The Future of Physical Education in Higher Education: A Delphi Investigation

Despite the profound and widespread concern for the future of higher education physical education, there has been little systematic study on the topic. This research investigated the future by utilizing a two-round interview Delphi method. Five international experts were asked to project possible, probable, preferable and undesirable futures of the academic discipline in fifteen years time; specifically in regards to issues within the undergraduate degree programs, and the research sub-disciplines. The results of quantitative descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis reveal an ever-changing higher education environment in the postmodern information age, which presents a complicating future for the academic discipline. The experts expressed concern that some disciplinarians will be a-futuristic and unable to operationalize the vast potential of the discipline at the institutional level, by continuing to use outdated and inappropriate frameworks of a modern era gone by

Leadership-as-Disciplinary Stewardship: A Social Movement for Kinesiology’s Future Success in the 21st Century University

Some scholars in kinesiology have advocated for the adoption of the leadership-as-disciplinary stewardship (LDS) construct as a way for the discipline to survive and thrive in the challenging 21st Century university climate. Despite budding interest in LDS, there is a lack of empirical research on the construct and the limited conceptual literature lacks the specificity, practicality, and transformative quality necessary for realistic and fruitful application. This participatory research, informed by the social movement theory of collective action frames, investigated the meaning, need, development, and motivation of LDS in kinesiology by engaging 10 senior scholars from various countries and sub-disciplinary areas of kinesiology who have demonstrated interest/expertise in the construct (considered experts) in an interview-Delphi study. Thematic analysis revealed the experts viewed: (a) the meaning of and need for LDS in kinesiology as a powerful, yet slippery, philosophy focused on ensuring and enhancing the future of the discipline through the pursuit of integrity, and is variously and intentionally embedded in all aspects of all scholars’ work; and (b) the development of and motivation for LDS in kinesiology as requiring dedicated, multifarious, and contextualized development initiatives that are dialogical, narrative-based, and incentivized. Interpretation of the thematic findings through Alvesson’s (2012) organizational culture theory suggests the experts’ vision of and for LDS in kinesiology can be understood as: (a) focused on understanding and critically reflecting upon organizational culture so as to inspire more thoughtful and ethical organizational perspectives; and (b) developed and motivated through cultural change via the everyday reframing of cultural orientations. An appreciation of the individual and holistic connections between the experts’ vision and Alvesson’s theory indicates LDS is sufficiently specific, practical, and transformative for realistic and fruitful application; and well-suited to navigating the fragmenting and depoliticizing challenges of the 21st Century given the enhanced cultural understanding, coordination, and ethical consciousness it stimulates. Ultimately, it can be concluded from this research that the experts’ vision of and for LDS in kinesiology is a theoretically-supported and empirically-evidenced way of meaningfully understanding, acting in, and improving organization and, as such, indicates investment in the construct holds promise for a vibrant disciplinary future

The Problem of the Skills Gap Agenda in Canadian Post-Secondary Education

The mismatch between graduates’ skills and the needs of the labour market is a continuing discourse in Canada and on a global scale. Yet, arguments on how to restructure PSE are not united. Given these competing discourses, we ask the following research questions: What should we make of the various representations of the skills gap, and how are contemporary PSE students positioned in this discursive space? We use Bacchi’s problem representation approach to policy analysis to examine four policy actors’ statements influencing Canadian PSE to examine the discourses surrounding the perceived skills gap in Canadian PSE. We argue that, while these policies call for disparate PSE reforms, they are all underpinned by the same neoliberal rationality. The different calls for reform reflect a harmonized and complementary set of discourses that reify PSE students as a single subject—a one-dimensional, homogenous, economic subject, devoid of difference. We suggest discourses that position PSE students as political actors in determining their education and roles in a democratic society are needed