Fredagen den 8 november 2024 försvarar Kalle Jansson sin avhandling i idrottsvetenskap vid Örebro universitet, Gud vad jobbigt: Religion och etnicitet i ämnet idrott och hälsa. Disputationen äger rum i Hörsal G, Gymnastik- och idrottshuset, kl 13:15 och ett par timmar framöver.
Avhandlingsarbetet har bedrivits med stöd av handledarna universitetslektor Dean Barker och professor Christian Lundahl, Örebro universitet.
Professor Jenny Berglund, Stockholms universitet, är fakultetsopponent, och betygsnämnden utgörs av professor Katarina Schenker, Linneuniversitetet, professor Fiona Dowling, Norges idrettshøgskole, samt professor Ulrik Volgsten, Örebro universitet.
Avhandlingen är utgiven av Örebro universitet och ingår i serien Örebro Studies in Sport Sciences som volym 41. Den kan kostnadsfritt laddas ned här.
Abstract
This thesis provides knowledge about how religion and ethnicity, in intersection with gender, become significant in physical education (PE). This is achieved through an empirical study at four different secondary schools which investigates (a) how tensions related to religion and ethnicity take shape and are managed in PE, (b) the didactic consequences of these managements, and (c) how religion, ethnicity, and gender intersect when the tensions take shape and are managed. The study is grounded in intersectionality and pragmatism, employing lesson observations and interviews with teachers and students. Unlike previous research, which often concentrates on specific minority groups, this dissertation investigates how religion, ethnicity and gender take shape as tensions and lead to didactic consequences for teachers, students and the subject content. The study highlights how tensions take shape and are managed in various ways and at different levels, with a range of didactic consequences. Furthermore, the study highlights a vast variation in individual attitudes and how religion, ethnicity and gender are not static but become more or less prominent in different contexts. Tensions generally take shape at the encounter between subject traditions and teaching contents in PE and students from religious and ethnic minority groups who are unable or unwilling to do what is expected. Tensions are rarely managed by schools but rather by teachers and students during PE lessons. The managements rarely involve changes in the subject content or the structure of the teaching. Instead, it is often the students who must adapt or change. Regardless of school, tensions often arise around similar issues and are managed in similar ways, yet significant contextual differences emerge depending on whether participants are in a setting where they are part of a minority or a majority. The thesis’ main scientific contribution lies within the field of sport didactics by providing knowledge about events that teachers and students encounter in their daily school life, which have so far not been investigated in a similar way.
