Life History of Karen: A Physical Education Educator With an Impairment

LIFE HISTORY OF KAREN A Physical Education Educator With an Impairment GUNARS CAZERS University of West Alabama MATTHEW CURTNER-SMITH University of Alabama Abstract How does a person with an impairment become a physical educator? This paper presents the life history of one educator who became a physical educator and later a university professor in physical education. The paper uses the methodological model of “life history” and involves gathering information about an individual using a variety of techniques including interviewing and ethnographical ¿HOGZRUN *RRGVRQ :HXVHGDOLIHKLVWRU\DSSURDFKWRLQvestigate the personal truth of “Karen,” (a pseudonym) a professor of sport pedagogy with a physical impairment, to examine whether she experienced marginalization in the dimension of ableness within the historical context of her time. Keywordsphysical disability; case study; physical education How does a person with an impairment become a physical educator? This life history retells the story of one educator who did. The methodological approach of life history originated through work by sociologists in the early 20th century and involves gathering information about an individual using a variety of techniques includLQJ LQWHUYLHZLQJ DQG HWKQRJUDSKLFDO ¿HOGZRUN *RRGVRQ   *RRGVRQVXJJHVWHGWKDWWKHFRQWH[WD̆HFWVWKHSDUWLFLSDQWVZKHWKHUWKH\NQRZLWRUQRW³7KHOLIHKLVWRULDQPXVWFRQVWDQWO\EURDGHQ the concern with personal truth to take account of the wider sociohistorical concerns even if these are not part of the consciousness of the individual” (1995, p. 80). The term personal truth suggests that a person’s view of life is subjective; it may change with time, EXWWKHKLVWRULFDOSHUVSHFWLYHKHOSVḊ[WKHLQGLYLGXDO¶VYLHZWRWKH context of the time. We used a life history approach to investigate the personal truth of “Karen,” (a pseudonym) a professor of sport pedagogy with a physical impairment, to examine whether she experienced marginalization in the dimension of ableness within the historical context of her time. Though many researchers in Great Britain have used the life history approach (Armour, 1997; Brown, 1999; Sparkes & Templin, 1992; Sparkes, Templin, & Schempp, 1993), as well as a number of researchers in the United States (Curtner-Smith, 2001; Schempp, 1993; Schempp, Sparkes, & Templin, 1993; Templin, Sparkes, Grant, & Schempp, 1994), few have employed it in the area of physical education to explore marginalization. Three notable exceptions are Templin et al. (1994), who wrote about the marginality experienced by one teacher, Squires and Sparkes (1996), who investigated the lives of lesbian PE teachers, and Sparkes et al. (1993) ZKRIRFXVHGRQWKUHHGLPHQVLRQVRIPDUJLQDOL]DWLRQVXEMHFWVWDtus, gender, and sexual orientation. Sparkes et al. (1993) found that female PE teachers faced multiple forms of marginalization. They were numerically in the majority in their jobs, yet less often LQSRVLWLRQVRISRZHU:RPHQUHSRUWHGIHHOLQJVRIUROHFRQÀLFWDV WKH\ IDFHG GL̇FXOWLHV ZLWK WKH UROHV RI ZLIHPRWKHU ZKLOH IXO¿OOing job responsibilities. The authors noted the “deafening silence” (Sparkes et al., 1993, p. 394) concerning the lack of discussion of lesbian physical educators and illustrated such concerns with the story of “Jessica,” who spoke of the multidimensional life she led. By being female, lesbian, and teaching a subject that lacked status, the researchers suggested that multiple layers of marginality disempowered her. While Sparkes et al.’s (1993) use of narrative research illuminated marginalization based on subject status, gender, and sexual orientation, they acknowledged that “our intention has not been to privilege these at the expense of other forms that act upon individuals…. other dimensions of marginality exist, such as age, social class, race/ethnicity, and ableness” (p. 397). As Sparkes et al. (1993) suggest, ableness is another factor that leads to marginalization. The few studies of physical educators with impairments that we found are listed below. Bryant and Curtner-Smith (2008) found that students learned more swimming techniques from watching a videotape of an instructor who used a wheelchair than one who did not. The authors called for using PRGL¿HG OLIH VWRULHV RI WKH SXSLOV WR LQYHVWLJDWH WKHLU SHUFHSWLRQV of physical impairment. Berger (2009) presented several topical life histories of wheelchair basketball players. Sparkes’ (2004) autobiography as a physical educator who had the body of an elite athlete that later became an “impaired body” (p. 158) is one of a few examples of a physical educator interrogating the changing body. Sparkes (2004) relates snippets of his life, including a back injury, and asks why narratives of sport highlight perfection while “others (e.g., the impaired body) are suppressed, devalued, marginalized, abnormalized, or silenced” (p. 169). Indeed, physical education instructors with physical impairments have not been adequately researched. Wilkinson wrote, “Apart from a few autobiographies, little has been written about individual disabled people” (2009, p. 9). Life history research will enable us to hear directly from those who feel marginalized. We interpreted our results through the lens of the social model of disability, sometimes referred to as the “barriers approach” (French & Swain, 2012). This model counters the medical model of disability, which focuses on the impaired body rather than the barriers that society has put in place. Oliver, Sapey, and Thomas (2012) VWDWH³7KHVRFLDOPRGHORIGLVDELOLW\DFNQRZOHGJHVLPSDLUPHQWDV being a cause of individual limitation, but disability is imposed on top this” (p. 16). A main tenet of the social model is to distinguish impairment from disability. On the one hand, impairment is seen Vol. 28, No. 2 | 2014 | PALAESTRA 47 as within the individual who lacks the function of a body part or V\VWHP GLVDELOLW\ RQ WKH RWKHU KDQG LV D VRFLHWDO VKRUWFRPLQJ a social failure to make accommodations for people with impairments, which is thus a form of oppression (UPIAS, 1976, p. 14). We will use the term impairment in this paper. Disabling barriers can EHJURXSHGLQWRWKHIROORZLQJWKUHHFDWHJRULHVVWUXFWXUDOUHIHUULQJ to the power structures within organizations; environmental, the architectural hindrances; and attitudinal, referring to negative beliefs held by people about the abilities of people with impairments (French & Swain, 2012). Shakespeare (2006) acknowledged the social model’s past utility as a political tool, yet he critiques it for many reasons, including the fact that the model focuses on barriers while ignoring the reality of impairment (p. 38). Despite this criticism, we found the model useful to investigate Karen’s life history, especially because accessibility played such a crucial role in her life. Using the model, we heeded the warning of Goodley who ZURWH³)DLOXUHWRORFDWHVWRULHVLQVRFLDOWKHRULHVRIGLVDELOLW\PD\ seriously jeopardise informants’ words—leaving them open to interpretations elaborating individual pathology over disabling environments” (1996, p.343). The current study addressed multiple aspects of marginalizaWLRQ VSHFL¿FDOO\ DEOHQHVV JHQGHU DQG VXEMHFW VWDWXV 6SDUNHV HW al. (1993) stated that ableness is a “dimension of marginality” (p. 396) as yet unexplored at that point. Templin et al. (1994), in their life history of a late career male teacher, found instances of marJLQDOLW\LQWKHDUHDRIVXEMHFWVWDWXVWKHVFKRRODGPLQLVWUDWLRQZDV LQWHUHVWHGLQKLVFRDFKLQJVXFFHVVHVEXWVHHPHGLQGL̆HUHQWDERXW his PE teaching. Thus, marginalization can be found within multiple dimensions. The subject of this study, Karen, was a female physical education teacher education (PETE) assistant professor in her 30s in the United States with a spouse and child. Although multiple dimensions of marginalization emerged in this study, the main purpose was to listen to the voice of Karen and be led by her choice of topics. Method Utilizing a life history approach, we employed an interpretive perspective to relay Karen’s story in order to show how the narraWRU¶V OLIH ZDV D̆HFWHG E\ YDULRXV VRFLDOL]LQJ IDFWRUV $ OLIH KLVWRU\ involves building a relationship with the participant, gathering data through ethnographic methods or interviews, transcribing the interviews, analyzing the data qualitatively, and performing a member check. Karen signed informed consent forms, and the study protocol passed institutional approval. Karen chose to rePDLQDQRQ\PRXV7KH¿UVWUHVHDUFKHUFRQGXFWHGDVHULHVRIWKUHH semi-structured, in-depth interviews, each from 75 to 120 minutes long that were recorded and transcribed. The resulting data were SURFHVVHGLQWZRZD\V D WRGHYHORSWKHOLIHKLVWRU\WKHGDWDZHUH analyzed inductively (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993); and (b) thereafter, the data were again analyzed thematically according to three GLPHQVLRQV RI PDUJLQDOLW\ VXEMHFW VWDWXV JHQGHU DQG DEOHQHVV 7KXV ZH ¿UVW H[DPLQHG GDWD LQGXFWLYHO\ IRU WKHPHV DQG VXEVHTXHQWO\GHGXFWLYHO\LQIRUPHGE\WKHPHVLGHQWL¿HGLQSUHYLRXVOLWerature. A set of open-ended questions organized chronologically was used as a guide to the interviews rather than pre-formulated interview questions. To ensure trustworthiness of the data, a member check was performed by sending a draft of the paper to Karen to review for inaccuracies, and she suggested two minor factual changes that we made. A timeline was constructed follow the chronology of Karen’s life that included personal milestones as well as social and political events. The timeline served as an aid, both to the researchers and 48 PALAESTRA | 2014 | Vol. 28, No. 2 Similar to this woman, Karen always had a passion for education. also to the narrator to keep wider historical concerns in perspecWLYH.DUHQDQGWKH¿UVWUHVHDUFKHUGLVFXVVHGWKHWLPHOLQHGXULQJ the interviews. Results and Discussion Themes that emerged from the primary, inductive analysis PRVWO\ FRUUHVSRQGHG WR WKH VWDJHV RI .DUHQ¶V OLIH FKLOGKRRG XQdergraduate life, AmeriCorps, Nashville, back to college, rural Georgia, Atlanta, college teaching, doctoral program, and career in sport pedagogy. However, these other themes were not associated ZLWK KHU OLIH VWDJHV LQDFFHVVLELOLW\ RI EXLOGLQJV SK\VLFDO DFWLYLW\ and injury, and the centrality of sport. The secondary, deductive analysis of the data based upon subject status, gender, and ableness found that Karen experienced marginalization in all three of these areas. The following sections include excerpts of Karen’s life history, partially in her words, interspersed with social, historical, and political perspectives. Childhood .DUHQZDVERUQLQLQ(OHQG2KLRRQ/DNH(ULH2QHRI¿YH children, she grew up in idyllic home circumstances, and at the age of 7 moved to Iowa in the American Midwest. Her father worked for a large manufacturer, and his income enabled a relatively comfortable lifestyle; however, this work also involved frequent moves. 7KLVH[FHUSWKLJKOLJKWV.DUHQ¶V¿UVWWZRKRPHWRZQV We lived on this cul-de-sac … it was all your typical ’60s, ’70s stay-at-home moms, working dads, and they loved it … and then when we moved to Ohio, or Iowa, we had this great house … it was right across from the golf course. My dad loves to golf, and I think we all would have stayed there forever. Karen spoke of her active childhood, taking walks in the golf course, and swimming at the community pool. At age 10, the family moved again, but this time to Illinois. In her childhood, Karen explored a wide variety of sporting pursuits. Karen remembers participating on the swim team, playing softball, soccer, and later volleyball, basketball, and track. As an able-bodied girl, Karen did not experience any disablement from her environment, and as others without impairments, she took for granted her ability to navigate her surroundings. When asked about her early sport experiences in college, she exSODLQHG $OLWWOHRIP\OLIHKLVWRU\,ZD« an English ed. major undergrad; I didn’t get into PE until my master’s … well, I got hurt Christmas of my junior year in high school, and then (yawn), so the only reason that is important is because, my sister was at the university … >LW KDG D@ ZKHHOFKDLU EDVNHWEDOO program, track, at the time I was there … they were the only school that had that for women. did not chronicle the event that caused Karen’s impairment, yet for Karen, she mentioned it almost in passing. French and Swain suggested that this tragedy model “remains so entrenched in society today that it has become an ideology” (2012, p. 16). She does not DOORZKHUVHOIWREHGH¿QHGE\KHULPSDLUPHQW:HPXVWUHVSHFWRXU participant’s own words while being mindful of taken-for-granted ideology. After being an active high school athlete, Karen spoke of the SURFHVVRIUHWXUQLQJWRVFKRROIROORZLQJKHUEDFNLQMXU\ I was 16 years old, I’m lying in bed. I can’t get out of bed by myself. I can’t pee by myself, I can’t dress myself. All I wanted to do was to be able to do those things by myself … I didn’t want people—I mean there’s just nothing more frustrating than not being able to get dressed—than lying in bed … that’s just that helplessness … I want to get up, I’m thirsty and I don’t have any water … I mean that sucks … my focus was just getting where I could do those things. When I got back to school, I was in rehab I think like three months … and then when I got back into school it was like, I was captain on the pom squad … I kind of just fell back into the thing, I mean I was difIHUHQW,ZDVGH¿QLWHO\GL̆HUHQW but I just kind of did the same VWX̆ “ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TO BE ABLE TO DO THOSE THINGS BY MYSELF.” It is easy to miss the part about “getting hurt” in high school. During a winter ski trip in her penultimate year of high school, she broke her back. Karen referred to this incident in the interview as “getting hurt.” Karen does not highlight the episode of her trauma in any more detail in our interviews. She furWKHUGRZQSOD\VWKHLQFLGHQWE\VD\LQJ³7KHRQO\UHDVRQWKDWZDV important is because …” As we read the interviews, we found many incidences of sport or activity linked to injury, as when she recalled getting hit by a soccer ball in the stomach. When asked about this theme in the interviews and whether she wanted to comment about it, she replied, “Don’t forget about skiing and breaking my back.” That snippet was the only time that she explained why she used the wheelchair. We guess that Karen’s injury was a turning point in her OLIHEXWVKHGLGQRWKLJKOLJKWLWDVWKHGH¿QLQJPRPHQW6KHFKRVH not to overemphasize or reduce her life history to that one moment of “getting hurt.” Although we are using a social model, it is easy for us as researchers to slip into the tragedy model of disability (French & Swain, 2012) “which depicts impairment and disability as a personal, individual tragedy” (p. 15). Even as we recorded Karen’s life history, we felt as though we did not have the whole story if we Although Karen downplayed the incident of getting hurt, she shared YHU\ VSHFL¿F LQIRUPDWLRQ DERXW WKH process of getting back to school; VKHPRVWYLYLGO\UHÀHFWVRQHQFRXQWHULQJLPSDLUPHQWIRUWKH¿UVWWLPH She went from being helpless on her back, to being back to school in a few short months. Karen, together with her mother, ORRNHGIRUDQDSSURSULDWHFROOHJH³, remember my mom checked out this book of colleges that enable, and it had colleges that had sport teams for kids with disabilities.” They decided on a public university in her state, where her older sister had attended. Karen was fortunate that she could attend a university near her home that had a great tradition in adapted sport, and the accessibility of the campus was not a disabling factor as it would be at many other institutions. When Karen was exploring college possibilities, she was UHVWULFWHGLQWHUPVRIXQLYHUVLWLHVWKDWR̆HUHGDGDSWHGVSRUWVWHDPV for women; however, now more opportunities for women with impairments exist, and Karen is directly responsible for establishing one such program. Undergraduate Life 7UDQVLWLRQLQJIURPKLJKVFKRROWRFROOHJH.DUHQ¿UVWGLGDVXPPHUVSRUWVFDPSDWWKHXQLYHUVLW\ I was still in my big old … push handle armrest chair. And I wasn’t strong, just because I hadn’t been around anybody. ,UHPHPEHU,ZHQWGRZQWKHUHDQG,VDZWKHPLQ>VSRUWV@ chairs like mine now, and I was like oh, wow … it is so cool … that’s when I really got introduced to wheelchair sports. My rehab … it was more like, here, get from your bed to your chair. And you know we did like a little weightlifting Vol. 28, No. 2 | 2014 | PALAESTRA 49 and we’d get stronger, but it was like 5 pounds, because that’s all I could lift … then when I got to school there, I started playing basketball, and I started racing, it got a little nutty … I did basketball, and I lifted, and I did cardio. They over-train up there … like I did cardio like 3 days a week, and then I lifted 3 days a week and then I did basketball every day of the week on top of that, I mean, come on! Karen progressed very quickly from a high school student who used a wheelchair, to a participant in a wheelchair sports summer camp, to a college and world-class elite athlete. Two things that really helped her progress were the strength she gained in college IURP SXVKLQJ KHUVHOI WR FODVVHV DQG WKH LQWHQVH ZHLJKW WUDLQLQJ “What I found when I went to college is that strength is one of the most important things to have.” A turning point for Karen’s life was seeing agile athletes moving in sports chairs. She stressed that her old chair was designed to be pushed by others, and she preferred being active herself. Once Karen saw what was possible with a new chair, she almost overdid it. However, this extensive physical activity may be read as compensation for her previously forced role of a more passive victim in the push handle armrest chair, a role she despised. Moreover, her strength training gave her the agency to navigate her environment. 