Readdressing democracy and social justice: coping with inequalities in physical education
Article
Neto, L. S., Venâncio, L., Ovens, A., Dania, A., Ulasowicz, C., Garbett, D., Freire, E. S., Gerdin, G., da Silva, J. P., Corsino, L. N., Gonçalves, L. L., de Souza, M. T., Philpot, R., Barreto, S. M., Lynch, S., Okimura-Kerr, T. and da Conceição, W. L. 2024. Readdressing democracy and social justice: coping with inequalities in physical education. Curriculum Perspectives. 44, p. 439–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-024-00269-4
Authors | Neto, L. S., Venâncio, L., Ovens, A., Dania, A., Ulasowicz, C., Garbett, D., Freire, E. S., Gerdin, G., da Silva, J. P., Corsino, L. N., Gonçalves, L. L., de Souza, M. T., Philpot, R., Barreto, S. M., Lynch, S., Okimura-Kerr, T. and da Conceição, W. L. |
---|---|
Abstract | This research is contextualised by Freirean approaches to teacher education, which promote complex arrangements in the organisation of knowledge communities among teachers. Such communities are supportive of teachers’ learning by providing critique to advance socially-just teaching practices. Recently, Sanches Neto, Venâncio and Ovens (2021) found that collaboration across different settings allowed a better understanding of the teaching complexities. However, it is uncertain how knowledge communities structured based on Sanches, Costa and Ovens (2022) support and promote teachers’ democratic values and thinking towards social justice. We explore this uncertainty by drawing on an action research project within a Brazilian physical education teacher education (PETE) Master’s program (ProEF). Participants included teacher-researchers from different locations in the Northeast of Brazil, who were supervised by two teacher educators and co-authors of this article —Sanches Neto and Venâncio. In this article, the authors used vignettes of one ProEF Master’s student —Silva— to discuss her own teaching and context. Through a complexity thinking lens, our objective was to analyse collaboratively her teaching intentions and dilemmas towards social justice. We found that critical incidents regarding race, gender and class evidenced intersectionalities and how the teacher embodied democratic values while coping with inequalities. The teacher was aware of the inequalities faced by her students. Despite this, her teaching lacked the criticality and full institutional support to address all emerging issues for a more equitable physical education and long term change. The teacher’s advocacy connects to the broad research project aiming to readdress democracy through engaged teaching a pedagogy of discomfort as an alternative to neoliberal educational guidelines. |
Journal | Curriculum Perspectives |
Journal citation | 44, p. 439–451 |
ISSN | 2367-1793 |
0159-7868 | |
Year | 2024 |
Publisher | Springer |
Accepted author manuscript | License File Access Level Anyone |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-024-00269-4 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 19 Sep 2024 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 21 Jul 2024 |
Deposited | 07 Apr 2025 |
Copyright holder | © 2024 The Author |
Additional information | This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41297-024-00269-4 |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8z4y4
Restricted files
Accepted author manuscript
46
total views0
total downloads10
views this month0
downloads this month