G Gerdin
Biographic Data
| ID | 49758 |
|---|---|
| NAME | G Gerdin |
| GIVEN NAMES | G |
| FAMILY NAME | Gerdin |
| SIGNATURE | GERDIN G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Linnaeus University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2922-1993 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 115 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The fourth most important school subject’ – Norwegian school principals’ perceptions of physical education
Although many studies have explored teachers’ and students’ perceptions of physical education (PE), the voices and beliefs of school principals about PE remain scarce in existing literature [Ní Chróinín, D., Fletcher, T., Jess, M., & Corr, M. (2020). A major review of stakeholder perspectives on the purposes of primary physical education. European Physical Education Review, 26(2), 322–336]. In Norway, a new national curriculum for PE was introduc…
Ethical coaching and athlete transitions – A Foucauldian perspective on high-performance sports
High-performance sport is often celebrated for cultivating discipline, resilience and excellence. Yet, the same structures that produce elite performance frequently rely on disciplinary practices that can compromise athlete autonomy, well-being and identity development. This article interrogates the ethical dimensions of coaching in high-performance sport through a Foucauldian lens, drawing on concepts such as disciplinary power, technologies of …
Soccer: The only way to be a boy in Spain? narratives from a Spanish primary school on the influence of playground soccer in shaping masculinities and gender relations
Soccer, a dominant playground activity in many primary schools worldwide, plays a significant role in shaping boys’ masculine identities and influencing gender relations. This paper explores the experiences of three young Spanish boys, observed over a longitudinal ethnographic study spanning from early childhood education (3 years old) to their final year of primary school (10 years old). Informed by Foucauldian theory, we present three narrative…
From kindergarten to primary school – Physical education as a support for students’ transition
The transition from kindergarten to primary school is a significant event in children's education, garnering increasing political and social attention in Norway and globally. With the growing focus on educational transitions and continuity, this study examines the role of physical education (PE) in facilitating students’ transition into primary school in Norway. The study was conducted across four Norwegian primary schools, utilising semi-structu…
Level the playing field’ – pupils’ experiences of inclusion and social justice in physical education and health
Unfortunately, research continues to highlight the inability of PEH to realize these important outcomes and the pervasiveness of practices that instead contribute to exclusion and inequality.The aim of this study was to add our understanding of school PEH practices by exploring pupils' experiences of inclusion and social justice.Data were generated through a survey, observations, interviews and critical reflective texts.Participants in the study …
Teachers’ enactment of Freirean democratic pedagogies in primary school physical education
Background Despite its ubiquity in education discourses, social justice is a highly contested concept that can be framed in different ways [Dowling, F., H. Fitzgerald, and A. Flintoff. 2012. Equity and Difference in Physical Education, Youth Sport and Health: A Narrative Approach. Routledge]. The ‘social’ element of social justice is always framed by broader cultural and socio-political contexts. Therefore teaching for social justice cannot be co…
Despite good intentions: The elusiveness of social justice in health and physical education curricula across different contexts
This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to examine how health and physical education (HPE) curricula from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice in schools. The findings highlight the presence of social justice intentions across the five curricula as related to embodied movement experiences, social cohesion, and activism. That said, the findings simultaneous…
Understandings and enactments of social justice pedagogies in Swedish physical education and health practice
Research continues to show that school physical education and health (PEH) is complicit in the reproduction of inequities related to, for instance, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion and social class. In this paper, we present findings from a participatory action research (PAR) project with 11 PEH teachers at two upper-secondary schools in Sweden, aimed at enhancing understandings and enactments of social justice pedagogies. Data generated th…
The good, the bad and the ugly’: Primary school children’s visual representations and interpretations of PE teacher embodiments
Physicality has been, and still is, an important part of the embodied identity of many physical education (PE) teachers. PE teachers’ understanding and representation of their bodies influence both their teaching and act as role models for their students. PE is therefore an important site for exploring how ideals of the body shape both understandings and practices within this school subject. In this study we employed participatory visual methodol…
Why don't you really learn anything in PEH?’ – Students’ experiences of valid knowledge and the basis for assessment in physical education and health (PEH)
