IN FAVOR OF AN INCLUSIVE PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS: DECONSTRUCTING HEGEMONIC BODY STANDARDS IN SCHOOLS

Abstract

The school, as an institution responsible for enabling children to become productive members of society, has been non-inclusive from the very outset. Through symbols, habits and discourses, it has established models and hierarchized subjects, often using corporal practices. This article reflects on the practical possibilities of intercultural studies as a theoretical framework for physical education classes that are intended to affirm identity differences and non - exclusionary body practices. The theoretical contributions used in this work were from Canen (2000, 2002, 2007), Candau (2008), Louro (2008), Sctrazzacaappa (2001) and Csordas (2008). It is argued that the semantic comprehension encompassed by the concept of the body challenges researchers, but may also constitute a subversive strategy of an ethnocentrically determined aesthetic stereotype, and that categories such as cultural criticism, hybridization and social anchoring of contents have shown to be valuable theoretical tools for teachers seeking to mediate non-exclusionary physical education classes.