Discontinuity, risk, patience, and appeal: Existential aspects of practising in physical education
Peer reviewed, Journal article
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Date
2024Metadata
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Abstract
Background: For quite some time now, physical education (PE) scholars have expressed concerns about objectifying tendencies within the school subject of PE, calling for a fresh design that foregrounds students’ subjectivity and meaning-making, thereby acknowledging students as unique individuals rather than mere objects of educational interventions.
Purpose: In this study, we investigate teaching and learning in PE informed by The Practising Model (PM) (Aggerholm et al. Citation2018). The PM invites educators to be concerned with students’ subjectivity. As such, it represents a promising alternative to an objectifying and instrumental educational trajectory. However, this can also pose challenges for teachers and students. Therefore, we set out to answer the following research questions: (1) How can we understand the educational value of discontinuous experiences in practising, and (2) what are the implications for teachers?
Theoretical perspectives: Bollnow’s (1976) existential pedagogy provides the grounding for our investigation of discontinuous educational moments. Prange’s (2012) operational theory of education is included to interpret how teachers can bring forth and handle such moments, while Merleau-Ponty’s (2012) concept of sedimentation supports our analysis of students’ development.
Methods: Through an Interactive Action Research project, the first author of this article has followed a 10th-grade PE class at a Norwegian lower secondary school over two teaching units, each lasting for six weeks. Data material comprises observations of 21 PE sessions, three workshops between teachers and the first author, nine teacher interviews, 22 student interviews, and 21 student diaries. Data was analysed following Malterud’s (2012) framework for Systematic Text Condensation and produced two main themes: ‘I’m not the teacher who covers my students in bubble wrapping’ and ‘I have to work so hard with myself not to give up.’
Findings and discussions: First, by discussing the teachers’ operational forms in pedagogy informed by the PM, we show how pointing as appeal, that is, appealing to, evoking, or (re)directing students’ attention, actions, or attitudes, enabled teachers to let go of control while still providing trust and responsible availability. This nurtured and supported students’ discontinuous experiences, allowing them to dwell on the challenge, endure the uncertainty, and continue their search for answers. The second main point concerns the students’ development of both new movement capabilities and a patient attitude. Practising constantly threw students back onto themselves, forcing them to face negativity, rethink the situation, take a stance, and continue from a different starting point. This contributed to the sedimentation of a new bodily attitude to the world. Consequently, we argued that an essential way in which practising contributed to continuous personal growth was through moments of discontinuity.
Conclusion: Overall, this study shows how practising can expand the classic pedagogy of continuity by providing the conditions for discontinuity as a subjective and existential element of education. This, we argue, can support students in discovering and developing new sides of themselves that hold significance both within and beyond the subject of PE.