To Örebro University

This thesis provides knowledge about how religion and ethnicity, in intersection with gender, become significant in physical education (PE). This is achieved through an empirical study at four different secondary schools which investigates (a) how tensions related to religion and ethnicity take shape and are managed in PE, (b) the didactic consequences of these managements, and (c) how religion, ethnicity, and gender intersect when the tensions take shape and are managed. The study is grounded in intersectionality and pragmatism, employing lesson observations and interviews with teachers and students. Unlike previous research, which often concentrates on specific minority groups, this dissertation investigates how religion, ethnicity and gender take shape as tensions and lead to didactic consequences for teachers, students and the subject content. The study highlights how tensions take shape and are managed in various ways and at different levels, with a range of didactic consequences. Furthermore, the study highlights a vast variation in individual attitudes and how religion, ethnicity and gender are not static but become more or less prominent in different contexts. Tensions generally take shape at the encounter between subject traditions and teaching contents in PE and students from religious and ethnic minority groups who are unable or unwilling to do what is expected. Tensions are rarely managed by schools but rather by teachers and students during PE lessons. The managements rarely involve changes in the subject content or the structure of the teaching. Instead, it is often the students who must adapt or change. Regardless of school, tensions often arise around similar issues and are managed in similar ways, yet significant contextual differences emerge depending on whether participants are in a setting where they are part of a minority or a majority. The thesis’ main scientific contribution lies within the field of sport didactics by providing knowledge about events that teachers and students encounter in their daily school life, which have so far not been investigated in a similar way.

Introduction and purpose: This paper concerns the intersectionality between religion, ethnicity and gender in PE. Intersectionality has been thoroughly discussed within feminist theory. PE research has though been described as being ‘one step behind’. More recently, however, intersectionality has gained increased attention also in PE research and there has been a growing interest for Muslim girls. Although important research, less is known about other “groups” and the PE practice. Reasons might be that studies drawing on intersectionality tend to decide the group of interest in advance and that intersectionality on its own does not say much about how the categories of interest affect the actual practice. The purpose of this paper is thus to bring together intersectional ideas with John Dewey’s pragmatic philosophy and propose a functional intersectionality, and through this ‘lens’ illustrate some functions religion, ethnicity and gender have in PE practice in Sweden.

Methodology: Dewey rejects the human/environment dualism. Rather, he understands this relationship as “organism-in-environment-as-a-whole” (Dewey & Bentley, 1949:133) and emphasizes processes of ‘functional coordination’, i.e. humans who act in the environment, undergoes the consequences, and adjust its actions. Following Dewey, it is possible to explore meanings or functions by investigating actions. With the concept functional intersectionality, I approach the PE practice with an interest for religion, ethnicity and gender. By investigating participants’ patterns of action, i.e. how they deal with different matters within PE, I explore which functions this intersection have. Data has been gathered through lesson observations (40) and interviews with teachers (7) and students (55) at four different schools in Sweden.  

Findings: The analysis shows several functions and patterns of action. Here, I pay attention to a bodily function: a reluctance among Christian as well as Muslim students to dance close to someone of the opposite sex. This function was handled by different patterns of action. One school practiced gender-segregated PE, which enabled couple dance as a recurrent subject content. In co-gendered classes, some teacher avoided couple dance with care for the students’ religious requirements and in the rare cases of couple dance, some students played truant.

Conclusions: By using the concept of functional intersectionality, I found that religion and gender get a bodily function that concerns participants in a wider sense than Muslim girls. Furthermore, the participants’ patterns of action sometimes affect the subject content and, thus, have consequences for all participants.

References:

Dewey, J. & Bentley, A.(1949).Knowing and the known. Boston: Beacon Press

This presentation concerns the intersectionality between religion, ethnicity and gender in physical education (PE). Previous research within this area has almost exclusively focused Muslim ethnic-minority girls. There is less research concerning how, and in which specific situations, these categories affect the PE practice. As a response, the purpose of this presentation is to propose a pragmatic framework to, from an intersectional perspective, investigate situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE.  

Due to ongoing globalization- and migration processes, several Western European countries have become increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Naturally, these demographic changes have also caused increasing ethnic and religious diversity in many schools. Research concerning diversity in PE has, though, for a long time mainly focused gender (see Flintoff & Scraton 2006 for an overview in this area). We know less about other variables, such as ethnicity and religion (see e.g. Flintoff 2015, 2014, Benn et al. 2011). Furthermore, Penney (2002) notes that PE research tend to investigate diversity through ‘single issue’ research, i.e. focusing either gender or ethnicity et cetera. Accordingly, several authors within the field call for intersectional approaches (e.g. Benn et al. 2011, Flintoff et al. 2008). However, Flintoff et al. remind us that intersectionality can be a problematic concept, partly because it “raise[s] questions about whether all categories are equally important at all times” (2008 p. 75). More recently, the intersectionality between religion, ethnicity and gender has been recognized as an important research area (e.g. Stride 2014, Walseth 2013, Benn et al. 2011). This research has, though, almost exclusively focused Muslim ethnic-minority girls. Positively, there is a growing knowledge concerning this group. On the other hand, we know little about how, and in which specific situations, these categories affect the PE practice. We also know little about what categories that become important in certain situations (cf. Flintoff et al. 2008). As a response, I propose a pragmatic framework to, from an intersectional perspective, investigate situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE.

