Celebrating the insecure practitioner. A critique of evidence-based practice in adapted physical activity

Abstract

Over the past decade there has been a trend within adapted physical activity (APA) to question the hegemony of the medical understanding of disability. This debate has consequences for professional practice, which some argue should be regarded as a learning situation with a pedagogical orientation. The concept of evidence-based practice and research has spread from its origin in medicine to other allied health fields and education. In this article I discuss the limitations of applying evidence-based practice to a pedagogical approach to APA. More specifically, I use the Aristotelian notion phronesis to show that professional practice of APA is essentially characterized by an indeterminacy that cannot be eradicated through the technological thinking inherent in evidence-based practice.