The purpose of the study was to investigate ways in which gender-related perceptions and actions influenced students' construction of realities in curriculum-in-action in secondary school physical education. The participants were junior and senior secondary school students in a midwestern city in the United States. Data collection methods included observations and interviews. Data were analyzed with inductive analytical procedures. The findings of the study revealed that a majority of the female and male students reproduced traditionally dominant forms of femininity and masculinity. Female students patterned their behavior consistent with feminine ideology in selecting and participating in class activities, and male students chose and participated in class activities along masculine conceptions. The results were interpreted with reproduction and resistance theories. While femininity and masculinity cultures were reproduced through students' choice of activities and participation patterns, these cultures were resisted through students' construction of oppositional behavior.

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The purpose of this research was the examination of the field-dependent1 independent cognitive style as it related to learning within a Logsdon-based movement curriculum. Subjects consisted of 104 children scoring in the 1st-(field independent) and 4th-quartile (field dependent) on the Children's Embedded Figures Test. Observation and interview data were collected by the two researchers over a 4-month period. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. Field-independent students' performance was consistent with teacher expectations during the majority of the classes observed. Fielddependent students experienced difficulty focusing on lesson discussion, following directions, and working independently. The discussion focused on the role of structure and the influence of social relationships on learning behaviors of field-dependent children.