Critical scholarship in physical education teacher education: a journey, not a destination

In this chapter we explore the practical and theoretical foundations of the critical project and its evolving fortunes in physical education teacher education (PETE). Rooted in humanist epistemological assumptions, underpinned by enlightenment and emancipatory aspirations, critical theories of more equitable and just versions of PE have been criticised as illusions of freedom. Bringing the social and historical into sharper focus post structural theorising proposed a different account of power relations that freed the dominant subject from overly rationalistic accounts of agency (see Foucault, 1980, 2000). Mapping this evolution into the world of PETE we reveal a spectrum of practical engagement that ranges from ‘raising critical awareness’ to ‘critical disruptions of the known and familiar’. In taking the critical project forward, we contemplate the potential for contemporary PETE scholars to engage with posthumanist thinking to better recognise increasingly networked forms of existence (including non-human others), while remaining critical (Braidotti, 2013, 2016).