Shaking Student's Cages: A Freirean pedagogy that influenced PETE students' beliefs about physical education

This paper reports on the findings of a study that explored the influence of a four-year physical education teacher education (PETE) programme on the beliefs about physical education of the graduating students. These students suggested that a single teacher educator (TE) with a Freirean pedagogy had strongly influenced their beliefs and understanding of physical education.The TE used problem posing and dialogue in his lectures to raise the critical consciousness of the PETE students. The TE challenged the students’ beliefs about the relationship between sport and physical education.This paper focuses on the pedagogy of the teacher educator and the students’ reading of the pedagogy. This study uses data from interviews with  PETE students and the writing of the TE to describe the practice, and student ‘reading’ of, a Freirean pedagogy in a PETE  programme

PEDAGOGIAS CRÍTICAS NA FORMAÇÃO DE PROFESSORES DE EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA PARA O NOVO MILÊNIO

Socially-critical scholarship and critical pedagogy have become increasingly central to Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) over the last three decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of the history of the critical project in PETE and an analysis of critical pedagogies in contemporary Western society. In this paper, the accounts of critical pedagogies are classified based on their focus on (a) critical reflection, (b) pedagogies of discomfort and (c) democratic principles, although the authors recognise that in PETE practice these categories overlap and interconnect and do not represent exclusively independent pedagogies. The paper concludes that relationships between PETE teacher educators and PETE students built on trust and care and secondly, connections between PETE teacher educators and the broader physical education teaching community are important as they provide the conditions needed to embed critical pedagogies into PETE courses and PETE programmes. Estudio sociocrítico y pedagogía crítica, en las últimas tres décadas, son centrales en la formación de profesores de Educación Física. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar un retrato de la historia del proyecto crítico en la formación de profesores de Educación Física y ofrecer un análisis de las pedagogías críticas en la sociedad occidental contemporánea. La extensión de esa representación sugiere que los estudios sociocríticos y la pedagogía crítica continúan prosperando en los programas de formación de profesores en varios países. El artículo concluye que las relaciones entre profesores y alumnos de la formación inicial en Educación Física son construidas con base en el cuidado, en la confianza y, secundariamente, que conexiones entre profesores que actúan en la formación superior y la comunidad más amplia que enseña Educación Física son importantes para proporcionar las condiciones necesarias para las pedagogías críticas en los cursos y programas que forman profesores.Estudo sociocrítico e pedagogia crítica, nas últimas três décadas, são centrais na formação de professores de Educação Física. O objetivo deste artigo é providenciar um retrato da história do projeto crítico na formação de professores de Educação Física e oferecer uma análise das pedagogias críticas na sociedade ocidental contemporânea. Nesse texto, as representações de pedagogia crítica são classificadas nos focos sobre (a) reflexão crítica, (b) pedagogias do “desconforto”, (c) princípios democráticos, embora os autores reconheçam que na formação de professores tais categorias sobrepõem-se e não são independentes entre si. O artigo conclui que as relações entre professores e alunos na formação inicial em Educação Física são construídas com base na confiança, no cuidado e, secundariamente, que conexões entre professores que atuam na formação superior e a comunidade mais ampla que ensina Educação Física são importantes para providenciar as condições necessárias para as pedagogias críticas nos cursos e programas que formam professores.

O conhecimento indígena como parte de uma pedagogia crítica contra a precariedade em Saúde e Educação Física em Aotearoa Nova Zelândia

A pedagogia crítica é uma abordagem dinâmica e transformadora da educação que deve continuar a se adaptar aos contextos sociais e históricos em rápida mudança. Neste artigo, defendemos que práticas pedagógicas baseadas em saberes e princípios indígenas possibilitam uma pedagogia crítica para a Saúde e Educação Física que questione os efeitos da precariedade. Com base especificamente no contexto de Aotearoa Nova Zelândia, descrevemos os princípios de Kaupapa Māori, uma perspectiva indígena que expressa as aspirações Māori e os valores Māori específicos, e como esses princípios são articulados em Saúde e Educação Física. Argumentamos que as práticas de Saúde e Educação Física sustentadas por Kaupapa Māori têm o potencial de reduzir a raiva, a ansiedade e a alienação por meio do fortalecimento de conexões entre alunos, entre alunos e professores, com a terra e com identidades emergentes

