The Problematization of the (Im)Possible Subject: An Analysis of Health and Physical Education Policy from Australia, USA and Wales

Autor/inn/en	Alfrey, Laura; Lambert, Karen; Aldous, David; Marttinen, Risto
Titel	The Problematization of the (Im)Possible Subject: An Analysis of Health and Physical Education Policy from Australia, USA and Wales
Quelle	In: Sport, Education and Society, 28 (2023) 4, S.353-368 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Alfrey, Laura) ORCID (Lambert, Karen) ORCID (Aldous, David) ORCID (Marttinen, Risto)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1357-3322
DOI	10.1080/13573322.2021.2016682
Schlagwörter	Health Education; Physical Education; Educational Policy; Cross Cultural Studies; Policy Analysis; Neoliberalism; Individualism; Disadvantaged; Physical Activity Level; Public Policy; Classification; Physical Education Teachers; Foreign Countries; Discourse Analysis; Teaching Methods; Teacher Attitudes; Australia; United States; United Kingdom (Wales) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Gesundheitsaufklärung; Gesundheitsbildung; Gesundheitserziehung; Körpererziehung; Sportunterricht; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Cultural comparison; Kulturvergleich; Politikfeldanalyse; Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Individualismus; Öffentliche Ordnung; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Physical education; Physical training; Teacher; Teachers; Sportlehrer; Ausland; Diskursanalyse; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Lehrerverhalten; Australien; USA
Abstract	Policy classifies and shapes people/subjects in particular kinds of ways. Focusing on the context of Health and Physical Education (HPE), this paper analyses policy documents from Australia, the United States of America (USA) and Wales. We pay particular attention to how learners are represented within and across the three policy documents, and we apply Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' approach to guide the analysis. For us, problematization is a fruitful and positive process that enables educators to engage with a critical dialogue regarding the policies they are expected to enact. Our analysis highlighted that common across the policies were overlapping discourses of idealism, neoliberalism, healthism, and individualism, which serve to reinforce deficit language and a focus on what learners 'lack'. The problem of 'learner as lacking' is represented within the policies via at least three subject positions: 'the sedentary learner', 'the un-educated learner' and 'the naïve learner'. The findings suggest that the three policies were producing an ideal and perhaps impossible learner (subject) whilst at the same time representing the learner as a problem that the policy could 'fix'. This paper is important because it: (i) demonstrates how certain discourses and voices are amplified and silenced within curriculum policy documents and policy work more broadly; (ii) makes educational and health politics visible; and (iii) creates space for the profession to develop greater critical consciousness related to policy. In terms of future directions, we urge curriculum policy writers and other stakeholders to carefully consider how learners are categorised, represented and governed in and through policy. If curriculum policies, by their very nature, need to produce problems -- in this case, the (im)possible subject - we invite educators to engage in critical conversations regarding the policies they are expected to enact. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01