Session Information
99 ERC SES 03 N, Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper Session
Contribution
UNESCO recognised that “every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport” (UNESCO, 1978, pp2), and that it is “the most effective means of providing all children and youth with the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding for lifelong participation in society” (UNESCO, 2013, pag.6). Furthermore, through sport activities it is possible to promote the development of skills and knowledge needed to create new forms of global citizenship (UNESCO, 2015).
The debate on physical education has been enriched by the publication of the Quality Physical Education Guidelines (UNESCO, 2015). These identify the promotion of physical literacy as a fundamental principle for the implementation of physical education by promoting the maintenance of physical activity throughout the life course (Whitehead, 2010) and enabling an understanding of the learning experience (Lundvall, 2015). Physical education must therefore deal with a subject who lives the experience by being a body in constant transformation (Lipoma, 2016), bearing in mind that the educational value of didactics is realised through the way he/she experiences situations and by giving meaning to the activities in which he/she is involved (Ceciliani, 2018).
However, there is no shortage of criticism of the dominant approaches of the time, which rarely associate Physical Education with “critical pedagogy” and “social justice” (Fitzpatrick, 2018; Hawkins, 2008; Evans & Davies, 2004).
In Italy, there is a general tendency towards traditional and assimilationist approaches (UNESCO Trento, 2020), but a substantial change seems urgent given the high rate of migration linked to global economic processes and the growing number of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing wars, persecution and climate change. In fact, approximately 7 million people holding international protection are hosted in the EU countries (UNHCR, 2021), people who have settled with the hope of finding security, continuing their studies and building a future (Harðardóttir & Jónsson, 2021). A situation that has been exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine. However, at least in Italy, little or no research is available on the refugee’s experience in an increasingly heterogeneous educational context. (Zoletto, 2016, 149)
Physical education can play a crucial role in integrating young people into their new environment by promoting embodied interactions and interpersonal encounters (Anttila et al., 2018), providing spaces for reflection where they can express themselves and become emotionally close to others (Spaaji, 2015), and following the values-based approach of Global Citizenship Education as defined in the Maastricht Declaration on Global Education 2002.
Physical education teachers and sport educators may be key actors in the process of adaptation of asylum seeker and refugee students to their new life context (Richardson et al., 2018), but the general claim that sport is always an inclusive tool seems controversial as it may expose participants to forms of racism, social exclusion and cultural resistance (Spaaji, et al., 2014).
Against this framework and due to the lack of specific research in the area, the generative research question of this study seeks to explore and examine the experience of asylum-seeking, refugee, or displaced students during high school physical education classes and/or in university settings.
Method
A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was chosen as it offers a descriptive, reflective and engaged mode of inquiry to capture the essence of the experience (Van Manen, 1990). However, the possibility of developing the study into action research will be considered if the data indicate a need for intervention to improve the experience of the participants who are the subjects of the study. Phase 1. Informal meetings with members of UNHCR Italy, sports associations and reception centres to identify people working in the field who might be useful in building the research sample and in the later stages of the study. Phase 2. Purposive sampling to select key informants who, given the topic of the study, may offer conflicting evidence or views (Yin, 2016). Phase 3. Data collection to start in the coming months with a bottom-up approach a) 6 audio-recorded in-depth interviews to be repeated 3 times, 18 in total; b) 6 two-hour site visits in each sport context identified, no less than 72 hours Phase 4. Concurrent with phase 3. Analysis and interpretation of human statements and behaviours through processes of reflection, transcription, coding and analysis, taking into account the political, historical and socio-cultural context.
Expected Outcomes
At the present stage of research, it is only possible to assume that: - Regular participation in sport activities by young refugees and asylum seekers is low. - High school students tend to not to attend physical education classes because they use them to learn Italian or to acquire other skills. Especially if they are female. - Daily barriers are drastically reduced, and stressors are alleviated by the pleasure of playing, sharing and relating with peers. - Discrimination, social exclusion, and hate speech episodes will emerge both from participants statements and during the site visits. - Play and sport restore self-confidence - The bonds forged through sport extend beyond the pitch.
References
Anttila, E., Siljamäki, M., & Rowe, N. (2018). Teachers as frontline agents of integration: Finnish physical education students’ reflections on intercultural encounters. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 23(6), 609-622. Ceciliani, A. (2018). Didattica integrata quali-quantitativa, in educazione motoria-sportiva, e benessere in età evolutiva. FORMAZIONE & INSEGNAMENTO. Rivista internazionale di Scienze dell'educazione e della formazione, 16(1), 183-194. Evans, J., & Davies, B. (2004). Pedagogy, symbolic control, identity and health. In Body Knowledge and Control: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education and Health (pp. 3-18). Routledge. Fitzpatrick, K. (2018). What happened to critical pedagogy in physical education? An analysis of key critical work in the field. European Physical Education Review., 25(4), 1128-1145. Harðardóttir, E. & Jónsson, Ó. P. (2021). Visiting the forced visitors - Critical and decentered approach to Global Citizenship Education as an inclusive educational response to forced youth migration. Journal of Social Science Education, 20(2), 26- 46. Hawkins, A. (2008). Pragmatism, purpose, and play: Struggle for the soul of physical education. Quest, 60(3), 345-356. Lipoma, M. (2016). Verso i nuovi significati dell’educazione motoria e fisica. Formazione e insegnamento., 14(1 - Supplemento), 7-10. Lundvall, S. (2015). Physical literacy in the field of physical education: A challenge and a possibility. Journal of sport and Health Sciences, 4(2), 113-118. Maastricht Global Education Declaration. (2002). Richardson, E., MacEwen, L., & Naylor, R. (2018). Teachers of Refugees: A Review of the Literature. Centre for British Teachers. Spaaiji, R., Magee, J., & Jeanes, R. (2014). Sport and Social Exclusion in Global Society. Taylor & Francis Group. Spaaji, R. (2015). Refugee youth, belonging and community sport. Leisure Studies, 34(3), 303-318. UNESCO. (1978). International Charter of Physical Education and Sport. UNESCO. UNESCO. (2013). Declaration of Berlin - 5th International Conference of Ministers for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS V). UNESCO. UNESCO. (2015). Quality Physical Education: Guidelines for Policy-makers. UNESCO. UNESCO Trento & Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale. (2020). PENSARE E PRATICARE L'EDUCAZIONE ALLA CITTADINANZA GLOBALE. UNHCR. (2021). Education Report 2021: Staying the course. The challenges facing refugee education. UNHCR. Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedadogy. London: Althouse. Whitehead, M. (Ed.). (2010). Physical Literacy: Throughout the Lifecourse. London: Routledge. Yin, R. K. (2016). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, Second Edition. Guilford Publications. Zoletto, D. (2016). Lo sport in contesti educativi eterogenei e multiculturali. In M. Morandi (Ed.), Corpo, educazione fisica, sport: questioni pedagogiche (pp. 148-162). Franco Angeli.
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