Embodiment Philosophical considerations of the body in adaptive physical education

• Published in: Routledge Handbook of Adapted Physical Education pp. 227 - 238
• Main Author: Standal, Øyvind F.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2020
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: ADHD; Van Manen; Eidetic Feature; In-service Physical Educators; Physical Education; Tattoos; General Physical Education Teacher; Phenomenological Perspective; Physical Educators; Embodied Experiences; Connolly’s Work; Adaptive Physical Education Specialists; Foreground Background Relationship; Bodily Space; Adaptive Physical Education; Motor Skill Intervention; ICF; Edmund Husserl; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Underwear; Duck; Single Subject Design; Carpenter’s Relation; Hockey Stick; Yard Lines
• ISBN: 0367146118; 9780367146115
• DOI: 10.4324/9780429052675-18

In this chapter, the concept of embodiment is introduced. This is done by taking the perspective of phenomenological philosophy, a school of thought that emphasizes lived experience and theorizes the body as something more than a biological object. By drawing on relevant research in the area of adaptive physical education, practical consequences of this theoretical perspective are described. More specifically, by focusing on embodiment, it is argued that teachers and specialists of adaptive physical education need to attend to their practice as context-sensitive and persons-centered. This chapter presents the concept of embodiment. Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy developed in Europe in the early part of the 1900s. Phenomenology has developed into different directions and has had an impact in other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and the cognitive sciences. The original phenomenological analysis of things as use-objects can be found in the German phenomenologist Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time, where he elaborated on a carpenter’s relation to the hammer. The chapter explores the concept of embodiment, lays out its philosophical background, and shows how the concept has been utilized within the area of sports and physical education for people with disabilities/impaired bodies. One of the key features of M. Connolly’s work is her attention to insiders’ experiences, that is, the lived experience of the students and others taking part in physical education.