described and illuminated through cases.

Professional insiders/outsiders? Teacher professionalism and the primary school Physical Education specialist

This paper provides a context for exploring the positioning of Physical Education specialist teachers (PE specialist teachers) in primary schools in Queensland in the discourses of teacher professionalism. A critical analysis of literature on the history and status of the subject and its practitioners aims to contextualize discourses in and about professionalism and the primary school PE specialist. The paper demonstrates the location of the PE specialist teacher in an Australian context under independent and interdependent themes. This critical review of literature identifies a lack of studies and research in the area of teacher professionalism as described, defined and enacted by PE specialist teachers.