The presentation draws upon the pragmatic philosophy of John Dewey (for similar approaches in PE research, see e.g. Quennerstedt 2013, Quennerstedt et al. 2011). Dewey (1929/2013) criticizes that divisions/categorizations (e.g. mind-world, subject-object) have been regarded as ontological starting points for human experience. In contrast, he argues that we, in immediate experience, recognizes the world as an “an unanalyzed totality” and that divisions/categorizations are “products discriminated by reflection” (Dewey 1929/2013, p. 8). Following Dewey, there are no metaphysical categories like religion, ethnicity and gender that form the starting point for experience. These are rather ‘products’ of inquiry. Hence, using Dewey’s understanding of experience provides a certain intersectional approach. Furthermore, Dewey rejects that meaning is to be found “out there” in objects, events or categories per se. Rather, he argues that meaning emerges when humans act in the environment, in processes he calls transactions (Dewey & Bentley 1949/1991). Following Dewey, meaning is not the starting point, but an outcome of transaction. By using a transactional understanding of meaning, religion, ethnicity and gender are not regarded as metaphysical starting points, but outcomes of participants (trans)actions. Thus, investigating situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE do not concern what these categories Are, but how and when they become relevant in PE as a consequence of participants actions. Since the primary interest is not specific groups or students (e.g. Muslim girls), but situations, it becomes possible to investigate how religion, ethnicity and gender affect the PE practice. Furthermore, for who the categories may have a function is not a starting point, but an empirical question.

Five PE teachers participated in qualitative, semi-structured, interviews (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009). Following the pragmatic framework and, especially, the concept transaction, the interviews intended to explore situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE. The teachers were, for example, asked about situations when they had changed, or had thought about to change, their lesson plans, the groupings or the arrangement because of student’s religious beliefs, origins or gender. In comparison with a significant part of previous research, the interviews did not concern specific groups or individuals (e.g. Muslim girls). Rather, the teacher were asked about situations in PE, which leaved for whose sake they, for instance, changed their lesson plans, open for empirical investigation. By reading the transcripts through the ‘analytical lens’ of situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function, I explored situations when these categories affect the PE practice. Through this ‘lens’, I also explored the question of in relation to who the categories had a function empirically. Furthermore, in line with Dewey’s understanding of experience, it was not decided in advance which category that may have a function in a certain citations. This was also a matter for empirical investigation. Thus, using Dewey’s understanding of experience made it possible to empirically investigate what categories that had a function in different situations (cf. Flintoff et al. 2008).

The analyzed interviews in this presentation are a part of a larger ongoing research project in which I also, by using tools from the ethnographic tradition, explore the daily PE activities in five different classes at two different schools. During a period of four months, I have visited each class one to three times a week. These occasions have included lesson observations, field notes and “small talk” with teachers and students. Data has also been gathered through interviews with students. During all interviews, the aforementioned occasions have served as a base for questions and ‘themes’. However, the interviews have also concerned activities that were not practiced during my visits (e.g. dance) and elements that I, with reference to ethical considerations, did not observe (swimming, locker room). Based on previous research (e.g. Benn et al. 2011, Dagkas et al. 2011) I nevertheless found it appropriate to include those themes.

The analysis shows several situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE practice. All teachers had separated boys and girls at swimming lessons because Muslim girls had requested this. All teachers had also changed the dance lessons (e.g. arranged sex-segregated classes, avoided partner dance) because Muslim students (boys and girls) did not want to dance with the opposite sex. In those situations, religion and gender get clearest function, although the analysis also shows an ethnic boundary between “immigrants” and “swedes”. The teachers had also separated boys and girls at team sports, or applied different sports for the different sexes (e.g. football for boys, volleyball for girls). Although the same PE classes, these groupings/arrangements were not due to religion or ethnicity, but because of the dominance of the male gender in PE (cf. Flintoff & Scraton 2006). This are, thus, situations when gender have a function. Furthermore, by reason of the current refugee situation, all teachers had “newly arrivals” in their classes. At activities with advanced rules (e.g. certain games), there were an ethnic boundary made between “Swedes”, who understood the teachers instructions, and the “newly arrivals” who looked for a while, or got individual instructions from the teacher, before they joined. Those activities are situations when ethnicity get a function. However, the same ethnic boundary was not made in football. In this case, the “newcomers” did not seem to need to look for a while, or get individual instructions, before they joined. 

