Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Teaching with the test: Using fitness tests to teach paradoxically in physical education
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, Department of Movement, Culture and Society. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway. (REMO)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8748-8843
Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway; Örebro University, Sweden.
University West, Sweden.
University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
2025 (English)In: European Physical Education Review, ISSN 1356-336X, E-ISSN 1741-2749, Vol. 31, no 3, p. 462-481Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In many countries, fitness testing is used in physical education (PE). Advocates of fitness testing maintain that testing promotes physical activity and has long-term health benefits. Other scholars question using fitness tests for children in educational contexts and describe them as demotivating, embarrassing, and humiliating. The purpose of the study is to contribute to this educational dilemma with knowledge on the use of "fitness tests" in PE practice. This is done by exploring a pedagogical intervention in Sweden where tests were used to teach from a norm-creative perspective and considering how bodies with different weight and form could be included. We draw on "new materialist" methodologies, asking what tests do and can do in PE practice. In our analysis, we brought together six affective elements of what tests do. Many tests produced traditional PE practices, and there were apparent silences regarding body hierarchies, which often render big bodies invisible. Teaching tests paradoxically, however, also produced opportunities for creativity in moving and opportunities to reflect upon norms about justice and "normal" bodies. This analysis highlights the potential of teaching with the test in order for fitness tests to become educational.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2025. Vol. 31, no 3, p. 462-481
National Category
Pedagogy
Research subject
Social Sciences/Humanities
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:gih:diva-8361DOI: 10.1177/1356336X241283796ISI: 001346817200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85208075640OAI: oai:DiVA.org:gih-8361DiVA, id: diva2:1906447
Conference
olume31Issue3Page462-481
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03476Available from: 2024-10-17 Created: 2024-10-17 Last updated: 2025-09-16

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(478 kB)102 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 478 kBChecksum SHA-512
52e31e216c4922946c282f5c91fe4d769a1cb2df685204f97432f3d1a711530c18ca96bba25162e9a80e40176c1e93ce54496e22a11c73e8f3d851176a2a1efb
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Quennerstedt, Mikael

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Quennerstedt, Mikael
By organisation
Department of Movement, Culture and Society
In the same journal
European Physical Education Review
Pedagogy

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 104 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 465 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf