AUTHOR=Aasland Erik , Engelsrud Gunn 

TITLE=Structural Discrimination in Physical Education. The “Encounter” Between the (White) Norwegian Teaching Content in Physical Education Lessons and Female Students of Color's Movements and Expressions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.769756

DOI=10.3389/fspor.2021.769756

ISSN=2624-9367

ABSTRACT=Background: Throughout society, including in the field of sports and physical education (PE), there are extensive debates on racism and structural racism. Researchers have found that students of color experience racial stereotyping and discrimination in PE. Studies also show that PE teaching practices reflect a masculine culture, emphasizing traditional (Western) competitive male sports and physical fitness practices, while marginalizing female students of color.  While previous research has tended towards focusing on the experiences (of discrimination) from the perspective of students of color, numerous scholars today argue for a shift in research focus from the inadequacies of the racialized “others” towards how (white) everyday pedagogical practices privilege some people, and conversely, marginalize and discriminate against students of color. 
The purpose of the paper is twofold: (i) To investigate what kind of movements and bodies are valued and privileged, or ignored/discriminated in teaching practices in PE. (ii) To depict the “encounter” between the teaching content in physical education lessons and the female students of color’s movements and expressions.
Research design and production of empirical material: Our sample consisted of institutionalized pedagogical practices enacted by four white PE teachers in an upper secondary school located in Oslo, Norway. The empirical material consisted of observations and informal conversations extracted from 42 teaching lessons. We chose a critical whiteness perspective and critical feminist theory as analytical lenses for the analyses. 
Findings: The idea of strenuous exercise as a means of becoming physically fit and “healthy” was central during the PE lessons under observation. The movements and expressions of female students of color did not meet the expected norm of intensity, activity and exercises from the health and sport discourses. However, we identified female students of color as competent movers when performing “their own” movements, with which they had more of a cultural connection.
Conclusion: Hegemonic “truths” about the body, physical exercise and health make teachers “blind” to the ways that institutionalized  pedagogical practices in PE privilege majority ethnic white (male) students.  In the future, incorporating these types of expressions to teaching practices can add value to PE.