Physical Education Teachers and Competing Obesity Discourses: An Examination of Emerging Professional Identities

Aim: To provide insight into how physical education teachers use discursive resources related to obesity to create particular professional identities. Method: Data come from focus group and individual interviews with physical education teachers in Sweden. Discourse theory on teacher identities frame the analysis of the empirical material. Results: Data suggest that teachers in Sweden make use of six distinct but related discursive contributions to produce three professional identities: the caring practitioner, an identity concerned with ensuring all pupils irrespective of size participate in physical education; the activity luminary, an identity that focuses on inspiring pupils toward activity across the lifespan, and; the body rationalist, an identity concerned with challenging unrealistic media discourses and reassuring pupils that they have normal bodies. Discussion: The identities appear more inclusive, sensitive, and critical than current physical education literature on obesity suggests, however they also contain elements that are fundamentally unsympathetic to overweight individuals.

Automated summary

The study found that physical education teachers in Sweden use six distinct but related discursive contributions to form three professional identities, each addressing different aspects of obesity. These identities appear more inclusive, sensitive, and critical than current literature on obesity in physical education suggests, but also contain elements that lack sympathy towards overweight individuals.