Conceptual Paper

There has been a proliferation of international interest in values-based education (VBE) in recent times and the field of physical education has been identified as a pertinent context through which values such as citizenship, character and life-skills can be taught (McCuaig et al., 2015, Author, 2013). Indeed, Spracklen (2015) argues that the geography of PE renders it a key space for meaning-making and identity construction. Others note that the contemporary negotiation/performance of identity is inherently linked to ‘lived spaces’ and the values embedded within these (Hopkins, 2010). However, the increasingly complex geographies of young people are played out in both real and virtual space (Blundell, 2016) and there are challenges inherent in navigating ‘borderland’ areas where competing ideals/norms can abound (Sandford, in press). There are implications here for VBE, particularly with regard to the transfer and enactment of values across contexts. It is argued that as 'digital natives' (Prensky, 2001), contemporary youth do not fully understand the use/impact of global technologies and these ‘wired generations’ may need assistance in navigating the digital landscape (OECD, 2015). We contend that digital natives inhabit hybrid topographies which are both real and virtual and therefore need to be both digitally literate and values literate if they are to successfully navigate the landscape. Values literacy is understood to be the ability to read a situation (real or virtual), make a value judgment on it and then enact that value judgment. Within the paper, a new model of digital praxis in PE (with embedded values literacy) is presented to show how young people can be taught to both transfer and translate values, to ensure a better ‘fit’ with different contexts. The new model harnesses the notion of digital technologies as social forces (Fioriani, 2015) within the education, management, transfer and translation of values.

This research paper clearly links to the conference theme in its attempt to help teachers to empower youth to embrace the fluid and dynamic nature of their global and connected lives in a more value-centric way.

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