In search of the autonomous and critical individual: a philosophical and pedagogical analysis of the physical education curriculum of São Paulo (Brazil)

Abstract

Background: Academics, teachers and policy-makers across the world have discussed how to develop a relevant physical education (PE) curriculum that addresses the ‘body education’ needs and interests of twenty-first-century students. In Brazil, after the launch of the national curricular parameters (PCNs) in the late 1990s, many new PE curricula have emerged, some, such as the curriculum of the state of São Paulo (SP), claiming to be truly innovative in the promotion of the autonomous and critical individual. In 2006, SP, as the richest and most populous Brazilian State, convened several groups of specialists to design new curricula in all school areas, including PE. Curricula proposals always have a set of underpinning values and philosophies and the PE curriculum in SP seems to have enhanced its school function to beyond the sports restricted interests.

Purpose: This article aims to examine the philosophical and pedagogical directions that support the new PE curriculum in SP. It asks on what concepts of culture, body and movement the São Paulo physical education (SP/PE) curriculum is based; how the education of the autonomous individual is conceptualised and how the curriculum enhances the teaching of students' body practices. It also considers the ways in which autonomy is lived in an environment historically marked by social inequality.

Research design: In reflecting on these questions this paper adopts the notion of one's own body as a ‘unit of meaning’). It also draws on concept of education as the development of a critique of reality as the basis for transforming it. It discusses movement culture (MC), a central idea in the SP/PE curriculum derived from these practices of critique and transformation, as well as the concept of Sich-Bewegen, which emphasises movement as a proper expression of the individual.

Conclusions: The traditional notion of being ‘physically educated’ as proposed by Corbin has been superseded in the new curriculum. It appears that the SP/PE curriculum is challenging educators to address new key issues in their educational practices: to foster critical thinking about both the content and themes addressed by the PE curriculum; to consider cultural diversity whilst teaching; to move away from standardised proposals; and to enhance, in students, critical views of the MC content presented in the media, and thereby to encourage students to take into account the media thematic axis as a starting and an ending point for their educational practices.

Keywords:

• physical education curriculum
• phenomenology
• emancipatory pedagogy
• dialogic pedagogy
• Brazilian physical education

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge: Dr Bob Petersen (Lane Cove) and Dr Peter Bansel (University of Western Sydney) for their insightful comments on a first draft of this paper; Dr Constance Elwood for her careful English editing of its first version as well as Ms. Catherine Myson-Foehner for her thorough proof review of its final version; the School of Education at University of Western Sydney for the research funding that made available the language editing of this paper. Finally, the authors acknowledge the coherent opinions of the anonymous reviewers that made our work much more comprehensible.

Notes

1 PCNs (Brazil 1997, 1998, 2000) are documents issued by the Brazilian Federal Government designed to ensure, in the light of regional and cultural diversity, a single referential for educational processes in this country. Available at: http://portal.mec.gov.br (accessed November 21, 2011).

2 LDBEN (Brazil 1996) restates the right to education guaranteed in the Federal Constitution; it regulates the public and private systems and re-establishes the educational principles and duties of the state in ensuring the right to public school education. Available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/L9394.htm (accessed November 21, 2011).

3 DCEN (Brazil/CNE 2002) constitute a set of principles, fundaments and procedures that govern the professional development of teachers at all school levels and that must be considered in the organisation and definition of curricula. Available at: http://portal.mec.gov.br (accessed November 21, 2011).

4 Se-Movimentar, in accordance with the Portuguese translation proposed by Kunz (1991, 1994). By analogy with the expression ‘one's own body’ by Merleau-Ponty (1978), a possible translation to English would be ‘one's own movement’. Here we use the original German expression of Sich-Bewegen.

5 According to Thiele (1990), Husserl characterises the Lebenswelt as a ‘global style’ that distinguishes people in the daily world; it therefore represents the phenomenological reduction of this world and is, at the same time, an unknown horizon for every individual.

6 However, while we finalised this paper (July/2013) millions of Brazilians were demonstrating on the nation's streets where they faced violent police repression to show their dissatisfaction with the social conditions under which they live. The protesters demanded social justice and better public services (education, health and transport). Brazilians also protested against the corruption and the amount of public money spent on mega sports events, such as the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.