Telling and selling: a consideration of the pedagogical work done by nationally endorsed corporate-sponsored educational resources

ABSTRACT

In recent times, not-for-profit organisations have been partnering with for-profit corporations to create educational resources. This has been especially true in physical and health education, particularly within Canada. For example, Physical and Health Education Canada has recently endorsed a number of corporate-sponsored educational resources related to health and wellness. Given this observation, we have recognised a need to theorise about how such resources – when considered as pedagogical texts – do pedagogical work. Ascribing to the belief that such resources are shaped by corporations’ biased, value-laden, and ideological views, we suggest that the desired knowledge(s) of corporations are necessarily present, if not influential or foundational, when such resources are conceived, produced, and distributed. By turning our attention to this belief and suggestion, we provide a necessary critique of these resources and the pedagogical work they achieve. We have done this by attending to the scholarship of Bernstein [2000. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield], with some additional attention to curriculum theorising done by Tinning [2010. Pedagogy and human movement: Theory, practice, research. New York, NY: Routledge]. We are hopeful that our analysis promotes discussion, debate, and potential (re) action in response to this current practice.

KEYWORDS:

• health
• physical education
• teaching
• pedagogy
• pedagogical work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Daniel B. Robinson is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses related to physical and health education, curriculum theory, and inclusive education. His research is focused principally upon culturally relevant pedagogy, mentorship within physical and education, and international and immersion service learning. He also recently co-edited Teaching Physical Education Today: Canadian Perspectives (2014) and Social Justice in Physical Education: Critical Reflections and Pedagogies for Change (2016).

Doug Gleddie is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. As a physical education teacher educator, he teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. His research interests are predominantly qualitative and include physical education teacher education, pedagogy, and narrative.

Lee Schaefer is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University. He teaches in the areas of physical education pedagogy and curriculum theory. His research is focused around teacher education, early career physical educators, urban aboriginal youth development, and narrative inquiry.