Sport and spirituality is a burgeoning academic area of study (Jirasek, 2015). To date, the field has been dominated by Christian scholarship (Watson & Parker, 2011). Incidentally, the history of the field is often narrated from a Christocentric viewpoint. Such narratives downplay, denigrate, or ignore the impact of other religious ideas. This…

Physical education teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare preservice teachers in the technical aspects of teaching while also preparing them for the sociopolitical realities of teaching a marginalized subject. There is also a need for inservice teachers to engage in continuing professional development related to socialization…

Physical literacy has gained worldwide prominence over the last decade by re-conceptualizing primarily the meaning of physical education. British educator Margaret Whitehead is the most famous proponent of this expression and expositor of its philosophical foundation and value. As such, physical literacy rejects dualism, is buttressed by monism,…

Globally, integrated school placements as well as inclusion as an education philosophy have emerged as influential trends in education over the past 30 years. Although used interchangeably at times, inclusion and integration are distinct. Confusion about inclusion and integration can lead to mixed messages, which oftentimes affect the education of…

Change in education is inevitable. Physical educators are being positioned to effectively manage change and control their own destiny. In order to manage and facilitate positive change, physical educators should clearly embrace and accept physical education as a public health tool, understand the educational change process in schools, and know how…

One of the most long-standing controversies in kinesiology has been that of physical activity requirements (PARs) in corresponding degree programs. Despite a recommendation from the American Kinesiology Association to include "the practice of physical activity" in undergraduate kinesiology degree programs, some programs have PARs, while…

There are varied approaches that have been used in sport for development (SFD) projects. This article is focused on the move by sport and exercise psychology researchers toward community-based SFD projects where marginalized groups are centralized. The authors have chosen two of their projects to exemplify different approaches to SFD. An initial…

Bullying is increasingly considered to be an important moral, political, and social issue within modern society. Academic research on this issue has mostly been examined through a psychological lens, often using questionnaire data to examine and explain the prevalence of different types of bullying. In this position statement, we apply a…

This article examines the complex but seldom articulated relationship of primary physical education, citizenship, and social justice. We argue that to conflate physical "activity" and sport with physical "education" in unacknowledged ways may serve to perpetuate the status quo. More significantly, the current emphasis on…

In this article, we suggest that character education in sport contexts can promote social justice. After defining key terms, we suggest that rethinking competition and the nature of team relationships is required to build a team culture responsive to concerns for social justice. The character of the team provides a nexus within which to develop…

This article seeks to synthesize and apply White racial identity theory and concomitant research to the interaction between athletic and racial identity, specifically as it relates to the experiential variations of how race impacts White athletes within the college sport environment. White dialectics, or the tensions that White Americans…

The debate on whether kinesiology students should undergo fitness testing is controversial. Some are strong proponents of fitness testing, while others are in strong opposition. As advocates for fitness testing among kinesiology majors, we aimed to assess the fitness levels of Exercise Science and Physical Education Teacher Education majors and…

The knowledge base of kinesiology can be compared to the construction of a fragmented, diffuse tower. Much of the lack of identity and progress of kinesiology as the leader in the study of human physical activity may result from inconsistent nomenclature. Several examples of improper and inconsistent use of kinesiology nomenclature are noted and…

This article explores the current state and new roles of physical education as liberal education (PELE) in higher education. Recently, there has been growing discontent with PELE due to program redundancy and lack of educational power in higher education. However, little attention has been given to how to reconstruct PELE in higher education. To…

As our nation and society becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, college campuses are experiencing a dynamic shift in the student demographic on campus as well. Purposes of the study were to: (a) analyze the beliefs of kinesiology academic unit leaders (i.e., chairs, directors, heads) regarding faculty and student diversity within their…