School cultural influences in development of co-education proposal in phisical education classes

Abstract

Based on the fact that physical education teachers in general find it very difficult to work with mixed-sex classes, the study’s aim is to analyze the possibility of interference by school culture on the development of co-educational programs in physical education. The study was developed through the implementation of a football program in a mixed-sex, 8th grade class in a public school. School culture manifests itself through many aspects of program development. We concentrated on students’ lack of participation in the activities proposed during the lessons and what we classified as a “culture of doing nothing”. The first big challenge to the teacher is to find a balance between the lessons the students desire and the one planned. The way to transformation is through negotiation between teacher and students, who rely on the teacher’s approach to and knowledge of the students, and of current school culture in order to enable changes in future plans.