Girls' identity constructions are influenced by the dominant sport, health and beauty discourses in their society. Recent research indicates that sport and health discourses embedded in physical education (PE) compete for influence. Some of these studies have illustrated how these discourses inform girls' social construction of body ideals and…

Current concerns about a childhood obesity crisis and children's physical activity levels have combined to justify fitness lessons as a physical education practice in New Zealand primary (elementary) schools. Researchers focused on children's understandings of fitness lessons argue that they construct fitness as a quest for an "ideal"…

Gard [(2008). "When a Boy's Gotta Dance: New Masculinities, Old Pleasures." "Sport, Education and Society," 13(2), 181-193], Booth [(2009). "Politics and Pleasure: The Philosophy of Physical Education Revisited." "Quest," 61(2), 133-153] and Pringle [(2010). "Finding Pleasure in Physical Education: A…

"Dance for individuals with Down syndrome has many benefits; however, there is little research on this topic." Down syndrome is the most common "genetic condition," resulting in psychological, physical, and social impairments. There is research to suggest that dance may be a beneficial activity for people with Down syndrome;…

Objective: This study investigated how young urban students conceptualize health and fitness and tried to identify their sources of information about health-related issues. The findings are intended to help make suggestions for policy makers to design and develop effective health-education strategies. Methods: Focus group discussions (FGDs) of 20…

Achievement in a domain is normally defined by the experts within the curricula. This exploratory study reported student conception of achievement in physical education, attempting to address two questions: (1) what do students expect to achieve and (2) how do students view the achievement in physical education. Students (N = 48) purposefully…

While ethnic-minority young people are increasingly defined as bodies "at disadvantage," marked as less fit or less healthy than the White "norm," the ways young people construct meanings around their bodies as a result of global health imperatives have received scant attention. The purpose of this participatory visual research…

The ways in which students make sense of the gendered fitness expectations found in a norm-referenced fitness testing program (i.e. President's challenge physical fitness test) were the focus of this study. Participants were 18 fifth grade students who completed fitness tests in their physical education classes. They were interviewed using a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of middle school pupils' acculturation on their readings of and expectations for physical education. Participants were 94 pupils attending one public middle school. Data were collected using five qualitative techniques. They were analysed by employing analytic induction and constant…

The health and physical education (HPE) profession needs to find alternatives to its individualistic and performative focus if it is to remain relevant and meaningful for all learners. This paper presents a way of framing HPE that helps to shift the focus from the individual as autonomous decision-maker, and goes beyond sport and fitness testing…

P.E. classes are often the only opportunity for inner-city youth to engage in physical activity, but budget cuts and pressure to perform well on standardized tests has made P.E. an afterthought for many school administrators. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a new P.E. curriculum in five Los Angeles inner-city schools. Interviews were…

Flohr and Williams (1997) emphasized the importance of assessing students' attitudes about fitness testing as it contributes to effective, positive, and motivating physical education (PE) classes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify fifth and sixth graders' perceptions of fitness testing using FITNESSGRAM in a self-testing…

At UCSB the number of degree seeking undergraduate Chinese international students increased from 6 to 163 between 2010 and 2012. With such a controversial and much discussed topic of international student enrollment at U.S universities, this was the perfect time for me to interview Chinese international students. With the help of Kathy Charmaz'…

The incredible growth rates and increased enrollments in virtual physical education (VPE), otherwise known as K-12 online physical education, continue to rise. VPE has the potential to service K-12 student learning in independent and self-paced curriculum. However, VPE brings a healthy skepticism among the profession. To this point, it is…

This study investigated 10th-grade students' views concerning the physical effects of an adventure-physical education curriculum and the potential of such a curriculum to enhance components of a multidimensional model of physical self-concept. Semistructured interviews were used to obtain students' views and participant observations were conducted…