The overall aim of this study was to explore how upper secondary school students (age 16–19) in Sweden perceive physical education and health (PEH) through the assessment practices they experience in this subject. In particular, the study aimed to examine the students’ experiences of what can be considered as valid knowledge and what the students perceive to form the basis for assessment in PEH. Data were collected by conducting focus group inter…
Taking action for social justice in HPE classrooms through explicit critical pedagogies
Background : A focus on equity, democracy and social justice in HPE is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalisation and precariousness of society (Kirk 2020 Kirk, D. 2020. Precarity, Critical Pedagogy and Physical Education. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). Although there is advocacy for teaching approaches in HPE that address issues of social justice, there is limited empirical research o…
Making the familiar strange: A narrative about Spanish children’s experiences of physical (in)activity to reconsider the ability of physical education to produce healthy citizens
There is now a wealth of research on obesity both from biomedical and socially critical perspectives. However, less research has focused on the lived experiences of young children and particularly those who are perceived as ‘sedentary’. This paper critically examines the issue of obesity as related to children’s experiences of physical (in)activity, via a focus on the circulation of socio-cultural and economic discourses in the context of Spain. …
But in PEH it still feels extra unfair’: Students’ experiences of equitable assessment and grading practices in physical education and health (PEH)
Assessment has been identified as an ongoing problem in physical education (PE). Since the student perspective on assessment is often neglected in research, in this paper, we will report on a study that explored students’ experiences of assessment in the Swedish school subject physical education and health (PEH). In particular, the aim of this study was to examine the students’ experiences of having equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowle…
Body image(s): Problematizing future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity through visual imagery
Visual culture affects the way people understand the world and themselves, contributing to the creation of certain roles and stereotypes, some of which are related to body image. This study focused on interrogating future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity to understand the construction of bodily subjectivities and their perceptions of how these are influenced by visual (physical) culture. Data were collecte…
Teaching for Student and Societal Wellbeing in HPE: Nine Pedagogies for Social Justice
We currently find ourselves living in precarious times, with old and new social inequities on the rise due to the challenges associated with an unprecedented rise of global migration and neoliberalism, amplified in our post COVID-19 world. Research has demonstrated that there is a high correlation between inequality at the societal level and the overall health and wellbeing of individuals within those societies. We believe that school health and …
Social Justice Pedagogies in School Health and Physical Education—Building Relationships, Teaching for Social Cohesion and Addressing Social Inequities
A focus on equity and social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalization and the precariousness of society. The aim of the present study was to identify school HPE teaching practices that promote social justice and more equitable health outcomes. Data were generated through 20 HPE lesson observations and post-lesson interviews with 13 HP…
Swedish Tennis Coaches’ Everyday Practices for Creating Athlete Development Environments
Finding and describing the optimal path to elite athletic performance has, for a long time, been a challenge for researchers. This study examined Swedish tennis coaches' everyday practices for creating athlete development environments and the environmental factors that promote or hinder athlete development. The study was conducted in 2018-2019 and included in-depth focus groups with 13 Swedish full-time tennis coaches. Data were analyzed using th…
School HPE: Its mandate, responsibility and role in educating for social cohesion
In a world of increasing diversity in which many established democracies are now consumed by capitalist individualism and protectionist ideals, a focus on equity and social justice is particularly pertinent. For many years, scholars have proposed that schools have the educational responsibility to prepare children for peaceful living in a heterogeneous society and claimed that health and physical education (HPE) activities at school can enhance i…
Wanting to become PE teachers in Spain: Connections between previous experiences and particular beliefs about school Physical Education and the development of professional teacher identities
Physical Education (PE) teachers have previous experiences that both shape their particular beliefs about the role and purpose of this school subject as well as their pedagogical practice. The present study aims to examine and deepen our knowledge of future Spanish PE teachers’ previous experiences of and beliefs about PE that condition their pedagogical practice and intentionality within this school subject. The data reported on in this paper we…
