Culturally Relevant Physical Education in Urban Schools

Abstract

Using a three-part theoretical framework, the cultural relevance cycle—which consists of (a) knowing community dynamics, (b) knowing how community dynamics influence educational processes, and (c) implementing strategies that reflect cultural knowledge of the community—we examined teachers' and students' perspectives on culturally relevant physical education in urban settings. We observed and interviewed 53 physical education teachers and 183 students in urban districts over 4 years. We identified themes of care, respect, language and communication, and curricular content that explained how these teachers enacted the cultural relevance cycle. Within these themes, teachers and students specified global and discipline-specific components of care, the rflattening of social hierarchies among students and between students and teachers, accommodation of English as a second language and urban communication, and relevant curricular content as necessary for achieving cultural relevance. Enacting the cycle of cultural relevance resulted in respectful learning environments in which students were highly engaged; however, very few teachers enacted all three steps of the cycle.