Susanna Soler

Los procesos de reproducción, resistencia y cambio de las relaciones tradicionales de género en la Educación Física: el caso del fútbol

Resumen La Educación Física es una de las áreas educativas donde el sexismo y la reproducción de los estereotipos tradicionales de género se hacen más visibles. Sin embargo, los cambios que se están produciendo en el sistema deportivo, y la llamada individualización del género que se observa en la sociedad actual, nos llevan a plantearnos si es posible que la Educación Física también constituya un espacio para el cambio de los modelos dicotómicos y sexistas de masculinidad y feminidad. Para abordar la cuestión, en este artículo se describen las múltiples relaciones que se producen en las clases de Educación Física con más carga de género, como son las sesiones en que el fútbol es el contenido principal. En su conjunto, se observa cómo al mismo tiempo que se encuentran situaciones de clara discriminación para la mayor parte de las niñas —e incluso para algunos niños—, también se pueden encontrar comportamientos y actitudes que denotan la resistencia al modelo deportivo hegemónico o bien la ruptura de los modelos de género tradicionales.

The (in)visibility of gender knowledge in the Physical Activity and Sport Science degree in Spain

ABSTRACT This paper draws on research that aimed to explore the construction of gender relations in sport and physical education (PE) through a national study of Spanish university degree curricula. Spain is a useful case study through which to explore gender knowledge within sport and PE degrees, because, unlike many other countries, it has a common, national curriculum framework for its Physical Activity and Sport Science (PASS) degrees. In addition, it has recently passed a new law concerning the introduction of gender knowledge in higher education (HE). Drawing on Bernstein’s (1990) framework of the pedagogic device, this paper examines how this HE gender policy becomes recontextualised as universities and lecturers interpret and translate this into the pedagogical texts that make up the PASS curricula. Purposive sampling was used to select 16 of the 37 universities offering PASS degrees in 2012/2013. The research analysed 16 PASS documents at the degree level and 763 individual subject handbooks. Using discourse analysis, the results showed where and how gender knowledge was incorporated and the extent to which the topic was presented coherently throughout the documents. The analysis revealed five categories of the (in)visibility of gender knowledge within the universities’ instructional discourse. Gender knowledge is largely ignored in PASS curricular documentation, appearing, at best, in highly superficial ways. Despite a national policy requirement on universities to incorporate gender knowledge, this study shows how recontextualisation processes within specific universities’ pedagogic devices operate to marginalise such perspectives within PASS curricula. The research also revealed the significance of individual agents committed to gender equity being situated, and having influence, throughout the pedagogic device. The paper concludes that without a much wider, critical engagement in knowledge about gender equity, PASS degrees will continue to reproduce rather than disrupt the gender relations that have traditionally characterised the field.

El espectáculo deportivo, ¿un contexto educativo?: análisis de las actitudes de los adolescentes como espectadores

Resumen El deporte, en su dimensión de espectáculo de masas, adquiere un gran potencial socializador para la juventud. Mediante la observación y la interacción con otros espectadores a los que imitan y toman como referencia, chicos y chicas aprenden cómo comportarse en la grada. Considerando esta situación, en este artículo se describen los resultados de una investigación en la que se analizan los comportamientos percibidos de la afición y su interpretación por parte de los jóvenes adolescentes, así como las actitudes adoptadas por ellos como espectadores. El estudio se realizó mediante un cuestionario administrado al alumnado de cuatro centros de educación secundaria a los que posteriormente se propuso una intervención orientada a la formación crítica ante el fenómeno deportivo. Teniendo en cuenta los resultados de la investigación, el grupo de trabajo Valors en Joc ha diseñado diversas propuestas educativas que se describen brevemente.

