The ‘normal’ physical education classes: the ableism facing the inclusion of disabled students

Abstract

The study aims to understand the ableism facing the presence of disabled students in physical education (PE) classes. Through a case study with an exploratory qualitative design, we captured the inclusion (or lack thereof) of disabled students through the perspectives of three PE teachers who participated in this study over one school year. The teachers completed a weekly reflective journal with field notes, and participated in two focus group interviews, which were assessed using the content analysis technique. The PE classes were immersed in ableism, which translates into a body-focused process of normalisation. Our findings underscore the difficulty encountered in the inclusion of disabled students because it is considered a counterpoint to what is believed to be PE. A comprehensive change in perspectives regarding the understanding of disability and normativity is required. Points of interest This study is important to discuss how meaningful the physical education classes have been to the disabled student; The disabled students still feel excluded from Physical Education classes; Physical Education curriculum is mainly based on competitive sports practices raising questions about its meaning to the disabled student; Physical Education teachers do not change the traditional curriculum for the best learning opportunities to the disabled children; The inclusion of the disabled student calls for fundamental changes on what is assumed as Physical Education class at schools and for effective teachers.