Educação física, linguagem e prática docente no Ensino Médio

Abstract

The inclusion of Physical Education in the area of Languages and Their Technologies, as established by official curricular documents, has generated debates and tensions regarding the role of this curricular component in Upper Secondary Education. Within this context, this study aims to investigate the relationships and contradictions between the prescribed curriculum and pedagogical practice in the teaching of Physical Education at the upper secondary level, considering its insertion within the Languages area. The research is grounded in critical and post-critical curriculum theories, with particular emphasis on the cultural perspective of Physical Education, which understands bodily practices as languages that produce cultural meanings. Methodologically, this is a qualitative study that employed semi-structured interviews as the data collection instrument. The participants were six Physical Education teachers working in Upper Secondary Education in the state public school system of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data analysis was conducted in dialogue with the relevant literature and with official curricular documents that regulate Upper Secondary Education, such as the National Common Curricular Base, the National Curriculum Parameters for Upper Secondary Education, and the Curriculum Reference of the State of Minas Gerais. The findings indicate that, although official documents recognize Physical Education as a form of language and assign central importance to bodily culture as an object of knowledge, conceptual weaknesses and contradictions persist, hindering the effective materialization of these guidelines in everyday school practice. The analyzed teaching practices reveal both convergences and divergences in relation to the prescribed curriculum and are shaped by institutional conditions, teachers’ educational backgrounds, and their conceptions of language. It is concluded that the consolidation of a culturally oriented Physical Education in Upper Secondary Education requires not only normative advances, but also investments in teacher education, curricular debate, and the creation of pedagogical conditions that foster critical, inclusive, and socially committed practices. Such efforts reaffirm Physical Education as a legitimate component of the Languages area and as a space for the production of meanings, identities, and knowledge.