Recontextualizing and delivering the biomedical model as a physical education curriculum

Abstract

This paper examines the problem of delivering a body of knowledge based on biomedical research as a school physical education discourse. The paper attempts to deconstruct the ideology of healthism upon which the discourse is based in order to show how ascetic practices in school physical education are promoted as a way of combating the hedonistic tendencies of modern lifestyles of the young. A critical examination is presented of the claims made by biomedicine in light of the paucity of evidence, the unresolved questions of individuality, the ineffective response to the consumer culture of modem youth, and the moral imperative that seem to be associated with the requirements for healthy living. The paper concludes that without reflection on what is being assumed in the recontexualization of biomedicine, a central tension will continue to exist between the dominant discourse of healthism and those it is attempting to influence. More specifically, the reduction of the disparity between healthism and the reality of consumer culture of modern youth must be achieved in order that the objectives of the discourse may be realized. Physical education teachers and biomedical experts will require a similar understanding of youth culture to those in the advertising industry if the values of physical activity are to be fully accepted.