Physical Education Teachers and Competing Obesity Discourses: An Examination of Emerging Professional Identities

Aim : To provide insight into how physical education teachers use discursive resources related to obesity to create particular professional identities. Method : Data come from focus group and individual interviews with physical education teachers in Sweden. Discourse theory on teacher identities frame the analysis of the empirical material. Results : Data suggest that teachers in Sweden make use of six distinct but related discursive contributions to produce three professional identities: the caring practitioner , an identity concerned with ensuring all pupils irrespective of size participate in physical education; the activity luminary , an identity that focuses on inspiring pupils toward activity across the lifespan, and; the body rationalist , an identity concerned with challenging unrealistic media discourses and reassuring pupils that they have “normal” bodies. Discussion : The identities appear more inclusive, sensitive, and critical than current physical education literature on obesity suggests, however they also contain elements that are fundamentally unsympathetic to overweight individuals.