Physical Education: Love in the age of technique

Abstract

This article stems from a Master’s thesis in Educational Administration (Torcuato Di Tella University, Buenos Aires) that analyzes the professional identity of Physical Education (PE) teachers and their social representations. The research examines how this identity has been historically constructed based on fragmented knowledge and biologistic approaches, a product of a Positivist origin that reduced teacher training to bodily techniques and instrumental prescriptions. Several authors in the field (Aisenstein, Beer, Scharagrodsky, Rosengardt and Galak, among others) question these epistemological foundations and highlight their social impact, especially on the legitimization of certain corporealities and practices. Likewise, educators such as Perrenoud, Meirieu, Anijovich, and Cappelletti emphasize the need to critically reexamine professional identity in teacher training. The findings show that this identity, sustained by eclectic and contradictory discourses, limits the understanding of the educational role and depoliticizes the practice. This article proposes rethinking physical education teacher training from alternative epistemological frameworks that promote reflection, critical interpretation, and the production of situated knowledge. Training teachers as “interpreters” involves embracing educational complexity, uncertainty, and a commitment to social transformation.