Exploring pedagogies of embodiment in physical education teacher education

Standal, Øyvind F. and Aaring, Vegard Faanes and Kirk, David (2023) Exploring pedagogies of embodiment in physical education teacher education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1740-8989 (https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2023.2260398)

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Abstract

Background Various forms of social scientific approaches to the body, utilising concepts such as embodiment, embodied identity, and subjectivity have garnered increasing attention in physical education and physical education teacher education (PETE). On this backdrop, pedagogies of embodiment have been researched as an exciting, new topic in physical education. Nevertheless, little research on the topic has been carried out in PETE. Purpose The purpose of this project was to explore how PETE students experience learning new movements and to discuss the implications of these experiences for pedagogies of embodiment in PETE. Theoretical perspective: The study is framed with the help of Richard Shusterman’s philosophy of somaesthetics [Shusterman, R. 2012. Thinking Through the Body: Essays in Somaesthetics. Cambridge University Press.]. More specifically, we have been interested in the aspect of his theory that concerns the cultivation of embodied awareness during the learning of new movement activities, in particular the concepts of pragmatic somaesthetics and feeling better are helpful. Methods we have followed a group of five students who were doing their first semester of physical education as a part of their general teacher education. We have generated and analyzed three different kinds of data from the students: (i) a written story about ‘a good physical education lesson’, (ii) a logbook from a project about alternative movement activities, and (iii) individual interviews. The data have been analyzed following the guidelines for ad-hoc meaning generation [Kvale, S., and S. Brinkmann. 2009. Det kvalitative forskningsintervju [The qualitative research interview]. Gyldendal akademisk.]. Findings A central analytical point in this paper is connection between the experiences that the students brought with them from their own histories in physical education and the experiences they had during the project where they explored a new movement activity. We have explored how this connection is expressed through emotion-words like enjoyment, fun, mastering, and more negatively loaded notions such as embarrassment and fear. We also find that the students’ express little explicit concern about learning. Rather than talking about their experiences of practising a new movement activity in terms of learning, the students mainly applied a language of mastering, which was more about having a sense of accomplishment, of being able to do something that they didn't believe they were able to do. Conclusion Based on our analysis, we argue that the ability to notice, pay attention to and language one’s own experiences of moving is a form of embodied reflexivity, which must be considered as integral to pedagogies of embodiment. As such, an aspect of pedagogies of embodiment in PETE would be the development of empathy that enable future physical education teachers to become aware of and be in tune with bodily experiences of their pupils as well as themselves.

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