Thread by @coachnateb

One of my major projects, which I think has profound import for the field of #Physed, is to identify a CATEGORY, NAME, or LABEL for the WHAT & WHY of PE that is comprehensive enough to include a wide variety of modes of PE that is true to its name.

The field needs this!

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1st let me clarify what I mean by “true to its name.” If we were to sit down & play legos all day in PE, would it be “Physical” “Education?”

No. It would be a possible mode, but it wouldn’t be sufficiently “physical” or “educational” enough.

OK. Let’s get to the labels…

Our subject already has a label, name, or category: It is “Physical” & it is “Education”

So the 1st thing to do is ask, does this name fit? Does it actually represent what we want our subject to do & be about? Are these labels comprehensive & clear enough?

Also, who is we?

Now, in practice, I think American PE tends to be more of a “Physical Activity” thing than it is a “Physical” thing. There is a subject in school called “Physical Science.” Is the “physical” in both subjects refer to the same thing? No.

It’s clear that the P in PE = PA.

So we don’t actually have a label that fits. “Physical” is actually a better label in my view, & PE should reorient itself around that label from here on out, but in practice we definitely tend to be about “Physical ACTIVITY.” We have conflated P with PA.

The problem with adopting Physical ACTIVITY Education as our name is that it’s not comprehensive enough. It doesn’t actually include the things that are not examples of PA (or are FOR it, even if it doesn’t involve actually being physically active). So PA Education isn’t good.

Movement Education may be better, but again, this label isn’t comprehensive enough. This means that PE should not be conceived as Physical Activity Education, nor Movement Education.

As I said before, “Physical” is a good, comprehensive term, but we need to know what it means

So what does “Physical” mean in the context of PE? Does it mean the same as the P in Physical Science? No. In PE, Physical means the body. That is our unique content/focus area that no other subject can address like we can.

But what is meant by “Body?”

By body, I mean both the “Lived” Body & the “Relational” Body. The Lived Body is the body as “Subject,” or as the body, which is what we ARE, is LIVED—what it’s like to be a body.

The Relational Body is the body as “Object,” as the body that is the source of all interaction.

So if we go with a label like “Body” Education, this is much clearer than “Physical” education (as it specifies what we are actually talking about), but it carries the danger of being interpreted as the body as object or machine that needs to be disciplined or trained.

Now, that sort of body (the one that needs to be trained & disciplined) is not a comprehensive enough conception of the body. Such a name/label/conception will constrain more possibilities than it will enable, & so “Body” may not be our best label/name.

“Physical” may end up being our best option. Luckily, we already have this label, & so something significant like a name change can be avoided. What needs to happen, though, is a clarification, a reconceptualization of “Physical” so that it becomes more clear & comprehensive.

Now, what about the term “Education?” Should we include that term in our label? Or should we be something like Physical “training,” or “development?”

Well, this one is easy: since PE takes place in schools, it should retain the term “Education” in the label/name.

But again, as with the Physical, we need to transform our conception of “Education.” As it stands now, PE is typically a Physical Activity Training, & so the E ends up being enacted (in practice) as a sort of training. But this is a mistake. It too is not comprehensive enough.

The term is “Education” is comprehensive enough though. But our problem is that we aren’t CLEAR enough on what it means, or what it is for &/or about.

Now, this may be another thread for another time, but briefly, let me explain what I mean by Education…

In my view, Education, at least in explicitly democratic countries, is about & for the expression & development of personal & social capabilities for the purpose of living well, together. Now, there is more to it than this, but that’s for another time. Unfortunately….

Education, especially here in the states, is typically about & for JOBS (or capital, or national/international military and economic competitiveness & dominance).

This CONCEPTION of Education is not comprehensive enough. So we need to reconceptualize it.