7KURXJKZKDW.DUHQFDOOHGD³SHUIHFWFRQÀXHQFHRIHYHQWV´VKH competed in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics for the U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team after playing college ball for only 8 months. Besides playing for her college team for 5 years, Karen had an extensive wheelchair basketball resume that included playing and coaching at a variety of international competitions. Alongside competing in sporting events, Karen completed her college undergraduate work with a degree in English education. After playing in the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, a sister who had been in the Peace Corps suggested she join the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, a government organization where one can serve people and the environment without traveling overseas. However, what upset Karen most about this experience was the lack of accessibility, and she encountered marginalization and discrimination. AmeriCorps Karen’s university had a long tradition of accommodating people with impairments, but this is not what she encountered when she joined AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps in the state of South Carolina. Karen came face to face with accessibility LVVXHVLQ6RXWK&DUROLQDWKDWVHUYHGWRPDUJLQDOL]HKHU Going into AmeriCorps, they had asked me … well what are you going to need? I said I am going to need ramps into the buildings and I’m going to need doorways that are at least 24 inches wide, and that was it … and I get there and … there’s a ramp to get into my building, there’s no elevator DWDOO0\RWKHUFRUSVPHPEHUVDUHXSVWDLUV,¶PRQWKH¿UVW ÀRRUZLWKDOOWKHWHDPOHDGHUVZKLFKLVYHU\LVRODWLQJ7KH doors weren’t wide enough … the buildings where we went to most of the time for training weren’t accessible … there weren’t curb cuts, so I’d push in the streets, the kitchen—I had to go around the back, through the gravel, up the super steep ramp, by the smelly garbage, through the kitchen, which of course was full of roaches because it was South Carolina … and it’s like, where’s my ramp? Karen came face to face with marginalization based upon her impairment. What she actually faced was unlawful discrimination. It frustrated Karen that the facilities should have been covered by the Architectural Barriers Act (1968). Her group performed 50 PALAESTRA | 2014 | Vol. 28, No. 2 service projects and accessibility work, including building ramps. Her presence and persistence caused changes to be made in the immediate buildings, but not without some emotional costs. In the HQGVKHVSHQWDQLQRUGLQDWHDPRXQWRIWLPH¿JKWLQJIRUDFFHVVWR buildings as well as educating the organization’s leaders and particLSDQWVDERXWDFFHVVLELOLW\7KLV¿JKWZDVH[KDXVWLQJDQGOHIW.DUHQ with a feeling of marginalization that she would remember vividly IRU\HDUV So I tried to make change … when I think about it, it probably would have been better if I’d sued them, because … it’s still not very accessible, and it’s considered the accessible FDPSXVEXWZKDW,GLVFRYHUHGLVWKDW\RXFDQRQO\¿JKWVR PXFKDQG\RXFDQRQO\¿JKWVRORQJDQGDWVRPHSRLQW« you have to let go … of the white-hot anger. It was evident that her painful frustration had not been forgotten. Nashville At the end of her stint at AmeriCorps, Karen again came to a job-hunting crossroads. A good friend had been accepted into graduate school in Nashville and invited Karen to join her to live there. $IWHUKHUIRUD\LQQRQSUR¿WZRUN.DUHQVWDUWHGDQHZDGYHQWXUH as a substitute teacher. Again architectural barriers impeded her entrance to many buildings. Karen also enjoyed playing basketball ZLWKWKHORFDOFOXEWHDP³7KDW¶VWKH¿UVWWLPHWKDW,UHDOL]HGWKDW playing wheelchair basketball could be fun, and not just fun from a going out and playing well standpoint, but fun from a being with your teammates.” The men’s team initially rejected her attempt to join; however, she insisted, and they allowed her to join the team, and she found that she reveled not only in the on-court chemistry, but also in the camaraderie of teammates who were skilled but did not take the game so seriously. Another valuable lesson Karen learned in Nashville was that she loved to teach physical education to children. Then, I got this wild hair and decided I wanted to … teach PE … what I discovered when I was subbing is … I loved it. I remember teaching a kindergartner how to throw and catch, and I was like … this is so cool, and it was so fun … and so that’s why I went back to school. 