Page 22 | Autumn 2022
Physical Education : 2SLGBTQ + inclusionar
Researchers Niya St . Amant ( Queen ’ s University ) and Alexandra Stoddart ( University of Regina ) have been exploring the experiences of current 2SLGBTQ + preservice teachers and / or students who have completed their degrees and taken at least one physical education ( PE ) course at the University of Regina . Before discussing the project , first and foremost , the researchers want to acknowledge and thank all participants for sharing their experiences .
What led to this research topic was the traditional Eurocentric PE subject area . Alexandra says , " Traditionally , PE has been a Eurocentric subject that celebrates heteronormativity and masculinity . At the K-12 level , sex-segregated classes and a requirement to change out can cause 2SLGBTQ + students to feel unsafe . As preservice teachers , students once again encounter this subject . It is critical that teaching at the post-secondary level is disrupting the problematic discourse of PE and not continuing to perpetuate the status quo ."
The project was based around the following two research questions : What it is like for 2SLGBTQ + students to learn and be in a PE environment in 1 ) K-12 programs and 2 ) a teacher education program , and how PE instructors and professors can better support their 2SLGBTQ + preservice teachers through their pedagogy , content , and beyond .
Niya explains that the reason it is important to understand student experiences in PE and physical activity is that , " PE and activity can be both empowering and disempowering for people , and it ' s important to understand what about it disempowers people from participating and in bringing about other negative consequences , such as feelings of exclusion and alienation . Exploring how PE can be disempowering and exclusionary for 2SLGBTQ + students is particularly
Exploring how PE can be disempowering and exclusionary for 2SLGBTQ + students is particularly relevant due to the way PE has historically treated sex and gender as binary categories and privileges heterosexual sexualities while marginalizing others . If we want people to continue to take up and enjoy PE in both grade school and postsecondary school , then we need to discover how PE can exclude and alienate 2SLGBTQ + students in order to intervene and transform these spaces to be inclusive and welcoming . www2 . uregina . ca / education / news