Discussion/conclusion: Investigating situations when religion, ethnicity and gender have a function in PE shows that these categories affect the PE context and, consequently, become relevant for all students and teachers. Furthermore, the analysis shows examples of situations when different categories have a function (cf. Flintoff et al. 2008).

Topic/aim: In this study, I investigate situations when religion gets a function for Muslim ethnic minority boys in physical education (PE). Previous research has almost exclusively concerned Muslim girls (Stride 2014, Walseth 2013, Benn et al. 2011). As a response, I propose to emphasize Muslim boys. Empirical data are included in an ongoing PhD-project, in which I investigate situations when religion, ethnicity and gender gets a function for students and teachers in PE.

Introduction: Although Scandinavian curricula emphasize equal conditions, research shows several barriers that preclude equality in PE, e.g. gender/sex and ethnicity (With-Nielsen & Pfister 2011, Skolverket 2005). Furthermore, several authors (Penney 2002, Flintoff et al. 2008) claim that issues in PE tend to be investigated through ‘single issue approaches’ and call for intersectional perspectives. Recently, the intersectionality between religion, ethnicity and gender has been acknowledged as an important research area (Stride 2014, Walseth 2013, Benn et al. 2011). However, this research has almost exclusively concerned Muslim girls. Exceptions have merely concerned Muslim boys incidentally (Benn 2002) or identified them as less vulnerable than Muslim girls (Carrol & Hollinshead 1993).In this study, I contribute to previous research by exploring situations when religion has a function for Muslim boys in PE.

Theoretical framework: This study draws upon the pragmatic philosophy of John Dewey. Dewey rejects the idea that meaning can be found in objects/events per se. Rather, he claims that meaning emerges in action, in processes he calls transactions (Dewey & Bentley 1949/1991). For example, water gets different meaning depending on how it is used (drinking water, bathwater, etc.). Since meaning is an outcome of transaction, it can be investigated by studying people’s actions. Accordingly, it is possible to explore situations when religion gets a function for, in this case, Muslim boys, by investigating when it becomes “visible” in transaction.   

Method: Four Muslim boys (age: 14-16) participated in qualitative interviews. Situations were analyzed when religion gets a function in PE, i.e. situations when religion become “visible” in transaction.   

Findings: All boys stressed that they sometimes take it easy at PE during Ramadan, because they don’t want to be hungry/thirsty afterwards. They also told that they sometimes “run as usual”, especially during funny activities, but then become hungry/thirsty and tired afterwards. None of the boys wanted to swim during Ramadan for fear of swallowing water (i.e. “drinking”). Two of the boys hesitated to dance with girls because of their religious beliefs. This exemplifies situations when religion gets a function for the boys, i.e. situations when religion becomes visible in transaction.        

Discussion/conclusion:  Benn et al. (2011) claims that attention to religion and PE “could help us to increase understanding for more inclusive practice” (p. 23). Though a small sample, this study indicates that religion may be of great significance for Muslim boys. Although it is important research, I will highlight the need for research concerning other minority groups than Muslim girls. A broaden sample can increase understanding for more inclusive practices, for all students (cf. Benn et al. 2011).

References:

Benn, T., Dagkas, S., & Jawad, H. (2011). Embodied faith: Islam, religious freedom and educational practices in physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 16(1), 17-34.

Benn, T. (2002). Muslim women in teacher training: issues of gender, ‘race’, and religion. I D. Penney (Ed.). Gender and Physical Education: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions (s. 57-79). London: Routledge.

Carrol, B., & Hollinshead, G. (1993). Ethnicity and conflict in physical education. Brittish Educational Research Journal, 19(1), 59-76.

Dewey, J. & Bentley, A. F. (1949/1991). Knowing and the known. In Boydston J. A. (Ed.). The Later Works, 1925-1953, Vol. 16: 1949-1952 (p. 1-294). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Flintoff, A., Fitzgerald, H., & Scraton, S. (2008). The challenges of intersectionality: researching differences in physical education. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 18(2), 73-85.

Penney, D. (2002). Equality, equity and inclusion in physical education. In Laker, A. (Ed.), The sociology of sport and physical education. London: Routledge

Skolverket. (2005). Nationella utvärderingen av grundskolan 2003: idrott och hälsa. Stockholm: Skolverket.

Stride. A. (2014) Let US tell YOU! South Asian, Muslim girls tell tales about physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 19(4), 398-417.

Walseth, K. (2013). Muslims girls’ experience in physical education in Norway: What role does religiosity plat? Sport Education and Society, 1-13.

