Physical Education and the Ideal Body – A Norwegian Perspective

Abstract

One of the aims of Physical Education (PE) in Norway is that pupils are to develop a positive body image to enable them to assess the ideals of body and movement that may influence their self-esteem, health, nutrition and lifestyle. Previous research suggests that the way a topic is implemented in PE, is not necessarily in accordance with the intentions expressed in the curriculum. There are indications that PE is often implemented as a technically oriented athletics subject with clear performance requirements and wide use of physical tests. Such practices support an objective and outward-oriented concept of the body, which may, in turn, increase the pressure related to body image that many pupils experience. The portrayal of the body image in the media, the goal formulations in the PE curriculum, and how the pupil’s body has been envisaged in the subject in the past will be discussed. The theoretical perspective relates to the body paradigms of René Descartes and Maurice Merleau-Pontys. These contrasting views are fruitful in a discussion of the challenges facing PE in relation to the current ideals of the body. The conclusión is that the Norwegian PE curriculum is in accordance with a subjective and holistic bodyparadigm. This perspective corresponds with Merleau-Pontys phenomenological philosophy of the body and can serve as a multi-faceted approach to the pupils body and movement and thereby help them to establish positive and realistic images of their own bodies.