The enactment of social justice in HPE practice: How context(s) comes to matter
For more than 40 years, health and physical education (HPE) academics in universities and teacher education colleges have drawn attention to issues of social justice specific to the context of PE and advocated for teachers in fields, gymnasiums and other physical activity spaces to do a better job of promoting more equitable outcomes for all students. Building on this advocacy, in the late 1990s, countries such as Sweden, Norway and New Zealand d…
Exploring social justice pedagogies in health and physical education through Critical Incident Technique methodology
In this paper, we describe and reflect on the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology used to explore how secondary school health and physical education (HPE) teachers address social justice in their teaching practice. The paper is informed by data generated as part of an ongoing three-year international research project involving eight physical education teacher education (PETE) researchers from three different countries. One of the genera…
Coaching and ethical self-creation: Problematizing the “efficient tennis machine”
In this paper we draw from Foucault, particularly his writings on the technologies of self, to problematize and reimagine understandings of what it means to coach effectively and ethically. In recognising the difficulty of operationalising Foucauldian ideas, we provide a narrative-of-self to reveal how an elite tennis coach, Göran Gerdin, adopted Foucauldian ideas in a process of ethical self-creation. The narrative reveals how Göran experienced …
Caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in health and physical education
The Health and Physical Education (HPE) profession has increasingly advocated for caring teacher-student relationships. In this paper, we draw on data from an international research project called ‘EDUHEALTH’ [Education for Equitable Health Outcomes – The Promise of School Health and Physical Education] to explore caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in HPE. The data reported on in thi…
Challenging gendered inequalities in boys’ physical education through video-stimulated reflections
Despite research over the past three decades that has examined links between masculinity, sport and Physical Education (PE), exclusionary practices and cultures that privilege some boys and masculinities at the expense of marginalised others are still commonly reported. With an historical legacy as a masculinity-making device, attempts to disrupt hegemonic and heteronormative cultures and pedagogies in PE that perpetuate gendered inequalities hav…
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 Equitab…
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 Equitab…
The productive effect of power: (Dis)pleasurable Bodies Materialising in and Through the Discursive Practices of Boys' Physical Education
Background: Pleasure is often a key feature of school physical education (PE) and, indeed, a lot of students find pleasure in and through PE while others do not. However, pleasure is rarely considered to be of educational value in the subject [Pringle, R. (2010). "Finding Pleasure in Physical Education: A Critical Examination of the Educative Value of Positive Movement Affects." Quest 62: 119-134]. Further, since pleasure is linked to power [Fouc…
The enactment of social justice in HPE practice: How context(s) comes to matter
For more than 40 years, health and physical education (HPE) academics in universities and teacher education colleges have drawn attention to issues of social justice specific to the context of PE and advocated for teachers in fields, gymnasiums and other physical activity spaces to do a better job of promoting more equitable outcomes for all students. Building on this advocacy, in the late 1990s, countries such as Sweden, Norway and New Zealand d…
Caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in health and physical education
The Health and Physical Education (HPE) profession has increasingly advocated for caring teacher-student relationships. In this paper, we draw on data from an international research project called ‘EDUHEALTH’ [Education for Equitable Health Outcomes – The Promise of School Health and Physical Education] to explore caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in HPE. The data reported on in thi…
The disciplinary and pleasurable spaces of boys’ PE – The art of distributions
In taking heed of the so-called ‘spatial turn’ in social theory this paper explores how the spatial intersects with boys’ performances of gender and (dis)pleasures in school physical education (PE). In particular, the paper aims to contribute to our understanding of how the organisation and implementation of physical and social spaces in PE can be seen as enabling or restricting boys’ participation and enjoyment in this subject. The research sett…
It is only an intervention, but it can sow very fertile seeds: Graduate physical education teachers’ interpretations of critical pedagogy
The role that school health and physical education (HPE) plays in the making of physically active and healthy citizens continues to be rearticulated within the field of HPE practice. In Australasia, for example, this is evident in HPE curricula changes that now span almost two decades with ongoing advocacy for greater recognition of socially critical perspectives of physical activity and health. This paper reports on one part of a larger collabor…
