Exploring epistemic cultures in movement practices ? filling a missing paradigm in Physical Education Teacher Education

Knowledge in movement is produced in various practices such as dance and association sports. It is then reproduced as content knowledge by teachers and teacher educators in physical education (PE) contexts. Despite its prevalence in schools and universities, little is known about how this knowledge gets produced in the first instance. Often, educators simply accept knowledge in movement – including techniques and tactics – as ‘fundamental’, rather than as socially and historically situated. The scientific aim of this project is to generate an understanding of how knowledge in movement is produced in different epistemic cultures. The project consists of two studies. Study One is a document analysis of scientific and non-scientific accounts of new knowledge in movement being produced in the past. Study Two is ethnographic in nature, where participants in three movement cultures are being interviewed and observed. In both studies, Knorr-Cetina’s notions of epistemic cultures, objects of knowledge, and unfolding, provide the theoretical basis for investigation and analysis. The findings will form the basis for development of research and practice in physical education teacher education.