Teaching sport and social justice: an investigation into the experiences of university lecturers

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in both awareness of and engagement with the issue of sport and social justice. While research has been conducted on social justice in relation to university students enrolled on physical education (PE) courses, there has been little exploration of how the concept is understood and taught on sport-orientated courses (such as sport development, sport management/business, and sport coaching). Using a narrative, qualitative case study approach, this study draws on in-depth qualitative data generated from 14 semi-structured interviews with university lecturers, working in different English universities, responsible for teaching students on courses that were centred around sport. The intention is to explore how lecturers viewed the connection between theoretical knowledge and practical actions (praxis) in promoting social justice values. The work of Freire (1970) and intersectional theory are used to explore how those interviewed reflected on their teaching practices and informed their teaching and learning for inclusion, equity, and social justice outcomes. The interview transcripts were thematically analysed to identify the lecturers’ understandings, experiences, and teachings of sport and social justice. The findings show how the lecturers’ positionality was informed by a Freirean pedagogy (including the ideas of praxis and conscientização) which shaped their teaching and demonstrated a relationship between teaching, sport, social justice and activism. Based on the findings discussed here, it is proposed that social justice needs to be featured in all sports-orientated courses and not be treated as an optional extra.