“Why I Faked PE to Graduate”: Physical Education Faculty’s Views on a Disabled Student’s PE Story

This study examined how physical education teacher education (PETE) faculty engage with a blog authored by a disabled student, with particular attention to how credibility is attributed and how meaning is constructed about the narrative within the blog. Guided by epistemic injustice as a conceptual framework, and using a stimulus-based epistemic elicitation approach, eight PETE faculty (four men, four women, ages 32–61) were interviewed and asked to reflect on a blog post. Data were analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. Three cascading themes were constructed: (a) I understand his view …, (b) … and things need to change …, and (c) … but. Collectively, while most participants found the blog to be a valuable artifact that can help re-construct their views of PETE, there were limits to the participants’ ability to welcome the author’s opinions into their epistemic toolkit, particularly when these opinions created tension with their professional values.