Susanne Linnér

The doxa of physical education teacher education – set in stone?

In this paper, we critically examine the potential of assessment components in physical education teacher education (PETE) to either reinforce or challenge PETE students’ conceptions of what a physical education (PE) teacher needs to know to teach this school subject. To understand the mechanisms that may contribute to the difficulty of challenging these taken-for-granted beliefs (doxa) within PETE, we draw on the theories and concepts of Pierre Bourdieu. Two different kinds of empirical material are analysed: one consists of 62 essays, written by PETE students before starting their degree programme, dealing with their conceptions of PE teachers’ competencies, while the second consists of course booklets and assessment components used within one PETE programme. The study shows that implicit prerequisites and conditions in assessment components are very similar to the conceptions of competencies in PETE students’ statements. The study also shows that taken-for-granted beliefs may be challenged, but at the same time, we argue, the use of socially critical perspectives in PE practice may also (in the name of the doxa) stigmatise those who are not physically active in their leisure time as well as those who do not look fit and sporty, and thus does not challenge the way power and social superiority or inferiority appear in PE.

Social Entrepreneurship, Sport and Democracy Development

Can a sports club both promote democracy in a society and provide citizens with opportunities for access, influence and meaning-making? Can a democratic way of life be developed through participation in a sporting activity that challenges existing beliefs about both the nature of sport and the role played by sport in society? These questions are the starting point for a discussion of the ‘social’ aspect of the concept of social entrepreneurship in sport. Through the use of democratic conceptions, Chap. 6 explores the extent to which sport and sporting activities with an entrepreneurial character can contribute to citizens’ democratic influence and competence, and hence to the development of democracy.

Children’s stories about team selection: a discourse analysis

Abstract The aim of our study was to identify and problematise messages and value principles visible in children’s stories about team selection in sport. To achieve this, we adopted a discourse analysis approach. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 children aged 10–11 years who participated in four team sports in 12 different Swedish sports clubs. Based on the children’s stories, the findings reveal two discourses of team selection: one participation/inclusion-oriented and one performance/exclusion-oriented discourse in which four different forms of team selection work. The participation/inclusion-oriented discourse constructs sport as a fun game that involves all participating children. The performance/exclusion-oriented discourse shows that coaches select the best children in the team to obtain the best chance of winning games. Some of the coaches have given conflicting messages that align with both discourses, which are revealed by both the girls’ and the boys’ voices in varying degrees. The findings also demonstrate that children’s reasons for playing sport are in harmony with the participation/inclusive-oriented discourse. This discourse represents a child’s perspective, promoting every child’s right to participate under the same conditions. However, the selection procedure in both discourses exhibits strong classification, since coaches are the ones who possess the power to select.

Ethics in Researching Sport and Social Entrepreneurship

When researching sport and social entrepreneurship it is important to be aware of several ethical dilemmas. This chapter examines four sport-related cases, concluding that entrepreneurs may prefer not to be anonymous informants in research ventures; that they may become part of the brand and the branding process; and that researchers have to navigate different sectors of society and thus run the risk of being accused of becoming accomplices in the venture.

A Methodological Tool for Researching Sport and Social Entrepreneurship

The last chapter introduces a methodological tool for analysing social entrepreneurship in a sports policy context, built on a number of steps in relation to the five theses. This tool has become useful in the research process and is valuable for communicating the analysis. A comparison of the seven case studies is conducted in which both similarities and differences are identified and analysed.

Researching social justice and health (in)equality across different school Health and Physical Education contexts in Sweden, Norway and New Zealand:

The way school Health and Physical Education (HPE) is conceptualized and taught will impact on its ability to provide equitable outcomes across gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion and social class. A focus on social justice in HPE is pertinent in times when these ideals are currently under threat from neoliberal globalization. This paper draws on data from the initial year of an international collaboration project called ‘Education for Equitable Health Outcomes – The Promise of School Health and Physical Education’ involving HPE and Physical Education Teacher Education researchers from Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. The data in this paper record the researchers’ presentations and discussions about issues of social justice and health as informed by school visits and interviews with HPE teachers in the three different countries. The analysis of the data is focused on what is addressed in the name of social justice in each of the three countries and how cross-cultural researchers of social justice in HPE interpret different contexts. In order to analyse the data, we draw on Michael Uljens’s concepts of non-affirmative and non-hierarchical education. The findings suggest that researching social justice and health (in)equality across different countries offers both opportunities and challenges when it comes to understanding the enactment of social justice in school and HPE practices. We conclude by drawing on Uljens to assert that the quest for social justice in HPE should focus on further problematizing affirmative and hierarchical educational practices since social justice teaching strategies are enabled and constrained by the contexts in which they are practised.