ERIC Number: EJ1091036
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1357-3322
EISSN: N/A
Coaching Whiteness: Stories of "Pacifica Exotica" in Australian High School Rugby
McDonald, Brent
Sport, Education and Society, v21 n3 p465-482 2016
The intersection of sport and education is a potentially powerful site for the production of class and gender. This paper examines how the relationship between sport and education can also serve to (re)produce ideas about "race". Drawing on research conducted during my time as a coach of the first XV rugby team at an elite private school in Australia, I consider how whiteness creates the "other". In particular I highlight how, despite their absence, the Pacific Island "other" is (re)produced through stories that coaches share during training. These stories revolve around the themes of the "natural", fear and violence and commodity. As themes they resonate with a larger meta-narrative that informs dominant "white" culture on Pacific Islanders in Australia. Such stories have the power to shape students' subjectivities, both of themselves and Pacific Islanders. Deconstructing the white-stream narrative identifies sport settings in education as important pedagogical sites where "race", class and gender are learned. As such, there is a need to utilise critical pedagogical approaches in the education of sports coaches.
Descriptors: Team Sports, Private Schools, High School Students, Athletic Coaches, Foreign Countries, Correlation, Social Class, Gender Differences, Pacific Islanders, Selective Admission, Fear, Violence, Critical Theory, Race, Teaching Methods, Cultural Differences
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A