The politics of pleasure: An ethnographic examination exploring the dominance of the multi-activity sport-based physical education model
Kirk warns that physical education (PE) exists in a precarious situation as the dominance of the multi-activity sport-techniques model, and its associated problems, threatens the long-term educational survival of PE. Yet he also notes that although the model is problematic it is highly resistant to change. In this paper, we draw on the results of a year-long visual ethnography at an all-boys secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand to examine the…
Body image(s): Problematizing future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity through visual imagery
Visual culture affects the way people understand the world and themselves, contributing to the creation of certain roles and stereotypes, some of which are related to body image. This study focused on interrogating future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity to understand the construction of bodily subjectivities and their perceptions of how these are influenced by visual (physical) culture. Data were collecte…
Teaching for Student and Societal Wellbeing in HPE: Nine Pedagogies for Social Justice
We currently find ourselves living in precarious times, with old and new social inequities on the rise due to the challenges associated with an unprecedented rise of global migration and neoliberalism, amplified in our post COVID-19 world. Research has demonstrated that there is a high correlation between inequality at the societal level and the overall health and wellbeing of individuals within those societies. We believe that school health and …
School HPE: Its mandate, responsibility and role in educating for social cohesion
In a world of increasing diversity in which many established democracies are now consumed by capitalist individualism and protectionist ideals, a focus on equity and social justice is particularly pertinent. For many years, scholars have proposed that schools have the educational responsibility to prepare children for peaceful living in a heterogeneous society and claimed that health and physical education (HPE) activities at school can enhance i…
It's not like you are less of a man just because you don't play rugby'—boys' problematisation of gender during secondary school physical education lessons in New Zealand
Despite clear messages from current physical education (PE) curricula about the importance of adopting socially critical perspectives, dominant discourses of gender relating to physical activity, bodies and health are being reproduced within this school subject. By drawing on interview data from a larger ethnographic account of boys’ PE, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of boys’ experiences of gendered discourses in PE, particul…
The good, the bad and the ugly’: Primary school children’s visual representations and interpretations of PE teacher embodiments
Physicality has been, and still is, an important part of the embodied identity of many physical education (PE) teachers. PE teachers’ understanding and representation of their bodies influence both their teaching and act as role models for their students. PE is therefore an important site for exploring how ideals of the body shape both understandings and practices within this school subject. In this study we employed participatory visual methodol…
Exploring social justice pedagogies in health and physical education through Critical Incident Technique methodology
In this paper, we describe and reflect on the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology used to explore how secondary school health and physical education (HPE) teachers address social justice in their teaching practice. The paper is informed by data generated as part of an ongoing three-year international research project involving eight physical education teacher education (PETE) researchers from three different countries. One of the genera…
The ‘Old Gym’ and the ‘Boys’ Changing Rooms’: The Performative and Pleasurable Spaces of Boys’ Physical Education
This article examines how space and pleasure are discursively interlinked in boys’ performances of gender in school physical education (PE). Although previous research has implicated spaces in the production of gendered identities and unequal power relations, there exists a gap in the current literature focusing on how space also contributes to pleasure in PE. This article draws on an ethnographic account of boys’ PE, and Gregson and Rose’s (2000…
Level the playing field’ – pupils’ experiences of inclusion and social justice in physical education and health
Unfortunately, research continues to highlight the inability of PEH to realize these important outcomes and the pervasiveness of practices that instead contribute to exclusion and inequality.The aim of this study was to add our understanding of school PEH practices by exploring pupils' experiences of inclusion and social justice.Data were generated through a survey, observations, interviews and critical reflective texts.Participants in the study …
Why don't you really learn anything in PEH?’ – Students’ experiences of valid knowledge and the basis for assessment in physical education and health (PEH)
