The physical filter : How the doing of physical education shapes the knowing of health
Karlsson, Johanna LU
(2026)
In Sport, Education and Society
p.1-15
- Abstract
- This study investigates how the health component of Physical Educationand Health (PEH) is operationalized in Swedish secondary school practice,specifically, how abstract health concepts are negotiated within amovement-based pedagogical tradition. Two research questions guidethe study: (1) How is health content shaped when filtered through thelogic of sport and physical performance? (2) What are the pedagogicalconsequences of this filtering for students’ access to disciplinaryknowledge? Second language learners’ experiences serve as ananalytical magnifying glass to expose the ultimate pedagogicalconsequences of these processes. Using a qualitative linguistic-ethnographic approach, the study draws on 14 video-recorded lessonsand stimulated... (More)
- This study investigates how the health component of Physical Educationand Health (PEH) is operationalized in Swedish secondary school practice,specifically, how abstract health concepts are negotiated within amovement-based pedagogical tradition. Two research questions guidethe study: (1) How is health content shaped when filtered through thelogic of sport and physical performance? (2) What are the pedagogicalconsequences of this filtering for students’ access to disciplinaryknowledge? Second language learners’ experiences serve as ananalytical magnifying glass to expose the ultimate pedagogicalconsequences of these processes. Using a qualitative linguistic-ethnographic approach, the study draws on 14 video-recorded lessonsand stimulated recall interviews with experienced PEH teachers. Theanalytical framework integrates Language-Related Episodes (LRE) and theconcept of embodied cohesion to examine the interplay between verbalinstruction and physical action. The results suggest that health contentis consistently processed through a ‘physical filter’, where abstractpsychosocial dimensions are either marginalized or ‘sportified’ intobiomedical and physiological explanations to fit the gymnasium’straditional logic of performance. While the use of the body as asemiotic bridge facilitates understanding of physiological concepts, itfails to provide scaffolding for abstract health dimensions. This creates a‘deceptive illusion of participation’ for L2 learners; their physicalproficiency masks a lack of conceptual understanding, leading toexclusion from the subject’s disciplinary core and lower achievement inwritten assessments. The findings point to a structural gap in teachereducation, where a lack of formal health didactics appears to driveteachers toward the familiar logic of sports. To ensure educationalequity, the article calls for a more language-aware health didactics thatacknowledges the limits of the body as a communicative tool. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2a48384a-78f2-49bb-86d6-9b3cb556d449
- author
- Karlsson, Johanna
LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Det fysiska filtret
- publishing date
- 2026-09-24
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- physical education, health, health literacy, second language learners, Embodied cohesion, disciplinary literacy
- in
- Sport, Education and Society
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- ISSN
- 1357-3322
- DOI
- 10.1080/13573322.2026.2737724
- project
- Ämnesspecifikt språk i hälsoundervisning: Utmaningar för nyanlända elever
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2a48384a-78f2-49bb-86d6-9b3cb556d449
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-24 21:19:37
- date last changed
- 2026-10-01 13:49:06
@article{2a48384a-78f2-49bb-86d6-9b3cb556d449,
abstract = {{This study investigates how the health component of Physical Educationand Health (PEH) is operationalized in Swedish secondary school practice,specifically, how abstract health concepts are negotiated within amovement-based pedagogical tradition. Two research questions guidethe study: (1) How is health content shaped when filtered through thelogic of sport and physical performance? (2) What are the pedagogicalconsequences of this filtering for students’ access to disciplinaryknowledge? Second language learners’ experiences serve as ananalytical magnifying glass to expose the ultimate pedagogicalconsequences of these processes. Using a qualitative linguistic-ethnographic approach, the study draws on 14 video-recorded lessonsand stimulated recall interviews with experienced PEH teachers. Theanalytical framework integrates Language-Related Episodes (LRE) and theconcept of embodied cohesion to examine the interplay between verbalinstruction and physical action. The results suggest that health contentis consistently processed through a ‘physical filter’, where abstractpsychosocial dimensions are either marginalized or ‘sportified’ intobiomedical and physiological explanations to fit the gymnasium’straditional logic of performance. While the use of the body as asemiotic bridge facilitates understanding of physiological concepts, itfails to provide scaffolding for abstract health dimensions. This creates a‘deceptive illusion of participation’ for L2 learners; their physicalproficiency masks a lack of conceptual understanding, leading toexclusion from the subject’s disciplinary core and lower achievement inwritten assessments. The findings point to a structural gap in teachereducation, where a lack of formal health didactics appears to driveteachers toward the familiar logic of sports. To ensure educationalequity, the article calls for a more language-aware health didactics thatacknowledges the limits of the body as a communicative tool.}},
author = {{Karlsson, Johanna}},
issn = {{1357-3322}},
keywords = {{physical education; health; health literacy; second language learners; Embodied cohesion; disciplinary literacy}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{09}},
pages = {{1--15}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Sport, Education and Society}},
title = {{The physical filter : How the doing of physical education shapes the knowing of health}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2026.2737724}},
doi = {{10.1080/13573322.2026.2737724}},
year = {{2026}},
}