Intersections of Forced Migration and Gender in Physical Education

Abstract

Rising refugee movements have affected global society in general and the social system of sports in particular. The main structures and discourses of the sports system are also reflected in physical education (PE) at schools, which can, therefore, be regarded as an integral part of it. PE can play a significant role in the sports biographies of young people from refugee backgrounds. It is the only organizational framework of sports that all children and adolescents experience, and for many young people from refugee backgrounds it is the first and sometimes the only context in which they come into contact with sports in the host country. Consequently, PE teachers have a special opportunity to support students from refugee backgrounds in discovering their sports-related interests and to encourage them to deepen these interests outside school. Research suggests that teachers interact with learners from refugee backgrounds with stereotypical expectations for how they should behave and act. These expectations are structured along genderspecific logics, with male persons from refugee backgrounds often being classified as violent and threatening and female individuals from refugee backgrounds as fragile and oppressed. Against this background, through an interview study with 31 PE teachers from schools in Germany, we investigate teachers' perspectives on young people from refugee backgrounds. Specifically, we examine which intertwined gendered and racialized patterns of perception and interpretation become apparent when PE teachers talk about this group of students. Constructivist, intersectional, and postcolonial approaches are used to analyze the interviews and answer the research questions. The analytical screening of the interviews reveals that gendered and racialized perceptions of threat and vulnerability dominate the teachers' mindsets. Four main patterns that follow these gendered and racialized thoughts can be detected in the data material: victimization and vulnerabilization, notions of threat and impulsivity, claims for assimilation and normalization, and demands for discipline. These perceptions can influence the developmental opportunities of students from refugee backgrounds and reduce their participation and involvement in school sports and out-of-school sports contexts. Based on these results, we discuss strategies that might support (future) teachers in breaking stereotypes and overcoming narrow perceptions of young people from refugee backgrounds.

Including students with special educational needs in physical education: An analysis of the current Finnish national core curriculum

“…Besides, PE has “repeatedly been shown to align with and reinforce particular types of hegemonic discourses that privilege a narrow group of (white, middle‐class, motor‐skilled, masculine) students” (Penney et al, 2018, p. 1065). From a historical point of view, sport has often been a field where (white) male individuals have the most power and which excludes women and non‐white men (Bartsch & Rulofs, 2020; Sutherland, 2017). Drawing on a recent literature review by Carter‐Francique and Flowers (2013), (young) women from ethnically marginalized groups are still underrepresented as participants and professional sports leaders in sports organizations.…”

“…Drawing on a recent literature review by Carter‐Francique and Flowers (2013), (young) women from ethnically marginalized groups are still underrepresented as participants and professional sports leaders in sports organizations. According to an interview study considering teachers' perspectives on young people from refugee backgrounds conducted by Bartsch and Rulofs (2020), gendered and racialized perceptions of threat and vulnerability dominate the participants' mindsets on this group of students. Other studies dealing with the specific setting of PE reveal similar problems as the school subject of PE is informed by the structures and values of the extracurricular sports system (Bartsch & Rulofs, 2020; Hakala & Kujala, 2021).…”

The Application of Health Pedagogy in the Context of the Formation of Physical Education among Schoolchildren

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Students from refugee backgrounds in physical education: A survey of teachers’ perceptions

“…European Physical Education Review 27(4) Additionally, there is initial evidence from a qualitative study that male teachers and those working with older students in secondary schools in particular perceive students from refugee backgrounds in a stereotypical way (Bartsch and Rulofs, 2020). These first indications concerning gender-and school type-related differences in teachers' perceptions of students from refugee backgrounds need to be examined more closely.…”

“…The comparatively lower value for this dimension may be related to the prevailing image within European societies of people from refugee backgrounds. Their values and culture are often seen as incompatible with those of the West, not least because of the gender stereotypes ascribed to them (Bartsch and Rulofs, 2020). Research also clearly demonstrates that teachers have internalised such stereotypes (Benn and Pfister, 2013;Van Doodewaard and Knoppers, 2016), which may have influenced response behaviour.…”