The overall aim of this study was to explore how upper secondary school students (age 16–19) in Sweden perceive physical education and health (PEH) through the assessment practices they experience in this subject. In particular, the study aimed to examine the students’ experiences of what can be considered as valid knowledge and what the students perceive to form the basis for assessment in PEH. Data were collected by conducting focus group inter…
But in PEH it still feels extra unfair’: Students’ experiences of equitable assessment and grading practices in physical education and health (PEH)
Assessment has been identified as an ongoing problem in physical education (PE). Since the student perspective on assessment is often neglected in research, in this paper, we will report on a study that explored students’ experiences of assessment in the Swedish school subject physical education and health (PEH). In particular, the aim of this study was to examine the students’ experiences of having equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowle…
Wanting to become PE teachers in Spain: Connections between previous experiences and particular beliefs about school Physical Education and the development of professional teacher identities
Physical Education (PE) teachers have previous experiences that both shape their particular beliefs about the role and purpose of this school subject as well as their pedagogical practice. The present study aims to examine and deepen our knowledge of future Spanish PE teachers’ previous experiences of and beliefs about PE that condition their pedagogical practice and intentionality within this school subject. The data reported on in this paper we…
Challenging gendered inequalities in boys’ physical education through video-stimulated reflections
Despite research over the past three decades that has examined links between masculinity, sport and Physical Education (PE), exclusionary practices and cultures that privilege some boys and masculinities at the expense of marginalised others are still commonly reported. With an historical legacy as a masculinity-making device, attempts to disrupt hegemonic and heteronormative cultures and pedagogies in PE that perpetuate gendered inequalities hav…
Despite good intentions: The elusiveness of social justice in health and physical education curricula across different contexts
This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to examine how health and physical education (HPE) curricula from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice in schools. The findings highlight the presence of social justice intentions across the five curricula as related to embodied movement experiences, social cohesion, and activism. That said, the findings simultaneous…
The politics of pleasure: An ethnographic examination exploring the dominance of the multi-activity sport-based physical education model
Kirk warns that physical education (PE) exists in a precarious situation as the dominance of the multi-activity sport-techniques model, and its associated problems, threatens the long-term educational survival of PE. Yet he also notes that although the model is problematic it is highly resistant to change. In this paper, we draw on the results of a year-long visual ethnography at an all-boys secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand to examine the…
It's not like you are less of a man just because you don't play rugby'—boys' problematisation of gender during secondary school physical education lessons in New Zealand
Despite clear messages from current physical education (PE) curricula about the importance of adopting socially critical perspectives, dominant discourses of gender relating to physical activity, bodies and health are being reproduced within this school subject. By drawing on interview data from a larger ethnographic account of boys’ PE, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of boys’ experiences of gendered discourses in PE, particul…
The disciplinary and pleasurable spaces of boys’ PE – The art of distributions
In taking heed of the so-called ‘spatial turn’ in social theory this paper explores how the spatial intersects with boys’ performances of gender and (dis)pleasures in school physical education (PE). In particular, the paper aims to contribute to our understanding of how the organisation and implementation of physical and social spaces in PE can be seen as enabling or restricting boys’ participation and enjoyment in this subject. The research sett…
A ‘culture of everyone doing it’ and ‘playing games’ – discourses of pleasure in boys’ physical education
Gard [(2008). When a boy's gotta dance: New masculinities, old pleasures. Sport, Education and Society, 13(2), 181–193], Booth [(2009). Politics and pleasure: The philosophy of physical education revisited. Quest, 61(2), 133–153] and Pringle [(2010). Finding pleasure in physical education: A critical examination of the educative value of positive movement affects. Quest, 62, 119–134] argue that if critical physical education (PE) scholars want to…
It is only an intervention, but it can sow very fertile seeds: Graduate physical education teachers’ interpretations of critical pedagogy
The role that school health and physical education (HPE) plays in the making of physically active and healthy citizens continues to be rearticulated within the field of HPE practice. In Australasia, for example, this is evident in HPE curricula changes that now span almost two decades with ongoing advocacy for greater recognition of socially critical perspectives of physical activity and health. This paper reports on one part of a larger collabor…
The ‘Old Gym’ and the ‘Boys’ Changing Rooms’: The Performative and Pleasurable Spaces of Boys’ Physical Education
