The physical education classroom can be a site of discomfort for young people who occupy marginalized identities, and a place where the normative beliefs and teaching practices of educators can act as a barrier to their inclusion. This timely edited collection challenges pre-service and in-service teachers to examine the pedagogical practices and assumptions that work to exclude students with intersecting and diverse identities from full participation in physical and health education.The contributors to this volume—who consist of both experienced and emerging scholars from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand—approach their topics from a range of social justice perspectives and interpretations. Covering a variety of areas including (dis)ability, gender, sexuality, race, social class, and religion, Social Justice in Physical Education promotes a broader understanding of the sociocultural, political, and institutional practices and assumptions that underlie current physical education teaching.Each chapter encourages the creation of more culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogy, policy, and practice, and the discussion questions invite readers to engage in critical reflection. Mapping a better way forward for physical and health education, this text will be an invaluable resource for courses on social justice, diversity, inclusive education, and physical education pedagogy.
An Introduction to Social Justice in Physical Education: Critical Reflections and Pedagogies for Change Lynn Randall and Daniel B. Robinson
Chapter 1: “I Guess People Are More Attracted to White People than Black People” Shedding Light on Racial Prejudice, Misrepresentation, and (In)Visibility of Ethnic Minority Bodies Laura Azzarito, Mara Simon, and Risto Marttinen
Chapter 2: Culturally Relevant Strategies for Inclusion of Hispanic Students in Physical Education Luis Columna, Michelle Dolphin, and Lindsay McCabe
Chapter 3: Towards a Critical Discourse on the Black Experience in Canada and the United States Implications for Physical Education Brian Culp and Martha James-Hassan
Chapter 4: Girls and Physical Education: New Starting Points for Critical Pedagogy Eimear Enright and Louise McCuaig
Chapter 5: Rethinking “Straight Pedagogy” Gender, Sexuality, and Physical Education Katie Fitzpatrick and Hayley McGlashan
Chapter 6: Looking Over Our Shoulders Disability in Physical Education from a Critical Perspective William Harvey
Chapter 7: Seeking the Fountain of Mental Health in Physical Education? William Harvey, Marie Varriano, and Shawn Wilkinson
Chapter 9: Engaging with Issues of Social Class in Physical and Health Education LeAnne Petherick
Chapter 10: (Un)Holy Spaces: A Consideration of Religious Minorities in Health and Physical Education Daniel B. Robinson and Lynn Randall
Chapter 11: Exploring the Issues Faced by Immigrant Students in Physical Education Amanda Stanec, Jennifer Bhalla, and James Mandigo
Chapter 12: Trans*, Intersex, and Cisgender Issues in Physical Education and Sport Heather Sykes and Christopher Smith
Chapter 13: Critical Pedagogy, Physical Education, and Obesity Discourse More Advocacy than Pedagogy Richard Tinning, Rod Philpot, and Erin Cameron
Contributor Biographies Index
Biography
Daniel B. Robinson is an Associate Professor of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. His current research interests include culturally relevant physical education, First Nations physical education, physical education teachers’ programs and practices, and action research related to gender and physical education.
Lynn Randall is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of New Brunswick. Her research centres on improving the quality of physical education programs offered to elementary and secondary public school students.
“This outstanding text presents unique and dynamic interactions between social justice and critical pedagogy. It fills a scholarly void in physical education and teacher education for both graduate and undergraduate students, which involves educating pre-service and in-service teachers, parents, and students. The authors—researchers and experts from a variety of specializations—inform and educate, creating a stimulus for critical conversation and action that will result in positive change in school physical education and in the lives of our youth.”— Nancy Melnychuk, PhD, Professor Emeritus (PETE), Faculty of Education, University of Alberta
“Daniel Robinson and Lynn Randall describe the primary goal of Social Justice in Physical Education as the ‘empowerment of physical education teachers, their students, and most importantly, those who have traditionally been on the margins.’ By compiling a diverse range of topics associated with social justice, prepared by an impressive list of international physical education scholars, they are achieving their goal.”— Sandra Gibbons, PhD, Professor and Physical Education Coordinator, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria
“This text represents yet another sturdy advance in the praxis of critical pedagogy, both in physical education and education . . . the authors postulate critical pedagogy from their own substantial scholarly and hands-on experience in novel ways that can be easily grasped and applied by practitioners and activists concerned with such issues. Furthermore, each chapter contains abundant scholarly references that can also be used by interested readers to further their own theoretical knowledge on this type of pedagogy.”— Juan-Miguel Fernández-Balboa, EdD, Departamento de Educación Física, Deporte y Motricidad Humana, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
