Girls Gender and Physical Education

<p>In this powerfully argued and progressive study Kimberly Oliver and David Kirk call for a radical reconstruction of the teaching of physical education for girls. Despite forty years of theorization and practical intervention girls are still disengaging from physical education dropping out of physical activity and suffering negative consequences in terms of their health and well-being as a result. This book challenges the conventional narrative that girls are somehow to blame for this disengagement and instead identifies important new ways of working with girls developing a new pedagogical model for ‘girl-friendly’ physical education.</p><p>The book locates our understanding of the experiences of girls in physical education in the broader context of young people’s multifaceted engagements with popular physical culture. Adopting an activist perspective it outlines a programme of action informed by principled pragmatism and based on four critical elements: student-centred pedagogy; critical study of embodiment; inquiry-based physical education centred-in-action and listening and responding to girls over time. It explores the implications of this new thinking for teaching research PETE and policy and outlines a future agenda for work in this area. </p><p>Offering a profound theoretical critique of contemporary research and practice as well as a new programme of action <i>Girls Gender and Physical Education </i>is essential reading for all researchers advanced students and practitioners with an interest in the issues of gender equity and inclusion in physical education. </p>