Dodgeball: Inadvertently Teaching Oppression in Physical and Health Education

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Dodgeball: Inadvertently Teaching Oppression in Physical and Health Education
Language: English
Authors: Butler, Joy (ORCID 0000-0003-3161-5107), Burns, David P. (ORCID 0000-0002-1253-9682), Robson, Claire
Source: European Physical Education Review. Feb 2021 27(1):27-40.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2021
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Physical Education, Ethics, Health Education, Team Sports, Caring, Power Structure, Hidden Curriculum, Social Bias, Aggression, Ethical Instruction, Foreign Countries, Modeling (Psychology), Democratic Values, Violence, Group Dynamics
Geographic Terms: Canada
DOI: 10.1177/1356336X20915936
ISSN: 1356-336X
Abstract: Though students can learn a great deal about ethics as they play sport, the authors of this article ask what, exactly, they learn from playing dodgeball. As they look beyond the usual arguments offered for and against the teaching of the game, they view it through three ethical lenses: the ethic of care, the ethic of anti-oppressive education, and the ethics of virtue. They conclude that in terms of modelling, confirming, and practising caring behaviours, or offering opportunities to discuss and process what might be considered fair, dodgeball can be considered miseducative. They further argue that the hidden curriculum of dodgeball reinforces the five faces of oppression defined by the feminist theorist Iris Young as marginalization, powerlessness, and the helplessness of those perceived as weaker individuals through the exercise of violence and dominance by those who are considered more powerful. They conclude that the playing of dodgeball habituates the practice of aggression and fails to contribute positively to an ethical education.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2021
Accession Number: EJ1281193
Database: ERIC
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