Social Justice in Physical Education : Critical Reflections and Pedagogies for Change

The physical education classroom can be a site of discomfort for young people who occupy marginalized identities, and a place where the normative beliefs and teaching practices of educators can act as a barrier to their inclusion. This timely edited collection challenges pre-service and in-service teachers to examine the pedagogical practices and assumptions that work to exclude students with intersecting and diverse identities from full participation in physical and health education.

The contributors to this volume-who consist of both experienced and emerging scholars from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand-approach their topics from a range of social justice perspectives and interpretations. Covering a variety of areas including (dis)ability, gender, sexuality, race, social class, and religion, Social Justice in Physical Education promotes a broader understanding of the sociocultural, political, and institutional practices and assumptions that underlie current physical education teaching.

Each chapter encourages the creation of more culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogy, policy, and practice, and the discussion questions invite readers to engage in critical reflection. Mapping a better way forward for physical and health education, this text will be an invaluable resource for courses on social justice, diversity, inclusive education, and physical education pedagogy.

Daniel B. Robinson is an Associate Professor of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. His current research interests include culturally relevant physical education, First Nations physical education, physical education teachers' programs and practices, and action research related to gender and physical education.Lynn Randall is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of New Brunswick. Her research centres on improving the quality of physical education programs offered to elementary and secondary public school students.