ABSTRACT

South Korean society tends to undervalue Physical Education (PE) and overemphasizes academic subjects such as Korean, English, mathematics and science. This study problematizes the challenges within PE in the South Korean primary school context, where teachers find it difficult to deliver quality PE. Data were collected from archives and interviews with 11 South Korean primary school teachers to identify the challenges of PE that they faced. An archaeological discourse analysis, based on a Foucauldian framework, was employed to trace how the discourse of PE as challenging arose. Findings highlight not only the dominant discursive constructions of the challenges facing primary school PE but also the possible historical conditions intricately connected with social structures and institutions, surrounding primary school PE and beyond the individual’s control, in and outside the South Korean school system. The findings were: (a) PE as lacking equipment and facilities and school principals holding the budget allocation authority (b) PE as inconsequential and PE with little or no role in students’ entry in university (c) PE as accident-prone and absence of legal safeguards and social support for teachers. This paper provides readers with a fresh analytical insight in the area of PE research.

摘要

韩国社会往往低估体育教育 (PE)，而过分强调韩语、英语、数学和科学等学术科目。本研究解决了韩国小学体育课中的挑战，教师发现很难提供高质量的体育课。从档案中收集数据并采访 11 名韩国小学教师，以确定他们面临的体育挑战。基于福柯框架的考古学话语分析被用来追踪具有挑战性的 PE 话语是如何产生的。调查结果不仅强调了小学体育面临的挑战的主要话语结构，而且还强调了与社会结构和制度错综复杂相关的可能历史条件，在韩国学校系统内外，围绕小学 PE 和超出个人控制的范围。调查结果是：(a) PE 缺乏设备和设施，学校校长拥有预算分配权 (b) PE 无关紧要，PE 对学生进入大学的作用很小或没有作用 (c) PE 容易发生事故且缺席为教师提供法律保障和社会支持。本文为读者提供了 PE 研究领域的全新分析见解。(a) PE 缺乏设备和设施，校长拥有预算分配权 (b) PE 无关紧要，PE 对学生进入大学的作用很小或根本没有作用 (c) PE 容易发生事故，缺乏法律保障和对教师的社会支持。本文为读者提供了 PE 研究领域的全新分析见解。(a) PE 缺乏设备和设施，校长拥有预算分配权 (b) PE 无关紧要，PE 对学生进入大学的作用很小或根本没有作用 (c) PE 容易发生事故，缺乏法律保障和对教师的社会支持。本文为读者提供了 PE 研究领域的全新分析见解。