Showing papers by "Justen O'Connor published in 2008"

The concept of community and its social ecology

Abstract: The term community is increasingly being applied to education contexts (Noddings, 1996, p.10) and linked to physical education discourses around health and wellbeing in which physically educated citizens are being called upon to contribute to the establishment of active, healthy and well communities (Jess, Collins, Dewar, Campbell, & Harris, 2002; Lambdin & Erwin, 2007; Lawson, 2005; Penney & Jess, 2004). Despite this, the term community remains ambiguous and fluid, while notions of physical education remain trapped in a discourse driven by dominant competitive games and sports that privilege particular expressions of community. Subsequent to critiquing various notions of community and its application to health and physical education, this paper presents a social ecology of movement that offers a frame upon which ‘physical’ experiences of children within a school community can connect in dynamic ways to broader communities, within various environments. By providing an account for how physical education can make meaningful connections, this paper opens up possibilities to be ‘physically’ educated in ways that meaningfully contribute to creating active, healthy communities.