“It’s Groundhog Day”: Foucault’s Governmentality and Crisis Discourses in Physical Education

Abstract

Dominant discourses in physical education research center on subject wide crisis. This is despite repeated calls to address enduring concerns about how physical education is taught. In short, the subject seems caught in Groundhog Day (defined by Oxford Dictionaries (n.d.) as "a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way"). This paper scrutinizes this position through Foucault's lens of governmentality, which focuses particularly on power/knowledge relations and their relationship to subjectivity. Through this lens research functions as a shaper of contemporary understanding, and becomes a means for intervention by 'experts'. The paper is structured as a conversation between authors about dominant discourses in physical education research and issues of governmentality. It argues that research approaches such as action research are framed within other power/knowledge relations and may provide a way to wake up on a new day.

Secondary school physical education

“…This chapter has ventured along a path well-trodden, considering specifically issues associated with the why, what and how; aims, content and teaching approaches in secondary physical education. Despite longstanding calls for new 'visions and voices' (Bain, 1990) for physical education, it has been suggested that we are trapped in 'Groundhog Day' (Casey and Larsson, 2018). As we detailed at the outset, this is no more evident than in the daily 'mission' of getting some resistant changers to hurry along and ready themselves for physical education.…”

“…However, it is not just some pupils who stand accused of being slow and resistant changers. Recent work by Casey and Larsson (2018), Kessel (2016) and Robinson and Randall (2016) has suggested that some physical education teachers and the subject itself have been slow to change to keep pace with societal change. Casey and Larsson (2018, p. 1) go as far as stating that the subject is caught in 'Groundhog Day', namely 'a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way'.…”

Searching for the alternative: A scoping review of empirical studies with holistic perspectives on health and implications for teaching physical education

“…There is an emerging call for CPD and participatory research methods, strengthening the professional capital of teachers, in PE discourse (e.g. Casey and Larsson, 2018;Ennis, 2017;Gray et al, 2015;Thorburn et al, 2019). Such efforts can support PE teachers with theoretical knowledge and skills to transform their understanding of HWB and develop critical views on current and prevalent pedagogical practices (Gray et al, 2015).…”

¿Evaluamos realmente el aprendizaje en educación física? Percepción de los profesores en diferentes etapas educativas (Do we really assess learning in physical education? Teachers’ perceptions at different educational stages)

“…To avoid these negative outcomes, it is essential to integrate Assessment for Learning (Hay, 2006) in physical education, because it generates: a) greater autonomy, b) participation in a community of practice, c) skill acquisition, c) compliance with criteria, and e) group development. Only if teachers adapt their teaching to the students and not the students to a set of standards/ criteria, they will be connecting with Authentic Assessment, something that connects directly to the way physical education is conceived (Casey & Larsson 2018). This approach to assessment provides greater opportunities for learning, impacting one of physical education main purposes: to increase students' self-esteem (Çakoyun, 2018).…”

“…In addition, the different approaches have influenced physical educators' professional identity over the last three decades, perpetuating teaching models that in many cases have been socially considered as valid (Shelley & McCuaig, 2018). Teaching styles could be grouped in two categories: a) performance-oriented and b) participation-oriented, both related to how physical education is conceived, structured, and implemented under certain political and social ideas (Casey & Larsson, 2018). Assessment plays a different role on each discourse, being more controlled by the teacher and linked to grading in performance-oriented contexts, and more open and connected to assessment in participationoriented.…”