Aprendizagem virtual: um autoestudo sobre evoluções em práticas pedagógicas

This paper reports on the first phase of a three-year project in which we explored ways to adapt and evolve our pedagogies in relation to the use of new and emerging digital technologies. Our aim is to develop a shared understanding and resourcefulness for teaching in an age where pedagogy in a university setting is an increasingly complex and novel problem. We focus specifically on our experiences of emergency remote teaching (ERT) where we pivoted mid semester from on-campus classroom-based teaching to exclusively online delivery and assessment. Through a dialogical approach enabled by the self-study, we support each other, describe the key challenges we have experienced, and identify the key assumptions that underpin our practices as teachers in digital learning contexts. The themes found in this dialectical relationship were named as: the visibility of students, the constraints of technology, and the fact that we are neophyte lecturers again.Cet article rend compte de la première phase d'un projet de trois ans dans lequel nous explorons les moyens d'adapter et de développer nos pratiques pédagogiques par rapport à l'utilisation des technologies numériques nouvelles et émergentes. Dans cet article, nous nous concentrons sur nos expériences d'enseignement à distance d'urgence (ERT). Cette expérience s'est déroulée en milieu de semestre, où nous avons dû migrer d'un enseignement en présentiel, en classe, vers un enseignement à distance. Grâce à une approche dialectique, permise par l'auto-apprentissage, nous avons eu l'occasion de nous soutenir mutuellement, de décrire les principaux défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés et d'identifier les principales hypothèses qui soutiennent nos pratiques d'enseignants dans des contextes d'apprentissage à distance, l'enseignement numérique. Les thèmes trouvés dans cette relation dialectique ont été nommés comme suit: la visibilité des étudiants, les restrictions de la technologie et le fait que nous redevenons des professeurs d'université novices.Este artigo relata a primeira fase de um projeto de três anos em que exploramos formas de adaptar e desenvolver nossas práticas pedagógicas em relação ao uso de novas e emergentes tecnologias digitais. Neste artigo, nos concentramos em nossas experiências de ensino remoto de emergência (ERT). Essa experiência aconteceu no meio do semestre, onde tivemos que migrar do ensino presencial, em sala de aula, para o ensino remoto. Através de uma abordagem dialética, possibilitada pelo autoestudo, tivemos a oportunidade de apoiar uns aos outros, descrever os principais desafios que enfrentamos e identificar os principais pressupostos que sustentam nossas práticas como professores em contextos de aprendizagem a distância, ensino digital. Os temas encontrados nessa relação dialética foram nomeados como: a visibilidade dos alunos, as restrições da tecnologia e o fato de voltarmos a ser professores universitários novatos novamente

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 designed HPE curricula that address social justice. However, limited research has focused specifically on the enactment of social justice in HPE practice. Drawing on a larger international project involving Sweden, Norway and New Zealand the aim of this article is therefore to explore the constitution of social justice pedagogies across these three different HPE contexts and more specifically how HPE teaching practice may be understood from regulative, normative and cultural perspectives on social justice. The data reported on in this paper were generated from educational acts, curriculum documents, observations of HPE lessons in each of the three countries and follow-up teacher interviews. In order to analyse the data, we employed Scott’s (2008. Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed). Sage) institutional theory to further understand and discuss the enactment of social justice across the three different countries in HPE practice. In our representation and analysis of the findings we draw attention to how social justice pedagogies are informed differently by institutionalised governing systems and therefore they may be enacted differently by teachers in different societies. In particular, we highlight the influence of (i) regulative; (ii) normative; (iii) cultural-cognitive elements on practice. We conclude by pointing out the complex interplay between regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements that both enable and constrain HPE teachers’ enactments of social justice in HPE practice.publishedVersio

