Hakan Larsson - Böcker

Contemporary ways of understanding human movements, specifically movement learning, are heavily dominated by individualistic, dualistic and mechanistic perspectives. These perspectives are individualistic in the sense that in research as well as in educational practice movements/movers are typically decontextualized, they are dualistic in the sense that the body is taken to be ‘inhabited’, even ‘governed,’ by a rational mind which is not itself a part of that body; and they are mechanistic in the sense that movements and movement learning can be ‘calculated’. This approach has supported the dominance of a westernised and predominantly white, masculinised and heteronormative view of able bodies, embodiment and movements. Hence, it has contributed to marginalise not only other approaches and perspectives and individuals. New research has evolved, including new approaches and these held perspectives have been challenged by social and culturally sensitive, holistic as well as pluralistic, and dynamic/organic perspectives of human movements and moving humans. Examples of such research can be found in disciplines such as; physical education and pedagogy, ethnography, philosophy, and sociology. Learning Movements: New Perspectives of Movement Education provides the societal and epistemological background for these new approaches and will be essential in disseminating this knowledge to movement educators, academics and researchers as well as professionals within education, sports, health and fitness, dance, outdoor activities, etc., and that it will spearhead new and inclusive practices within these settings.

Contemporary ways of understanding human movements, specifically movement learning, are heavily dominated by individualistic, dualistic and mechanistic perspectives. These perspectives are individualistic in the sense that in research as well as in educational practice movements/movers are typically decontextualized, they are dualistic in the sense that the body is taken to be ‘inhabited’, even ‘governed,’ by a rational mind which is not itself a part of that body; and they are mechanistic in the sense that movements and movement learning can be ‘calculated’. This approach has supported the dominance of a westernised and predominantly white, masculinised and heteronormative view of able bodies, embodiment and movements. Hence, it has contributed to marginalise not only other approaches and perspectives and individuals. New research has evolved, including new approaches and these held perspectives have been challenged by social and culturally sensitive, holistic as well as pluralistic, and dynamic/organic perspectives of human movements and moving humans. Examples of such research can be found in disciplines such as; physical education and pedagogy, ethnography, philosophy, and sociology. Learning Movements: New Perspectives of Movement Education provides the societal and epistemological background for these new approaches and will be essential in disseminating this knowledge to movement educators, academics and researchers as well as professionals within education, sports, health and fitness, dance, outdoor activities, etc., and that it will spearhead new and inclusive practices within these settings.

Within the overlapping fields of the sociology of sport, physical education and health education, the use of critical theories and the critical research paradigm has grown in scope. Yet what social impact has this research had?This book considers the capacity of critical research and associated social theory to play an active role in challenging social injustices or at least in ‘making a difference’ within health and physical education (HPE) and sporting contexts. It also examines how the use of different social theories impacts sport policies, national curricula and health promotion activities, as well as the practices of HPE teaching and sport training and competition.Critical Research in Sport, Health and Physical Educationis a valuable resource for academics and students working in the fields of research methods, sociology of sport, physical education and health.Chapter 5 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.