This article examines how space and pleasure are discursively interlinked in boys’ performances of gender in school physical education (PE). Although previous research has implicated spaces in the production of gendered identities and unequal power relations, there exists a gap in the current literature focusing on how space also contributes to pleasure in PE. This article draws on an ethnographic account of boys’ PE, and Gregson and Rose’s (2000…
The productive effect of power: (Dis)pleasurable Bodies Materialising in and Through the Discursive Practices of Boys' Physical Education
Background: Pleasure is often a key feature of school physical education (PE) and, indeed, a lot of students find pleasure in and through PE while others do not. However, pleasure is rarely considered to be of educational value in the subject [Pringle, R. (2010). "Finding Pleasure in Physical Education: A Critical Examination of the Educative Value of Positive Movement Affects." Quest 62: 119-134]. Further, since pleasure is linked to power [Fouc…
Challenging gendered inequalities in boys’ physical education through video-stimulated reflections
Despite research over the past three decades that has examined links between masculinity, sport and Physical Education (PE), exclusionary practices and cultures that privilege some boys and masculinities at the expense of marginalised others are still commonly reported. With an historical legacy as a masculinity-making device, attempts to disrupt hegemonic and heteronormative cultures and pedagogies in PE that perpetuate gendered inequalities hav…
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 Equitab…
Coaching and ethical self-creation: Problematizing the “efficient tennis machine”
In this paper we draw from Foucault, particularly his writings on the technologies of self, to problematize and reimagine understandings of what it means to coach effectively and ethically. In recognising the difficulty of operationalising Foucauldian ideas, we provide a narrative-of-self to reveal how an elite tennis coach, Göran Gerdin, adopted Foucauldian ideas in a process of ethical self-creation. The narrative reveals how Göran experienced …
Caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in health and physical education
The Health and Physical Education (HPE) profession has increasingly advocated for caring teacher-student relationships. In this paper, we draw on data from an international research project called ‘EDUHEALTH’ [Education for Equitable Health Outcomes – The Promise of School Health and Physical Education] to explore caring teaching and the complexity of building good relationships as pedagogies for social justice in HPE. The data reported on in thi…
Social Justice Pedagogies in School Health and Physical Education—Building Relationships, Teaching for Social Cohesion and Addressing Social Inequities
A focus on equity and social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalization and the precariousness of society. The aim of the present study was to identify school HPE teaching practices that promote social justice and more equitable health outcomes. Data were generated through 20 HPE lesson observations and post-lesson interviews with 13 HP…
Swedish Tennis Coaches’ Everyday Practices for Creating Athlete Development Environments
Finding and describing the optimal path to elite athletic performance has, for a long time, been a challenge for researchers. This study examined Swedish tennis coaches' everyday practices for creating athlete development environments and the environmental factors that promote or hinder athlete development. The study was conducted in 2018-2019 and included in-depth focus groups with 13 Swedish full-time tennis coaches. Data were analyzed using th…
School HPE: Its mandate, responsibility and role in educating for social cohesion
In a world of increasing diversity in which many established democracies are now consumed by capitalist individualism and protectionist ideals, a focus on equity and social justice is particularly pertinent. For many years, scholars have proposed that schools have the educational responsibility to prepare children for peaceful living in a heterogeneous society and claimed that health and physical education (HPE) activities at school can enhance i…
Wanting to become PE teachers in Spain: Connections between previous experiences and particular beliefs about school Physical Education and the development of professional teacher identities
Physical Education (PE) teachers have previous experiences that both shape their particular beliefs about the role and purpose of this school subject as well as their pedagogical practice. The present study aims to examine and deepen our knowledge of future Spanish PE teachers’ previous experiences of and beliefs about PE that condition their pedagogical practice and intentionality within this school subject. The data reported on in this paper we…
The enactment of social justice in HPE practice: How context(s) comes to matter
For more than 40 years, health and physical education (HPE) academics in universities and teacher education colleges have drawn attention to issues of social justice specific to the context of PE and advocated for teachers in fields, gymnasiums and other physical activity spaces to do a better job of promoting more equitable outcomes for all students. Building on this advocacy, in the late 1990s, countries such as Sweden, Norway and New Zealand d…
