Tansin Benn

Young Muslim Women's Experiences of Islam and Physical Education in Greece and Britain: A Comparative Study.

Previous research suggests that Muslim women can experience particular problems when taking physical education (PE) lessons, for example with dress codes, mixed-teaching and exercise during Ramadan; and they can face restrictions in extra-curricular activities for cultural and religious reasons. The area is under-researched and there is little evidence of comparative studies that explore similarities and differences in cross-national experiences, which is the aim of this paper. Two studies conducted in Greece and Britain that explored the views of Muslim women on school experiences of physical education are compared. Both studies focused on diaspora communities, Greek Turkish girls and British Asian women, living in predominantly non-Muslim countries. Growing concerns about global divisions between ‘Muslims and the West’ make this a particularly pertinent study. Qualitative data were collected by interviews with 24 Greek Muslim women, and 20 British Muslim women. Physical education has national curriculum status and a similar rationale in both countries but with different cultures of formality and tradition, which impacted on pupils’ experiences. Data suggested that Greek and British groups held positive views towards physical education but were restricted on their participation in extra-curricular activities. For the British women religious identity and consciousness of Islamic requirements were more evident than for the Greek women. Differences in stages of acculturation, historical and socio-cultural contexts contributed to less problematic encounters with physical education for Greek Muslims who appeared more closely assimilated into the dominant culture.

Muslim Women and Physical Education in Initial Teacher Training

ABSTRACT Although under‐researched, there is some evidence to suggest that Muslim females can experience difficulties with traditional approaches to physical education. Based infigurational theory, this field study investigation enabled the author/researcher to examine the relational dynamics influencing institutional and physical education course developments as female Muslim students underwent a 4‐year primary Initial Teacher Training Degree course at ‘Greenacres’ College, England. Interview, observation and diary data were collected, analysed and collated. Findings indicated a gradual unforeseen and unplanned process of negotiated accommodation as the management and staff responded to the expressed needs of the Muslim women whilst ensuring State requirements for teacher training were met. One outcome was a reciprocal shift, in attitude towards physical education amongst the Muslim students.

Multiple voices: improving participation of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport

This study reports on data from a larger-scale research project in one city in the West Midlands, England. The study was commissioned by the local education authority because of the rising incidence of parental withdrawal of Muslim girls from physical education. The aim was to provide evidence-based guidance to schools on improving the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport. In-depth interviews in eight case study schools provided a thick description of the lived realities for 19 head teachers and teachers, 109 young people and 32 of their parents. Four additional focus group interviews were held with 36 Muslim young people in community/supplementary schools. Questionnaires were sent to 402 city schools and 12 supplementary schools (50 of which were returned). Methods focused on capturing views on experiences and concerns regarding the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education. Content analysis and inductive and deductive analyses of data procedures were used. Responses indicated a diversity of positive and negative experiences across the community, with the majority of young people enjoying their school-based physical education lessons. Parental influences were strong across the age phases. Body and religious consciousness increased during adolescence. Common concerns centred on the need to improve recognition of religious requirements in schooling processes, policies and practices to provide inclusive learning environments for some Muslim young people. Problems such as poor communication, inflexible dress codes—particularly concerning wearing of the hijab (headscarf)—gender organisation and use of public swimming pools were identified. Patterns of good practice also emerged from across schools. Flexibility of approach, shared decision-making and situation-specific policies were most successful for supporting the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport. Findings informed policy-orientated guidance for city schools.

Incompatible? Compulsory Mixed-Sex Physical Education Initial Teacher Training (PEITT) and the Inclusion of Muslim Women: A Case-Study on Seeking Solutions.

This article addresses the tensions between Islamic requirements and state provision in physical education initial teacher training (PEITT). Physical education has a firm place in teacher training in England because of its status as a National Curriculum foundation subject which guarantees entitlement for all children. The recruitment and retention of ethnic minority teachers have been a national concern for many years and yet remain an under-researched area. Rising numbers of young Muslims, the majority of whom are of South Asian heritage, led to initiatives for attracting more trainees from this group into higher education. In England, the century-old provision of single-sex specialist physical education secondary training (for 11-18-year-olds) finally disappeared by the mid-1980s. Primary PEITT (for 5-11-year-olds) has traditionally been organized in mixed-sex groups. Therefore the current higher education training system for intending teachers provides only compulsory mixed-sex provision in PEITT at every level. The authors argue that the current situation excludes Muslim women who wish to enter the teaching profession and adhere to Islamic requirements. They recount a case study in one university that tracks policy development to make single-sex physical education available to Muslim women on a tradition ally mixed-sex primary course.

The Olympic Movement and Islamic culture: conflict or compromise for Muslim women?

This discursive article critiques the interface of religious and secular values through analysis of Islamic culture and the Olympic Movement. Recent resurgence in religious interest gives importance to this topic. The authors address the paradox between Olympic ideals for inclusion and sport policies that exclude, in this case, particularly Muslim women. For example, the Olympic Charter commits to universal human rights to participate in sport and be free from discrimination on the grounds of gender and religion; and yet Olympic sport dress code regulations can deny Muslim womens religious requirements of modesty in covering the body. Diverse effects of conflicts between religious and secular values are illustrated through sociological studies into the lives of Muslim sports women and recent events in sport. Different paths to influencing policymakers to become more inclusive of Muslim women in sport are examined. Recommendations propose using the global power and reach of the Olympic Movement in order to move towards negotiated compromise and greater flexibility for more inclusive sport policy and practice.

Dance students’ perceptions of tertiary education in England and in Greece

The comparative study examined dance students’ views of their dance education and training in tertiary education (further and higher) and their perceptions about the opportunities offered in the their courses available in England (higher education) and in Greece (further education). The aim was to explore similarities and differences between English and Greek dance education systems in order to improve understanding. An interpretive, predominantly qualitative study was undertaken shaped by a modified theoretical model. Presage, process and product variables embraced the design and analysis of the study. Multiple case studies were used to gain insight across dance institutions. These totalled six – three in Greece and three in England – enabling comparative analysis across national borders. Methods involved interviews with dance students (18), lecture observation (average 20) in each, open-ended questionnaires (to 97 students). The results indicated that students from the Greek case study institutions were concerned about the low status and lack of breadth in dance study opportunities, whereas students from the English institutions expressed their satisfaction with the level and breadth of opportunities available. In Greece, a predominantly didactic approach to teacher/learner interaction is applied in contrast to English institutions that apply a more holistic approach.

A Collective Biography: Women Pioneers of Physical Education at Anstey Physical Training College, United Kingdom

Abstract The aim of the historical analyses of the contributions of three women principals of a teacher training institution in England was to increase understanding of women as agents of change. Located in different historical, social, political, and economic eras the three women were pioneers and leaders responsible for shaping the profession of teaching physical education in different ways. Themes that emerged from document analyses, using figurational or process theory, resulted in the framework of professionalization, academicization and internationalization that is used to structure the paper. Ways in which the three women principals, Rhoda Anstey, Marion Squire, and Muriel Webster, contributed in each of the three processes of change within the profession are highlighted. All the women were principals of Anstey College of Physical Training, Birmingham, England, which opened in 1897 and was closed in 1984. The analyses illustrates long-term processes of change influenced by many aspects such as: the bifurcation of training for careers in medicine and education; increasing specialization; increasingly sophisticated systems of accreditation; political intervention to control and centralize education and its training institutions; and the drive for economic efficiencies as small institutions experienced forced mergers with larger institutions where power differentials were such that closure was inevitable.