Ethnographic research in school physical education: a review of dissertations and theses

Author(s)

Alexandre França Salomão

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Educação (FE/SBD)
• Defense date: 2017-05-12

Examining board members

Marcos Garcia Neira; Wilson Alviano Júnior; Rita de Cassia Gallego; Paulo Castelar Perim; Ivan Luís dos Santos

• Advisor: Marcos Garcia Neira

Abstract

This research addresses School Physical Education and its ethnographic-academic productions, in which the Critical-Overcoming and Cultural curricular theoretical frames are presented with focus on their typical structuring elements and principles, besides ethical, didacticmethodological and evaluative procedures. The two curricular matrixes selected for this work are characterized by their radically critical postures in relation to the biologistic, technical and sportive tradition in the area however, they have different pedagogical and political assumptions within the fields of modernity and post-modernity. With regard to the method on ethnography, this study focuses on approaches to specific parameters of ethnographic research in Education, which are seen as relevant indicators to guide the analysis of school dissertations and theses in Physical Education. The database was composed of dissertations and theses in School Physical Education described as ethnographic in their summaries and developed in the three São Paulo state universities (USP, UNICAMP and UNESP). These works present observations, interviews and document analysis as methodological field procedures and focus on different themes relating to Physical Education in schools. Thirteen studies were examined, and six of them were analyzed completely, with emphasis on methodological and curricular aspects and general characteristics relating to ethnography specifically field work and relations with theoretical and documental curriculum references. Some characteristics that differentiate these studies include: diversity of themes; definition of places for data collection; time demanded in observations; subjects chosen for semi-structured interviews; and variety of curriculum documents. No explicit correlations were found between the Critical-Overcoming and Cultural curricula, therefore analyzes were performed to establish nexuses between the adopted curricular matrixes and the studied seen as ethnographic in School Physical Education. This study highlights a series of difficulties in the use of ethnographic references in the area of School Physical Education (especially with respect to applying diverse techniques for data collection and the immersion time in field work), however, it indicates the possibility of accessing effective knowledge on the lessons of this discipline. Thus, it would be fundamentally important to refer to studies that use the theoretical-conceptual reference of ethnography and curricula in investigations in School Physical Education to achieve a wider and deeper vision of what has been done in its lessons. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/09029-1 - Ethnographic research physical education in schools: a balance of theses and dissertations.
• Grantee: Alexandre França Salomão
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate