PE is one formal space in the school curriculum where the body becomes the focus of/for observation. Kirk and Tinning (1994), Vertinsky (1992) and Wright (1998) suggest that the history of PE has been discursively driven by controlling, disciplining, gendering, and shaping an objectified body. These discourses become apparent in the way sport, health and gender, for example, are understood. A more dynamic understanding of teaching and learning as contextualized, contested, and embodied necessitates a theoretical framework that illuminates multiple, interrelated dimensions. I draw heavily upon the work of Bourdieu to explore the way in which discourses associated with the body, both within the classroom context and through the field of physical education, create discursive spaces for constituting the embodied subjectivities of those within the social space. Bourdieu refers to field as: a network, or a configuration, of objective relations between positions objec- tively defined, in their existence and in the determinations they impose upon their occupants, agents of institutions, by their present and potential situation (situs) in the structure of the distribution of species of power (or capital) whose possession commands access to the specific profits that are at stake in the field, as well as by their objective relation to other positions (domination, subordina- tion, homology, etc.). (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, p. 97) The field of PE, then, is made up of a structured system of social relations between the educational authority, PE teacher educators, PE curriculum writers, health and sport professionals who have influence over curriculum and practices, individual school administrators, PE teachers, and PE students. Any analysis of discourses and the individual devoid of a social context is flawed and limited because it denies the relational positioning of the individual within social fields. The body highlighted by Bourdieu’s concept of habitus is paramount in reading an individual, categorizing and positioning them within a field.

PE er et formelt rum i skolens læseplan, hvor kroppen bliver i fokus for / til observation. Kirk and Tinning (1994), Vertinsky (1992) og Wright (1998) antyder, at PE's historie er blevet diskursivt drevet af kontrol, disciplinering, køn og formning af et objektiveret organ. Disse diskurser bliver tydelige på den måde, for eksempel idræt, sundhed og køn forstås. En mere dynamisk forståelse af undervisning og læring som kontekstualiseret, bestridt og legemliggjort nødvendiggør en teoretisk ramme, der belyser flere, indbyrdes forbundne dimensioner. Jeg trækker stærkt på arbejdet i Bourdieu for at udforske den måde, hvorpå diskurser, der er knyttet til kroppen, både inden for klasseloketsammenhæng og gennem fysisk træningsfelt skaber diskursive rum til at udgøre de legemlige subjektiviteter af dem i det sociale rum. Bourdieu refererer til felt som: et netværk eller en konfiguration af objektive relationer mellem positioner objektivt defineret, i deres eksistens og i de beslutninger, de pålægger deres beboere, institutioner agenter, efter deres nuværende og potentielle situation (situs) i strukturen for distributionen af magtarter (eller kapital), hvis besiddelse kommanderer adgang til det specifikke overskud, der står på marken, samt ved deres objektive forhold til andre positioner (dominans, underordnelse, homologi osv.).(Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, s. 97) PE-området består derefter af et struktureret system af sociale relationer mellem uddannelsesmyndigheden, PE-læreruddannere, PE-læseplanforfattere, sundheds- og sportsfolk, der har indflydelse på læseplaner og praksis, individuelle skoleadministratorer, PE-lærere og PE-studerende. Enhver analyse af diskurser og individet uden social sammenhæng er mangelfuld og begrænset, fordi den benægter individets relationelle positionering inden for sociale felter. Det organ, der fremhæves af Bourdieus koncept om habitus, er det vigtigste i læsning af et individ, kategorisering og placering af dem inden for et felt.