What is valued in friluftsliv within PE teacher education? : Swedish PE teacher educators’ thoughts about friluftsliv analysed through the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu

Abstract

The value assigned to friluftsliv (activities similar to outdoor education) in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) and in the PE syllabus in Sweden does not seem to result in the implementation of friluftsliv in the practice of teaching in Swedish schools. This study investigates how the identified values of friluftsliv, expressed in interviews with 17 PE teacher educators in Sweden, reflect struggles for legitimate and privileged knowledge in PETE. The exploration of friluftsliv within PETE reveals positions that appear to be an effect of the dominating logic of sport within Swedish PETE and the limited influence of the academic field. The educational consequences of the identified values are analysed and discussed from a socio-cultural perspective.

Friluftsliv in Swedish Physical Education - a Struggle of Values. Educational and Sociological Perspectives.