Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemGender reform of physical education: hearing girls' voices and appreciating their 'ordinary courage'( 2000)This study attempts to: 1. develop a critical conceptualisation of girls' personal identity formation in physical education programs, 2. explore a methodology for investigating such a conceptualisation; through interactive ethnography and 3. reflect on the implications of the study for the regeneration of physical education programs in secondary schools. It has been well documented that women's participation in physical activity has declined with age especially during the early years of adolescence, even when the benefits of exercise are recognised. Recent research has concentrated on increasing participation, offering various development strategies for schools and the physical education curriculum. Strategies implemented under liberal and radical feminist frameworks have been undertaken. However, the historical exclusion of women from physical activity and sport has led to the persistence of a dominant masculine sporting culture, as well as social norms which deter girls from obtaining meaningful, quality involvement in physical activity. This study draws on the research literature of 'post-structural feminism' to study the social tensions and paradoxes within the gendered discourse of a group of year nine girls about physical education. Their conversation gives voice to an appreciation of the 'ordinary courage' required of girls to participate in contemporary physical education in schools. The ordinary courage is that boldness of spirit and liveliness, the capacity to speak and act out that many girls lose at the edge of adolescence. This study of the local moral orders (Davies and Harr�, 1990; Harr� and Van Langenhove, 1999) at Brooksbank Secondary College is facilitated by the analyses of the discursive practice of girls in physical education, to understand their personal social positioning.