Current configurations of the theme of health in the professional education curricula of physical education in a state university

Abstract

This paper investigates the current configurations of the theme of health in the professional education curricula in Physical Education (PE) in a state university. It presents partial results of research based on data collected through document analysis of the Course Pedagogical Projects (professional degree course and bachelor’s degree course) and semi-structured interviews with seven teachers who participated in the curricular reformulations of these courses. The analyses were based on Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory, which permitted to highlight the agent-structure relationship and the institutional reproduction/changes. The results show that the current configurations of the theme of health are linked mainly to the Natural and Biological Sciences (with greater evidence in the bachelor’s degree course) and, to a lesser extent, to the Social and Human Sciences/Collective Health (occurring in both courses). The study highlights the challenge of ensuring greater presence of the Social and Human Sciences/Collective Health in the professional education curricula, since PE has increasingly been required to integrate multidisciplinary teams and projects based on expanded health policies.

health; health human resource training; curriculum; higher education