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Description
Racism is a sickness that permeates every aspect of Black life. But if the events of the past few years have taught us anything, it is that America has a hard time talking about issues that create disparity and inequality for Black people.
This inequality extends not just into education but also into physical education. Blacks are stereotyped as physically superior and intellectually deficient. They are marginalized in PE just as they are in other aspects of their lives.
Through a series of case studies, Critical Race Studies in Physical Education offers deep insights into the issues that Black students face. The text, geared to undergraduate and graduate PETE students and in-service teachers, does the following:
- Provides culturally aware teaching strategies that affirm the worth of Black students
- Amplifies the crucial issues that negatively affect Black students
- Addresses the litany of intentional and covert racist practices directed toward Black youth, thus broadening the book’s value beyond the sharing of teaching strategies
To do so, Critical Race Studies in Physical Education provides the following:
- Eight case studies of situations that expose racism, disparities, and other issues affecting Black students’ well-being, self-worth, and healthy experiences in PE
- Critical race study discourse that stimulates discussion of relevant issues and enhances learning
- Reflective activities, resources, lesson considerations, and definitions to help students and in-service teachers use what they have learned through the case studies and discussions
Each case study includes discussion and reflection prompts that are meant to lead the way to effective strategies and immediate implementation opportunities. Here is a partial list of the case studies:
- A white elementary student uses the N-word toward a Black teacher
- A Black female student endures gendered racism and racial disparities through her swimming experiences
- A white teacher is oblivious to why her Black students don’t want to be outside in the sunshine or get their hair moist
- A new PE teacher harbors toxic masculinity, white supremacy, and stereotypes of Black sexuality
- White student teachers grapple with accepting job offers in an urban area
Black students need teachers to engage in anti-racist teaching practices that empower Black youth and aid in their success. For this to happen, teachers need to affirm students and make them feel safe, cared for, listened to, and recognized as worthy.
Critical Race Studies in Physical Education will help teachers of all races adopt the teaching practices that create this supportive, empathetic, and nurturing environment—and, in doing so, validate Black students’ self-worth and swing the pendulum back toward a more equitable education in PE.
About the Author
Tara B. Blackshear is an equity scholar who specializes in health, physical activity, and education. She is an assistant professor of kinesiology and the coordinator of the physical education teacher education program at Towson University. Before her current role, Dr. Blackshear taught for 17 years in public, private, charter, and international schools in the United States, Egypt, and Thailand. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she held a three-year post in which she worked to prevent type II diabetes among middle school youth in the most extensive school-based physical activity intervention in the United States.
Dr. Blackshear's commitment to equity is evident in her work that appears in Quest, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, and numerous other journals. She is actively engaged with SHAPE America, SHAPE Maryland, Partnership for a Healthier America, Physical and Health Education Canada, International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP), USA Lacrosse, PhysEquity, and Baltimore City Public Schools.
Dr. Blackshear's research has garnered national and international attention. She has begun to have an impact on institutional change, policy, and practice, as evidenced by consultation requests from organizations and agencies that seek her help in their goal of creating culturally responsive, equitable environments. Dr. Blackshear's candid perspective has shown effectiveness in transforming institutions’ performative gestures into measurable outcomes with accountability. Critical Race Studies in Physical Education furthers Dr. Blackshear's unwavering commitment to confront and disrupt structures that do not serve Black youth in health, physical activity, and education.
Brian Culp is a professor and department chair in the WellStar College of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State University. Prior to his current position, Dr. Culp taught at Armstrong Atlantic State University and Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.
Dr. Culp’s research has incorporated topics under the umbrella of promoting equity. His work has appeared in journals such as Quest, Pedagogy in Health Promotion, Qualitative Health Research, and International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching as well as many other journals and books. He has also worked on projects for organizations such as Physical and Health Education Canada, SHAPE America, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Dr. Culp was inducted as the 34th fellow of the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) in 2019—at the time, the youngest person to be awarded that distinction. He is a past vice president and Engaged Scholar Mentor of NAKHE. In recent years, Dr. Culp has been honored as a Delphine Hanna Lecturer (2017) and Dudley Allen Sargent Lecturer (2020). Other national recognitions have included a dissertation award from the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators; the Hally Beth Poindexter Young Scholar Award from NAKHE; and the Mabel Lee Award, the Social Justice and Diversity Young Professionals Award, and the E.B. Henderson Award from SHAPE America. Internationally, Dr. Culp has been a Fulbright-Hays program participant in Kenya and a Fulbright scholar and visiting research chair in Montreal. He currently serves as a Fulbright specialist.