Exploring social justice pedagogies in health and physical education through Critical Incident Technique methodology
In this paper, we describe and reflect on the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology used to explore how secondary school health and physical education (HPE) teachers address social justice in their teaching practice. The paper is informed by data generated as part of an ongoing three-year international research project involving eight physical education teacher education (PETE) researchers from three different countries. One of the genera…
Taking action for social justice in HPE classrooms through explicit critical pedagogies
Background : A focus on equity, democracy and social justice in HPE is pertinent in an era where there are growing concerns about the impact of neoliberal globalisation and precariousness of society (Kirk 2020 Kirk, D. 2020. Precarity, Critical Pedagogy and Physical Education. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). Although there is advocacy for teaching approaches in HPE that address issues of social justice, there is limited empirical research o…
Making the familiar strange: A narrative about Spanish children’s experiences of physical (in)activity to reconsider the ability of physical education to produce healthy citizens
There is now a wealth of research on obesity both from biomedical and socially critical perspectives. However, less research has focused on the lived experiences of young children and particularly those who are perceived as ‘sedentary’. This paper critically examines the issue of obesity as related to children’s experiences of physical (in)activity, via a focus on the circulation of socio-cultural and economic discourses in the context of Spain. …
But in PEH it still feels extra unfair’: Students’ experiences of equitable assessment and grading practices in physical education and health (PEH)
Assessment has been identified as an ongoing problem in physical education (PE). Since the student perspective on assessment is often neglected in research, in this paper, we will report on a study that explored students’ experiences of assessment in the Swedish school subject physical education and health (PEH). In particular, the aim of this study was to examine the students’ experiences of having equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowle…
Body image(s): Problematizing future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity through visual imagery
Visual culture affects the way people understand the world and themselves, contributing to the creation of certain roles and stereotypes, some of which are related to body image. This study focused on interrogating future physical education teachers’ beliefs about the body and physical activity to understand the construction of bodily subjectivities and their perceptions of how these are influenced by visual (physical) culture. Data were collecte…
Teaching for Student and Societal Wellbeing in HPE: Nine Pedagogies for Social Justice
We currently find ourselves living in precarious times, with old and new social inequities on the rise due to the challenges associated with an unprecedented rise of global migration and neoliberalism, amplified in our post COVID-19 world. Research has demonstrated that there is a high correlation between inequality at the societal level and the overall health and wellbeing of individuals within those societies. We believe that school health and …
Why don't you really learn anything in PEH?’ – Students’ experiences of valid knowledge and the basis for assessment in physical education and health (PEH)
The overall aim of this study was to explore how upper secondary school students (age 16–19) in Sweden perceive physical education and health (PEH) through the assessment practices they experience in this subject. In particular, the study aimed to examine the students’ experiences of what can be considered as valid knowledge and what the students perceive to form the basis for assessment in PEH. Data were collected by conducting focus group inter…
The good, the bad and the ugly’: Primary school children’s visual representations and interpretations of PE teacher embodiments
Physicality has been, and still is, an important part of the embodied identity of many physical education (PE) teachers. PE teachers’ understanding and representation of their bodies influence both their teaching and act as role models for their students. PE is therefore an important site for exploring how ideals of the body shape both understandings and practices within this school subject. In this study we employed participatory visual methodol…
Teachers’ enactment of Freirean democratic pedagogies in primary school physical education
Background Despite its ubiquity in education discourses, social justice is a highly contested concept that can be framed in different ways [Dowling, F., H. Fitzgerald, and A. Flintoff. 2012. Equity and Difference in Physical Education, Youth Sport and Health: A Narrative Approach. Routledge]. The ‘social’ element of social justice is always framed by broader cultural and socio-political contexts. Therefore teaching for social justice cannot be co…
Physical Education and Pedagogy (29 works) · Sociology (29 works) · Pedagogy (27 works) · Physical education (23 works) · Psychology (23 works) · Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport (18 works) · Political science (15 works) · Social science (13 works) · Mathematics education (10 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (10 works)