Movement and Meaning-Making in Physical Education

Overview & Synopsis

In this paper I argue that the meaning of movement of which embodied knowing, somatic understanding and ecological subjectivity are central tenets, has not received due recognition in the current discourses of physical education. While the interest in the meaning and meaning-making of movement within the physical education discourse has existed for nearly 40 years, the number of publications since this time has been relatively few. This paper uses Meanings in Movement, Sport and Physical Education (Arnold, 1979) and more specifically education "in" movement as it highlights the contribution that a phenomenology of movement can make towards theoretical development and pedagogical practice in physical education. Given that this alternative vision has received little attention in the literature but acts as a complementarity to the scientific discourses (e.g. exercise physiology, motor learning) that have offered a richness of practice in the current physical education discourses, an emphasis on education in movement, through a promise of phenomenology (Kerry & Armour, 2000) may provide physical education with curricula and pedagogical benefits in the future.