Investigating the gender regime in physical education and dance

In my early years I have no recollection of ever kicking a ball. As a girl, I just didn’t! At school I took part in a range of team games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and athletics. As I grew older my love of dance and gymnastics developed at the expense of other activities. I had plenty of opportunities to take part in virtually any sport I wanted, except perhaps football or rugby, which at that time just weren’t played by girls. It was perhaps only when I began working in the field of teacher training that the absurdity of the ‘missing men and boys’ hit home. The subtlety of access to certain team games, whilst important for equity, is on reflection a minor point when compared to a far greatly tragedy. Namely, the exclusion of so many boys from dance; the only activity within the PE curriculum that offers young people the chance to use their body is an expressive way to communicate ideas, feelings and moods, and the unwillingness, fear and dread felt by so many men forced to teach it. Whilst there are small pockets of progress, no other area of PE stands out so obviously as a beacon of poor inclusive practice.