With-Nielsen, N., & Pfister, G. (2011). Gender constructions and negotiations in physical education: case studies. Sport, Education and Society, 16(5), 645-664.

Syfte

Presentationen behandlar en undersökning av situationer då religion, etnicitet och genus får en funktion för lärare i ämnet idrott och hälsa. Den pilotstudie som presenteras ingår i ett avhandlingsprojekt med syfte att undersöka situationer då religion, etnicitet och genus får en funktion för deltagare (elever och lärare) i idrottsämnet.  

Introduktion

Alla elever ska kunna delta i idrottsundervisningen på lika villkor (Lgr11, Skollagen SFS 2010:800). Svensk skolidrottsforskning visar dock att pojkar trivs och lyckas bättre i ämnet, samt att undervisningen ofta organiseras så att detta mönster förstärks (Larsson m.fl. 2011, 2009a, Skolverket 2005). Kunskapen kring etnicitet och religion är emellertid mycket begränsad. Studier som gjorts visar dock resultat som kan tolkas intersektionellt: genus, etnicitet och religion samverkar och framkallar skillnader som inte syns om kategorierna studeras enskilt (Huitfeldt 2015, Larsson m.fl. 2009b, Lundvall, 2006, 2005).     Internationellt har intersektionaliteten mellan religion, etnicitet och genus lyfts fram som ett viktigt område (t.ex. Walseth 2013, Knez 2012, Benn m.fl. 2011). Forskningen har dock alltsomoftast fokuserat en förhandsgiven, förmodat undertryckt grupp, muslimska flickor. Andra elever/lärare, samt deltagare som inte antas vara undertryckta, har förbisetts. Vidare är Intersektionalitetsbegreppet inte oproblematiskt. Det svarar exempelvis inte på huruvida ’alla kategorier alltid är lika viktiga’ (Flintoff m.fl. 2008, Archer m.fl. 2001).   

Teoretiskt ramverk

Studien tar utgångspunkt i John Deweys pragmatiska filosofi. Dewey avvisar förståelsen av mening som någonting essentiellt/förhandsgivet. Mening uppkommer snarare genom handlingar i omgivningen, genom processer han kallar transaktioner (Dewey & Bentley, 1949). Vatten, exempelvis, får olika mening (dricksvatten, badvatten, etc.) beroende på vad vi gör med det (Öhman 2008). Vilken mening som konstitueras, och för vem, är alltså inte givna utgångspunkter, utan resultat/utfall av transaktionsprocessen.     Med Dewey blir det möjligt att undvika utgångspunkt i förhandsgivna grupper, och i stället utgå från situationer då religion, etnicitet och genus får en funktion för någon av ämnets deltagare. ”För vem/vilka?” blir en empirisk fråga. Det blir heller inte givet att alla kategorier alltid är lika viktiga. Även detta blir en empirisk fråga.   

Metod

Sju lärare med erfarenhet av undervisning på mångkulturella skolor deltog i kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer (Kvale 1997). Utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv analyserades situationer då religion, etnicitet och genus fick en funktion för lärarna.  

Resultat

Samtliga uppgav att de någon gång tillämpat könsuppdelad simundervisning och ändrat dansundervisningens innehåll (t.ex. undvikit pardanser) för att muslimska flickor begärt detta. Detta är exempel på situationer då religion och genus fick en funktion för studiens lärare.          Samtliga lärare uppgav att ”invandrarpojkar” ofta tar för sig och gärna visar upp sina idrottsliga förmågor, medan ”invandrarflickor” beskrevs som mer tillbakadragna. Lärarna hade dels hanterat detta genom att noggrant informera om skillnaden mellan skol- och tävlingsidrott. Man hade även tillämpat könsuppdelad undervisning. I dessa situationer fick etnicitet och genus en funktion.     Fem av lärarna beskrev situationer då de gett extra/särskilda instruktioner till nyanlända elever, för att dessa inte behärskade svenska språket lika bra som övriga deltagare. Detta är exempel på en situation då etnicitet fick en funktion.      

Diskussion

Resultatet visar flera situationer då religion, etnicitet och genus får en funktion för studiens lärare. Funktionenfår i dessa situationer konsekvenser för lärarens didaktiska val (innehåll, gruppindelning, instruktioner) och därmed även för den undervisning eleverna möter. Eftersom samverkan mellan religion, etnicitet och genus får konsekvenser för både lärare, elever och ämnets innehåll är det relevanta frågor för idrottsdidaktisjkk forskning.     Resultatet visar också att olika kategorier samverkar, men att alla kategorier inte får lika tydlig funktion i alla situationer (jfr Flintoff m.fl. 2008, Archer m.fl. 2001). I vilka situationer religion, etnicitet och genus får en funktion för elever, och vad detta får för konsekvenser för lärarens didaktiska val och ämnets innehåll, blir framtida frågor för avhandlingen.