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). Although there is advocacy for teaching approaches in HPE that address issues of social justice, there is limited empirical research of teachers enacting critical pedagogies in HPE classrooms. Purpose: To identify school HPE teaching practices that promote social justice through practical enactment across three different participating countries. Participants and Setting: The investigation involved classroom observations of and post-lesson interviews with 13 purposively selected high school health and physical education teachers from three different countries. A total of 20 HPE lessons were observed. The participants included seven male and six female teachers ranging in age from 25 to 55 years with between 3- and 25-years teaching experience. The setting for data collection was compulsory co-educational practical HPE classes with 13-15-year-old students in four schools in New Zealand, four schools in Sweden and three schools in Norway. Data Collection and Analysis: This study employed Critical Incident Technique (CIT) methodology (Flanagan 1954), involving data collection through exploratory observations and stimulated-recall interviews (Lyle 2003). The classroom observations focused on identifying incidents that appeared to be addressing issues of social justice. The use of a multi-national observer team was a key principle of the study and was based on the proposition that local researchers familiar with context come with taken-for-granted assumptions about teachers’ practices. Data were analysed through a six-phase thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke 2013). This involved three stages: individually, collectively by the researchers in each country, and finally through the whole multi-national research team. Findings: The data analysis resulted in three primary themes; (1) relationships, (2) teaching for social cohesion, and (3) explicitly teaching about and acting on social inequities. This paper uses critical pedagogy as a lens to report on the third theme. In this paper, we present three subthemes; (1) Teaching as ‘equity not equality’, (2) promoting marginalised groups (3) and teacher critical reflection as examples of explicit critical pedagogies taking action for social justice in HPE. Conclusions/Implications: Although, the findings presented in this paper are examples of explicit teacher actions that aim to address social inequity, we suggest that teaching for social justice requires teachers to take action on social inequities and also to teach about social injustice to prepare students to become agents for change and act on social inequities themselves, beyond HPE.acceptedVersionacceptedVersio

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 physical education (HPE) has a significant role to play in addressing and acting on social inequities that impact on the wellbeing of both students and society as a whole. Based on the findings of an international research project called EDUHEALTH which explored pedagogies for social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) across Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, this paper aims to highlight the addressing of (in)equality and student wellbeing through HPE practice. In particular, the paper presents nine different but complementary pedagogies for social justice that we believe can improve individual, collective, and societal wellbeing. We conclude by proposing that, if adopted across a whole school curriculum, these nine pedagogies for social justice could form the basis of a holistic school-wide community approach aimed at improving both student and societal wellbeing.publishedVersio

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 HPE teachers across schools in Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand. The data were analysed following the principles of thematic analysis. In this paper, we present and discuss findings related to three overall themes: (i) relationships; (ii) teaching for social cohesion; (iii) and explicitly teaching about, and acting on, social inequities. Collectively, these themes represent examples of the enactment of social justice pedagogies in HPE practice. To conclude, we point out the difficulty of enacting social justice pedagogies and that social justice pedagogies may not always transform structures nor make a uniform difference to all students. However, on the basis of our findings, we are reaffirmed in our view that HPE teachers can make a difference when it comes to contributing to more socially just and equitable outcomes in HPE and beyond.publishedVersio

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 interpersonal relations, and social cohesion. This paper explores the definition of social cohesion, as well as theories that support its inclusion in school practices before drawing on observational and interview data from of an international project that reveal how HPE teachers across three different countries teach for social cohesion. In our analysis of the data, we employ Allport’s ‘Contact Theory’ (1954) and Pettigrew’s (1998) extension of this theory to conceptualise and interpret the teaching for social cohesion in HPE practice. Within the overarching theme of teaching for social cohesion we present and discuss five sub-themes as examples of the teachers’ pedagogies: (1) a focus on inclusiveness; (2) the inclusion of culturally inclusive practices; (3) building teacher/student and student/student relationships; (4) planning and structuring activities for students to work together in heterogeneous teams while focusing on cooperation; and (5) focusing on personal and social responsibility by encouraging adherence to the principles of fair play and democratically determined rules. We conclude by stating that HPE should be recognised for its role in creating opportunities for constructive social interaction between students of difference, which can contribute to greater inclusion, social cohesion and ultimately social justice in society.publishedVersio

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 this paper were generated through 20 HPE lesson observations and interviews with 13 HPE teachers across schools in Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. In our analysis of the data, we employed Nel Noddings ‘Care Theory’ [(1984. Caring, a feminine approach to ethics & moral education. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1997). Pedagogisk filosofi [Philosophy of education]. Oslo: Ad Notam Gyldendal] to study the constitution of relationships and caring teaching in HPE practice. The findings demonstrate that caring teaching is inevitably built on developing good relationships, and that developing such good relationships is a complex process influenced by three key elements. First, teachers have to develop knowledge about their students on a societal, group and personal level; second, teachers have to reflect on the individual, environmental and relational aspects required for building good relationships; and third, teachers have to implement caring teaching strategies, such as planning, caring actions and doing ‘the little things’. Drawing on Nodding’s care theory, we conclude that pedagogies for social justice are enacted when teachers use their own knowledge and knowledge about the students, together with reflection and caring teaching strategies, to arrange a learning environment that promotes inclusion and equitable outcomes for all students.publishedVersio