JOPERD Table of Contents
The A-Z of Social Justice Physical Education: Part 1
Shrehan Lynch, Sue Sutherland and Jennifer Walton-Fisette
Hate has been plaguing our society; crime is increasing, and daily
we see another malicious religious/race/ethnic/age/gender/sexual orientation/language-related offense. Politically influenced narratives
glide around the media, often neglecting systematic patterns of inequities that have been working against minority groups for centuries.
Individuals from the most dominant groups in society are afforded
basic human rights, whereas environmental, political and economic
structures work against the realities of many minority groups (see
Figure 1). Critically oriented educationalists (see Blakeney, 2005;
Cochran-Smith, 2004; Fernandez-Balboa, 1993; hooks, 1994) have
focused on addressing social inequities troubling Western society, in order to create a more socially aware and morally responsible society that accepts rather than hates others. With a focus on diversity,
acceptance and inclusion, education (including physical education)
has an integral role to play in combating social injustice and creating
a more equitable future for all students; such a task can be achieved
through social justice education (SJE).
According to Chapman and Hobel (2010), teaching for social
justice means facilitating educational structures and experiences
where students can embrace and name their ways of knowing
in the world through critical understandings of themselves, their
communities, and their place in wider society. When social justice
is the main aim of a teacher’s pedagogy, it becomes encompassed
within the larger umbrella of SJE. The literature on SJE ranges
from philosophical/conceptual, practical, ethnographic/narrative,
theoretical, and democratically grounded pieces ( Hytten & Bettez,
2011). The practical strand speaks to this article considering our
work was focused on providing examples of SJE for practitioners.
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