Critical Pedagogy and APA: A Resonant (and Timely) Interdisciplinary Blend

Adapt Phys Activ Q. 2018 Jul 1;35(3):293-307. doi: 10.1123/apaq.2017-0106. Epub 2018 Apr 12.

Abstract

Critical pedagogy owes much of its emergence, development, and ongoing relevance to the work of Paulo Freire whose legacy remains relevant for a next generation of scholars who seek to explore issues of inclusion, oppression, social justice, and authentic expression. An interdisciplinary dialogue between critical pedagogy and adapted physical activity is timely, appropriate, and should focus on complex profiles of neurodiversity, mental illness, and mental health, with emphasis on pedagogic practices of practitioners in service delivery and teacher educators who prepare them for professional practice. A case-based scenario approach is used to present practitioner and teacher educator practices. Concrete examples are provided for analyzing and understanding deeper issues and challenges related to neurodiversity in a variety of embodied dimensions in educational and activity contexts. We work with Szostak's approach to interdisciplinary research and model an analysis strategy that integrates and applies the methodological features of interdisciplinarity, adapted physical activity, and critical pedagogy.

Keywords: interdisciplinarity; social justice; sociological perspectives.

MeSH terms

  • Disabled Persons
  • Exercise*
  • Humans
  • Interdisciplinary Communication*
  • Social Justice
  • Teaching*