ABSTRACT
Feminist critiques of schooling have been wide-ranging and varied, but it is only recently that there has been any attempt to consider issues of gender equality in Physical Education (PE). This chapter aims to fill some of the gaps, drawing on some of the findings of a recent empirical study of the professional socialization of intending secondary school PE teachers in Britain. It focuses on two aspects of the PE Initial Teacher Education (ITE) curriculum; the selection, organization and timetabling of practical PE Studies, and the extent to which students are involved in addressing issues of gender equality. In a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course committee meeting, cross-curricular issues were specifically raised as an agenda item. The chapter also focuses on the current sex-differentiated timetabling of practical activities in the undergraduate degrees of the case study institutions. It shows how particular activities–contact sports, and aesthetic activities such as dance–continue to be seen by teacher educators as 'feminine' or 'masculine'.
