KINE 1000 - POLITICS OF KINESIOLOGY LECTURE / READING

What are Humans?

Social Beings 

• Always in action, reaction and interaction with one another 

• Social life is negotiated through struggles over ideology, representation, and power

What do our ASSOCIATIONS reflect?

Our Social World

• What we value, what we do not value

• Our values are shaped in relation to one another via our interactions with one another 

Our Associations of Physical Education vs. Kin

• Physical Education… children, K-12, play, not serious

• Kinesiology… serious, legitimate science, prestigeious, white lab coat, technology

Why Should we CARE about Social World, Values, History or Politics?

Narrow thinking works against your success!

What are POWER PROJECTS?

Something a person or group does to gain, show, and keep power

What is POWER?

The power to define is power to influence or control

• the ability to influence people

• the ability to mobilize resources

The Industrial Revolution and Child Labour Laws

• Passage of legislation to protect children from early work and to promote schooling

• Improvements to public education system

The Roots of Physical Education

• Physical fitness and hardiness were understood as virtues of good Christian boys and men

• Recognized need for stronger youth for industry and war (used as places to foster strong solider)

• Used to develop privileged (middle to upperclass) boys into “leaders of the future”

• School sports also served as sites where social and moral lessons could be taught and learned 

How were Women / Girls exposed to Physical Education?

• Restricted to gentle, rhythmic exercise

• Gracing over ideologies like “competition”

• To ensure girls can reproduce successfully 

Who controls education in Canada?

Education is under the jusridiction of provinces so development of PE varies by province 

Who was instrumental in developing PE in Central Canada?

Egerton Ryerson

How was PE developed in Canada?

• Strong British Influence

• Advocation for integration of music, art, and PE into Canadian curricula

• First national program of PE, comprised of drill and rigid calistheics

• Strong advocacy for physical training

Why was there Atrong Advocacy for Physical Training before WWII?

To prepare boys for militaristic threat

What was the STRATHCONA TRUST SYSTEM?

Canadian program to promote physical training and military drills in schools to prepare boys for war

Why was there a VOCAL OPPOSITION to the Strathcona Trust System?

Educators opposed the militaristic drills as they believed PE should be based on anatomy, physiology and child development theory

What Association was created in opposition with the Strathcona Trust System?

Canadian Physical Education Association OR now known as…

Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD)

What was the National Physical Fitness Act?

Important catalyst in promoting teacher training in physical education at universities across Canada

• Money was offered to each province to encourage the development of physical education in universities 

What are the influencers to Kinesiology’s early political projects?

1. Increased knowledge and speciation of scholars studying human movement

2. Kin scholars pushing to legitimate the study of human movement as worthy of higher education (both inside and outside universities)

3. Federal government shifting emphasis from WWII to supporting high performance sports systems

The Shift of Kineisology

Movement away from teacher training to the multidisciplinary study of human movement (connection of cell to society)

One of the First Kinesiology Departments in the world?

Simon Fraser University, BC and University of Waterloo

• UWaterloo, defined their approach as “nonprofessional study of human physical movement”

How did Health Promotion affect the Field of Kinesiology?

• Government began to believe that issues could be solved by encouraging individuals to take better care of their health themselves (personal control and lifestyle)

• Thus shaping kinesiology as a key disciplinary area for study of health promotion 

What organization created the Canadian Guidelines for Physical Activity?

Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP)

• A longstanding national effort to encourage more movement for all Canadians (0 to 65+ years old)

STRENGTHS of the Canadian Guidelines for Physical Activity?

• Widely recognized, easy to remember

• Evidence-informed, systematic in approach

• Stamp of approval from government and health arms of the state 

WEAKNESSES of the Canadian Guidelines for Physical Activity?

• Prescriptive

• Physical activity solely in service of health

• Downloads responsibility to individual wihout taking into account the constraints in peoples lives 

What is CSEP?

Voluntary organization that comprises professionals interested and onvolved in the scientific study of exercise physiology, exercise biochemistry, fitness and health. They translate advances in exercise science research into the promotion of fitness, performance, and health outcomes for Canadians. 

What did the Power Project of Kinesiology in Higher Education Support?

The development and legitimization of all the sub-disciplinary areas that comprise kinesiology

This benefited…

• Scientists of kinesiology as they were now viewed as EXPERTS

• Kinesiology as a whole, as it was now normalized as the disciplinary area comprised of experts on the study of human movement 

What are the 4 Streams of KAHS and Their Credits?

1. Molecular, cellular and integrative physiology = 15

2. Health and fitness behaviours = 15

3. Neutral and biomechanics control of movement = 6

4. Socio-cultural and policy studies in sports and physical activity = 6

What do you Notice about what TOPICS this Program Emphasizes?

• Emphasizes and encourages physiology

• THUS risking narrower thinking on

  • What we consider important 

  • What we consider normal and desirable 

  • Defining the body as only an object 

What are MISSION Statements?

A statement that defines what an organization DOES

What are VISION statements?

A statement that defines what an organization INSPIRES to become

What do MISSION / VISION statements reveal about Kinesiology programs?

How programs identify and construct themselves and how they reproduce narrowly defined arrangements of power / knowledge 

What is the Main Goal of Kinesiology Programs?

To create, apply and share health and physical activity knowledge with students and the public

What type of Health and Physical Activity?

The types that are seemingly determined by individual choices, self-mastery, discipline, control and etc

What gets Left Out?

• History, culture, social location, social beings

• Power between dominant and subordinate groups / individuals

Why are most Performance Science Conducted on CISGENDERED MEN?

• Defaulted to men participants as female hormonal changes were seen as adding “noise” that made results harder to control 

• They found it easier to study male bodies because they “don’t experience” the same hormonal fluctuations (but they actually do!)

How did Historical Perceptions of Females Contribute to GENDER BIAS in Research?

• Women deemed the weaker / inferior sex

• Leading to their exclusion from studies (“not worthy enough’)

How did the Harvard Fatigue Lab influence research?

Its staff and students when on to create 17 new labs across the US passing down the legacy, methodologies and viewpoints across generations

Who were the Typical Participants in early Exercise Science?

• Young, college-aged white men

  • An average person was considered a 70 kg man

• Since they were the ones allowed to play supports and access education

How has Research Funding Contributed to Gender Bias?

Funding has historically been easier to obtain when investigating male cells, animals and humans

What are KIN CITIZENS?

The types of citizens produced by kinesiology students 

What is NEOLIBERALISM?

Allowing businesses to make decisions in society not considering government / state influence on economy