Pedagogy as knowledge (re)production: Considering pedagogical work on the body in

the field of human movement studies

Richard Tinning School of Human Movement Studies

University of Queensland

Human movement studies

• I use this term as synonymous with other related

terms to label our field such as: - Kinesiology

- Human performance - Sport science - Physical education

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From PE to pedagogy

• From Professor of Physical Education to Professor

of Pedagogy

UQ

Deakin

Tasmania

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The knowledge bases of human movement studies

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Pedagogy as a foundational sub-discipline of HMS?

• Section 3: Pedagogical bases of human movement studies

- Instruction in physical activity settings - Learning physical activities - Evaluating physical activity pedagogy - Physical education & curriculum - Beyond the formal curriculum of physical education

“Pedagogy is not really a discipline in its own right, and

when one tries to constitute it as such, this could lead

to embarrassment” (Yun Lee Too, 1985). 5

Desperately seeking pedagogy

A little ‘languaging’ (Postman) is necessary

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The meanings of pedagogy

• European use of pedagogy - Origins in Greece

• Pedagogue as slave to child • Serving the interests of children • Dominant meaning in non-European

western (and Asian) countries - Synonymous with teaching

- Curriculum & pedagogy • Sport pedagogy (sub-discipline!)

• Pedagogy as the process of knowledge (re)production

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Pedagogy and cultural studies

Lusted (1986) writing in Screen Pedagogy as a concept is important because “…it

draws attention to the process through which

knowledge is produced” (p. 2). It enables us to ask

questions concerning “under what conditions and

through what means we ‘come to know’ (p. 3).

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The role of pedagogy in cultural (re)production.

Cultures pass on what they consider important to know by means of:

- Stories & metaphors - Modelling - Dance - Art - Books, Magazines - TV, film, video - WWW

The processes of knowledge (re)production is the ‘stuff’ of

pedagogy 9

Knowledge is (re)produced in many contexts

including institutional sites such as

• Schools, universities & colleges • Churches • Sports clubs • Studios (dance, art)

• Hospitals • Gyms • Ski resorts • Factories & industry • Military

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Human movement studies is part of the formalised

institutional context of knowledge (re)production

• Teaching in HMS sets out to reproduce knowledge related to the sub-disciplines of the field - (biomechanics, motor control, exercise physiology, sociology

of sport, sport psychology etc) • Research in HMS endeavours to produce knowledge related to

these sub-disciplines.

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Pedagogy in Anglophone versions of HMS

• Pedagogy literature in HMS is dominated by what we should do and how we should do it. Much has been technical in orientation. • Critical and feminist pedagogy gives attention to the consequences of pedagogical interventions. • Focusing on the consequences of pedagogy is to focus on pedagogical work. • Pedagogical work is done in the process of knowledge production and reproduction

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Pedagogical work

• Pedagogical work in HMS is the effect or influence our pedagogical practices and devices

have on our ways of thinking and behaving in/about

physical activity, bodily practices and the movement culture.

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As a part of the formal institutional context…

Human Movement Studies does pedagogical work

physical activity

bodies health

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Pedagogical work on the body is also done in non-

institutional, informal settings such as...

• Families - eg., toilet training

• Playgrounds - eg., throwing like a girl

• Streets - eg., ‘Harlem’ walk

•

‘down the creek’ - eg., how to smoke

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HMS does pedagogical work on/for bodies

• Through practical activities in the gymnasium, swimming pool etc…

• Through courses in - Anatomy & physiology

- Biomechanics - Motor control - Exercise physiology - etc

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In many courses we learn about the body in NATURE (about its biophysical workings)

The focus of such courses is propositional knowledge of the

body as a biological ‘thing’ or

object…eg - The flexor carpi radialis originates

at the medial epicondyle of humerus

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Science is the privileged way of knowing about the

body in the field of HMS

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Possible pedagogical work done as a consequence

of privileging science in HMS

• How we learn to think/act about the body - The body as ‘thing’

- Body/mind distinction - Objectivity - Rationality - Reductionism - Prediction & control - Certainty - Western ways of knowing as THE truth

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Through the science of HMS we learn about the

body by measuring it…

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By classifying it…

from Tanner (1964) 21

In the process of measurement and classification we normalize the body: we place the body in a cultural context

The pedagogical work done in this process is NOT benign

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The attribution of meaning to bodies is a form of pedagogical work

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Clearly there are other ‘cultural players’ who conspire to

attribute meaning to bodies

• Corporate pedagogues - (Steinberg & Kincheloe, 2001)

No limits. No biological clocks. No

rules. No stretch marks. No PMT.

No parking tickets. No cellulite.

No old boys networks. No silicon.

No rice cakes. No means no. No

fear. No quitting. No slogans.

Advertisements like this do

powerful pedagogical work on

bodies 24

The body in ‘new times’

“…the dominant culture is one

in which health, self-identity

and consumption are increasingly entwined”. (Bunton, 1995)

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Pedagogical work on the body is everywhere

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In the battle for the hearts and minds (and

bodies) of young people…

• The pedagogical work done by the ‘corporate pedagogues’ is winning • The rational, science-based knowledge of HMS, HPE and

health promotion has less ‘pulling power’. • The formal institution of

schooling is having less influence.

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So where am I heading with this?

diatribe interesting argument

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A little Foucault is helpful

• Foucault claims that knowledge ‘makes us its subject’. • It is through knowledge that we come to make sense of the world. • Meaning making is central to identity construction

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What sorts of subjects are being made in/through

the pedagogical work of HMS?

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“What people believe to be true about the world around them is

closely related to their experiences of life, to their social and cultural environment.”

Wade-Chambers, D (1984). On the Social Analysis of Science

• HMS is part of that environment • What do HMS students believe to be true about the world? About the body? How does it affect their practice? • Significantly, what we know about the body will depend (in part) on what questions we ask and where we look for answers • Is our field looking in right places?

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What ‘regimes of truth’ regarding the body are reproduced

through the pedagogical work of HMS?

‘Regimes of truth’ are reproduced by the silences as well as the dominant voices in HMS discourse - eg., Pronger’s anatomy class - Feldenkrais & Alexander Techniques - ‘Eastern’ ways of knowing

Pedagogical work is done by

what is not taught as well as

by what is taught

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Other respresentations of ways of knowing the body are available in our field

but they are still largely marginalised.

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If “everything is dangerous” (Foucault) then we need to think of the implications of the pedagogical work on the body done by HMS

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For example, what are the consequence of HMS

privileging science as the way of knowing the

body?

• We know that science, for

all its achievements, has

been less than successful in providing answers to

many of our social problems

that it has helped to create.

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When HMS students learn about the body through

science • The pedagogical work done in HMS has the danger of reinforcing a ‘pull’ towards

certainty, a belief that social problems can be solved through the application of scientific type knowledge - eg., HMS providing the solution to the ‘obesity crisis’. - The body as machine…energy, energy

out!

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Further considerations of the implications of the

pedagogical work on the body done in HMS might

include…

• How do we account for the pedagogical work

done by PE teachers’ bodies without a word

being said? • Do our pedagogical practices produce ‘critical consumers’ of movement culture? • THE LIST CONTINUES…

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Journey from PE to pedagogy is

a work in progress..

• Durkheim was professor of pedagogy at Paris and Dewey at

Chicago. • However, both were requisitioned in the name of ‘real’ disciplines such as sociology and philosophy. • Sociology and philosophy provide useful ways of theorising

pedagogy and pedagogical work.

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As we seek to better understand the process of knowledge (re)production in HMS the journey from PE

to pedagogy continues..

Thankyou for listening

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