Social justice knowledge construction among physical education teacher educators: the value of personal, professional, and educational experiences

Background: The imperative for social justice in education means that pre-service teachers should learn how to teach for and about social justice, including pedagogical and content knowledge. Understanding how physical education (PE) pre-service teachers and teacher educators construct and develop their knowledge of social justice pedagogies and critical content, intertwined with values based on social justice and equity, is needed to best support future teachers. Purpose: The focus of this paper is how physical education teacher educators and PE and sport pedagogy university faculty have developed their knowledge of teaching for and about social justice: where their knowledge came from and how they draw upon it in their teaching and programme design. Method: Seventy-two faculty from seven countries engaged in an in-depth interview about their conceptualisation of social justice, their knowledge, practices, institutions, and policy contexts and completed a demographic survey on their social identity and professional experiences. Using a social justice pedagogical and content knowledge (SJPACK) model, thematic analysis generated formal educational study, workplace experience, and personal or social identity bases of social justice knowledge. Findings: Many of those who expressed a commitment to teaching about and for social justice had personal and professional experiences that had provided 'eye-opening' moments. For instance, some had encountered marginalisation and discrimination based on their identity. If social justice issues were not a part of a participant's lived experience, but they had professional experience in the field, they were struck by what they did not know and subsequently sought out postgraduate or professional development. Professional experiences in the field were much more likely than formal education experiences to provide recognition that participants needed to learn more about social justice. Social justice is both knowledge and an ideological stance, so learning about social justice is as much about values and disposition as about content. Social justice must be important enough for teacher educators to embed in their belief system so that it becomes part of their pedagogical practice. Conclusion: This study prompts consideration of the professional development needs of teacher educators concerning social justice that goes beyond acknowledging the existence of sociocultural issues by moving towards changes in pedagogical practices in PETE and PESP programmes. We advocate collaborative and reflective professional development for educators if SJPACK is to be woven throughout teacher education programmes and not just incumbent on educators with personal experience of social justice issues.