Purpose
The purpose of this project is to examine the coexistence of inclusive attitudes and experiences of exclusion among students with disabilities in physical education. Particular attention is given to subtle mechanisms that may contribute to the persistence of exclusion, despite explicit ambitions for inclusion in national curricula and educational policy. The project seeks to understand both the conditions for inclusion established through physical education teacher education and how processes of inclusion and exclusion are manifested in physical education practice.
Project Description
The project consists of two interconnected studies:
- Disability as a Topic in Physical Education Teacher Education Programmes
- Inclusion and Exclusion in Physical Education Practice
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Study 1 investigates how knowledge about disability is constructed and communicated in Norwegian physical education teacher education programmes. Through document analysis of course syllabi, reading lists, coursework, and assessment practices, supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders involved in programme design, including programme directors and course coordinators, the study explores how disability, inclusion, and accommodation are conceptualised within teacher education. The aim is to identify the foundations that teacher education establishes for future physical education teachers' work with the inclusion of students with disabilities.
Study 2 is an ethnographic study examining how inclusion and exclusion are enacted in physical education practice. Through observations, interviews, and document analysis, one class in a mainstream school with an inclusive education model and one class in a special school are followed over time. The study explores how students, teachers, and institutional structures interact in shaping inclusive and exclusionary practices, and how students with disabilities experience and negotiate their participation in physical education.
Results
The project will result in three scientific articles addressing:
- How the inclusion of students with disabilities in physical education is constructed and communicated in Norwegian physical education teacher education programmes.
- How societal and institutional structures shape the organisation and delivery of physical education, and the implications this has for the inclusion of students with disabilities.
- How students with disabilities negotiate norms and expectations related to participation in physical education, and how these processes influence their experiences of inclusion, belonging, and exclusion.
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