Urban, minority youth, especially girls, experience dramatic decreases in physical activity (including physical education) participation throughout adolescence, resulting in wide health disparities. Research suggests that, in these settings, sport-based physical education may lack cultural relevance for many urban females and lead to feelings of alienation. There is a need then for more research about the most engaging physical education content, curricular models and instructional approaches for this unique population. Therefore, this study used alienation theory to explore inner-city, African American, high school girls’ contrasts between dance and sport-based physical education class.
Method:
This study investigated the perspectives of six African American girls (ages 14-18) at one inner-city high school in the Midwestern U.S. who were currently enrolled in a dance-based PE class, but had also taken a sport-based PE class within the past two years. Data collection included: twelve 45-minute individual student interviews, two with each girl, one teacher interview, four observations of the dance PE class, and two observations of the sport PE class. Data were analyzed using constant comparison and analytic induction four times across four data collection cycles. Trustworthiness was sought by triangulating data sources, member-checking, and peer debriefing.
Analysis/Results:
The overall finding was that girls reported that the dance PE class reduced alienation and created better connection to physical activity. This reduced alienation and improved connection was described through issues of power, meaning, and social isolation/attachment. 1) Dance PE increased feelings of power through opportunities for choice/ownership, creativity, and sustained skill development. 2) Dance PE generated heightened meaning through dance to popular music, novel lessons daily, and important life lessons such as discipline, responsibility, and the ability to feel confident in front of an audience. 3) Dance-based PE reduced emotional distance between girls and the teacher, and among students, leading to greater feelings of emotional connection than was common in sport PE classes.
Conclusions:
The dance-based PE class provided relevant content for female adolescent students to use in the future, opportunities to choose and be creative through movement, the use of music to enhance the enjoyment of dance, and building positive self-esteem and confidence without being singled out due to lack of skill. Results aligned well with alienation theory demonstrating different avenues for providing African American, high school girls with power, meaning, and social connections when offered a dance-based physical education course.