Challenging gender relations in PE through cooperative learning and critical reflection

ABSTRACT Research continues to highlight how gender is reproduced through pedagogical practice in Physical Education (PE), but there has been much less focus on how it might be challenged. This paper reports on an intervention that used cooperative learning and critical reflection to challenge gender relations in PE, using football, in a school in Valencia, Spain. The intervention was specifically constructed as a form of critical pedagogy to create an inclusive learning environment, a safe space talk about sexism, and help students question and move beyond traditional notions of gendered embodiment. The paper responds to the call for research on the use of models based pedagogy for challenging sexism in PE. Through a critical ethnography, research findings showed how the explicit inclusion of critical pretexts engaging students in reflecting on gender was important to the success of the intervention, particularly the provision of a space for girls to reflect on their experiences of football and sexism in PE, and for boys to listen and hear this. The change to cooperative learning led to a shift in the class climate between students, with most of the girls reporting feeling more valued and included. The improved class climate resulted in better engagement in the classes from students. While some of the boys exhibited more positive attitudes towards girls and their football abilities, some of the more able boys were critical of the approach for its relative lack of engagement with the development of football, beyond skills and techniques. These findings point to both the possibilities and ongoing work necessary to challenge gender relations through a critical pedagogy in PE.

Examining the experiences of the first openly gay male team sport athlete in Spain

Spanish sports literature is devoid of studies investigating the voices of gay athletes. Using semi-structured interviews, the purpose of this research was to examine the contextually relevant experiences of the first-ever openly gay elite athlete in a Spanish team sport context. Our investigation covers multiple personal and institutional layers of the sporting complex, which are analysed in three ways: (a) using Troiden’s notions of identity; (b) using Anderson’s Inclusive Masculinity Theory; and (c) using McCormack’s theory of gay discourse. Our findings reveal that coming out was a more positive experience than the athlete had expected. He experienced inclusivity from his teammates, trainers, managers and supporters. There was no physical aggression or verbal harassment. He did, however, frequently hear antigay language spoken, which he reported as not being homophobic. Our findings provide one of the few examinations of this topic outside of the USA.

Understanding the gendered coaching workforce in Spanish sport

The present study focuses on the demographic and labor characteristics of coaches in Spain. Kanter’s theory on occupational sex segregation will be used as a guiding framework. The study was conducted with 1685 coaches (82.3% men and 17.7% women) from different sports and performance domains. The results show that there is an underrepresentation of women as coaches in Spain and data highlight that coaches’ gender is related to three structural factors: opportunity, power, and proportion. The present data reveal that women are younger, less likely to be in a marriage-like relationship, less likely to have children, and more likely to have competed at a high level as an athlete when compared to their male counterparts. However, fewer women than men access and participate in coach education in Catalonia and the working status of women was different to that of men. To expand, women worked less hours, were more likely to be assistant coaches, and had less years of coaching experience. Understanding of how gender influences women’s access, progression, and retention in coaching in Spain illustrates the need for gender sport policies and practices in sport organizations. This approach can benefit not only women, but the diversity and enrichment of the coaching system.

Implementing Gender Equity Policies in a University Sport Organization: Competing Discourses from Enthusiasm to Resistance

ABSTRACT Gender policies in sports have expanded considerably in most countries in recent decades. Nevertheless, the implementation of these policies in sports organizations is by no means an automatic process. This article explores what happens when gender equity policies are applied in an university sports organization. Participatory action research over a four-year period was developed by the authors to increase the participation of women, and it also aimed to explore the perceptions and thoughts of key actors regarding equity actions. The analysis shows the participation numbers in the specific promotional campaign and reveals a wide range of responses among staff, ranging from enthusiasm and interest to resistance and fear. Gender equity actions often encounter resistance which cannot, and should not, be ignored. This article highlights certain forms of resistance that proposals of this kind should be prepared for.

O PROCESSO BOLONHA E SEUS EFEITOS NO CAMPO DAS CIÊNCIAS DA ATIVIDADE FISICA E DO ESPORTE EM ESPANHA

This paper analyzes the process of incorporation of the Spanish university system to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), focusing on the implementation of the degree on Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (PASS). We analyze this process from the Bourdieu perspective of “Scientific Field” and the data obtained through content analysis of documents related to the EHEA, and semi-structured interviews to eleven key actors in the process, analyzed with the support of NVivo 9.2 ® software. The results indicate two aspects particularly relevant. First, is observed a positive attitude to the Bologna process, although the distance between the Spanish traditional model and the new one, as well the scarcity of resources, set to a Spanish model itself and make impossible to apply the EHEA principles as desirable. Secondly, the results show the PASS need to assert in the university system and the fear to be not recognized as university degree, which leads this discipline to start the process very quickly, and strictly, through the development of the White Paper.