Purpose
The purpose of this project is threefold. First, it aims to examine how Norwegian physical education curricula may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice agendas in schools. Second, it seeks to contribute new insights into the concept of social justice in physical education, as viewed from both the student and teacher perspectives. Third, it aims to provide research-based examples of how physical education teachers can effectively teach for and about social justice, and how such teaching practices can be developed.
This research is part of a larger international research collaboration which involves physical education teachers and researchers from five countries (Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Norway) examining the curriculum and practices from a social justice perspective, and working together in further identifying and supporting socially just teaching practices.
Project Description
Background
Research has highlithed that physical education teaching often manifests social injustices1, privileging or marginalizing certain students based on their gender, sexuality, body type, ethnicity, disability, and religion2. The (re)production of these norms frequently occurs to the detriment of specific students, resulting in exclusion and inequality. Such practices contribute to categorising students as either ’friends’ or ’enemies’ of physical education3.
As a result, it is crucial for teachers to adopt socially just teaching practices. These practices should consider differences in gender, sexuality, body type, disability, ability, ethnicity, religion, and social class. This approach involves both acknowledging injustices and taking actions that strive for more equitable physical education experiences for all students4. Socially just teaching practices focus not only on teaching for social justice (e.g., facilitating learning experiences that take into account a wide diversity of students) but also about social justice (e.g., engaging students in discussions around social justice issues in the context of various physical education teaching topics)5.
See the references from the text
1 Philpot et al., 2021
2 See e.g., Berg, 2021; Gerdin et al. 2021; Wilhelmsen, 2019
3 Evans & Davies, 2017
4 Schenker et al., 2019
5 Gerdin et al., 2021; Linnér et al., 2020
This project is divided into three sub-projects, which are described below.
Sub-project 1: Curriculum analysis
This sub-project examines how physical education curricula from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand may influence possibilities for the enactment of social justice agendas in schools. This project builds on previous research of project participants by analyzing Physical Education curricula from the respective contexts. It aims to uncover both similarities and differences in the language used to define the role and purpose of physical education. Furthermore, it explores how such language can be interpreted from a social justice perspective.
The specific aim is to scrutinize how the linguistic and discursive representations in physical education curriculum documents may either enable or limit social justice agendas in physical education practice. We employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 2001) to examine the language and discourses inherent in the physical education curricula of Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. By doing so, we aim to explore what implications these curricular representations across different contexts have for social justice in physical education.
Sub-project 2: Students and teachers’ perspectives on social justice
This sub-project delves into Norwegian students’ and teachers' perspectives on social justice in physical education. The purposes of this study are to (i) explore high school students' experiences of social justice in physical education, and (ii) explore teachers’ understanding of social justice in physical education and how they integrate this theme into their teaching. The empirical data for the research will be gathered through seven semi-structured interviews with high school students and semi-structured interviews with six teachers. The participants, both students and teachers, will be from three different schools located in various socio-economic areas of Oslo and its surrounding regions.
Sub-project 3: Developing social just teaching practices
This sub-project involve teacher educators using action reaearch to work with tecaher with an aim to provide research-based examples of how physical education teachers can effectively teach for and about social justice, and how such teaching practices can be developed. The following questions will guide this research: How do teachers construct and practice a socially just teaching practice in physical education? How do students experience and respond to the practiced socially just teaching practice?
The empirical work will include a group of teachers in two to four schools aiming to learn about and develop a socially just teaching practice in physical education. Data will be gathered through interviews with teachers and students (group and individual interviews), teacher reflective logs, and observations.
Results
The results of this research will be disseminated in high ranked international physical education journals. Additionally, the project results will be shared at both national and international conferences throughout the project duration.