6XEVWLWXWHWHDFKLQJKRZHYHUKDGDPDMRUVKRUWFRPLQJODFNRI LQVXUDQFHDQGDIWHUD\HDU.DUHQWRRNDQṘFHMREDWWKHXQLYHUVLW\DSRVLWLRQZLWKJRRGKHDOWKFDUHEHQH¿WVWKDWHYHQFRYHUHGSUH existing conditions. In Nashville, not only were some of the school EXLOGLQJV³GLVDEOLQJ´EXWQRWJHWWLQJKHDOWKEHQH¿WVDVDVXEVWLWXWH teacher proved to be a factor in Karen’s leaving her position. People with impairments may have preexisting conditions that preclude them from getting health coverage (at least in the U.S.). This is a type of structural barrier that can give rise to personal economic disadvantage. Thus, because of Karen’s impairment, the health care structure discriminated against her economically. In light of Karen’s newfound love for teaching, she decided to return to her alma mater to pursue a master’s degree in sport pedagogy. Back to College Besides taking PE courses, Karen learned much while serving as an assistant coach for the wheelchair basketball team back at her university. Karen kept herself in shape to play and hoped to UHWXUQWRWKHQDWLRQDOWHDPKRZHYHUVKHVX̆HUHGPXOWLSOHFRQFXVVLRQV.DUHQQHHGHGWR¿QLVKKHUPDVWHU¶VWKHVLVWRHDUQKHUGHJUHH EXWZLWKKHUFRXUVHZRUN¿QLVKHGVKHOHIWKHUXQLYHUVLW\LQRUGHUWR start her career. Rural Georgia .DUHQ LQYHVWLJDWHG DQRWKHU JRYHUQPHQW QRQSUR¿W 7HDFK IRU America, but decided against teaching in the program after again HQFRXQWHULQJ DUFKLWHFWXUDO EDUULHUV 6KH UHFHLYHG D MRE R̆HU DW D rehabilitation institute in rural Georgia. Karen coordinated events, brought in teams for adapted sport competitions, and taught physical education to high school age students with impairments. Karen led a variety of wheelchair sports, adventure activities, and aquatics. She drove weekly to Atlanta to coach a junior team in wheelchair basketball. She loved the teaching, but the rural isolation drove her to move to Atlanta. Atlanta, College Teaching Frustrated with rural life, Karen worked for a time in Atlanta for an organization that facilitated compliance with the Americans ZLWK'LVDELOLWLHV$FW $'$ RI I had a 6-month stint up in Atlanta … I did technical assistance up there, which basically meant I learned about the ADA, and we were a support line, so people would call … I went somewhere and there was no elevator, or I went somewhere and I’m hearing impaired and they didn’t have an interpreter … and so we would talk about …whether or not they were covered by the ADA … and what they could do about it. This position in Atlanta enabled Karen to help others who experienced discrimination based on impairment. Karen continued coaching basketball, and it was through coaching that she met her future spouse. -H̆ZDVDVDSURIHVVRURI3(DWDQHDUE\XQLYHUVLW\+LVVWXGHQWV needed some practicum hours working in adapted sport and he was put in contact with Karen. Later they coached basketball together. -H̆LQIRUPHG.DUHQDERXWDWHDFKLQJRSSRUWXQLW\DWKLVXQLYHUVLW\ Her new position not only let her teach, but also forced her to comSOHWHKHUGHJUHH6KH¿QLVKHGWKHWKHVLVDQGVWDUWHGWHDFKLQJDWWKH university. Karen had an excellent teaching experience, but then -H̆DFFHSWHGDSRVLWLRQDWDODUJHUHVHDUFKXQLYHUVLW\ Doctoral Program 2Q -H̆¶V VXJJHVWLRQ VKH EHJDQ D GRFWRUDO SURJUDP LQ VSRUW pedagogy at the university where he took his new position, and shortly after arriving at their new university, they married. Karen taught courses while taking doctoral coursework, and in addition, VKHDVVLVWHG-H̆LQLQLWLDWLQJDQHZZKHHOFKDLUEDVNHWEDOOSURJUDP DWWKHXQLYHUVLW\ In the beginning, I was just going to coach …but what we found was …people we had hadn’t played before, or they were juniors. Well, they needed somebody out there to help them …they needed somebody who could handle the ball and wasn’t gonna freak out. Karen also found time to teach PE part-time at a school for young children with impairments. Karen had a chance to teach physical activities once again, and starting the adapted sports program had the potential to give many students with impairments the opportunity to eventually study at the university. Karen voiced the IROORZLQJVHQWLPHQW Nobody even cares about people with disabilities. Our voices are so often silenced. We’re so often just marginalized … pushed away … aren’t as educated. There’s not as many employed, so our voice isn’t as strong. +HUDVVHUWLRQLVVXSSRUWHGE\FHQVXVGDWD³$KLJKHUSURSRUWLRQ of people with no disability were college graduates (43.1%) than people with a not severe (32.5%) or severe disability (21.9%)” (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2002). Karen realized that starting the wheelchair basketball program had an emancipatory function and could be an avenue for more students with impairments to access a university education that had the potential to provide them with voice and agency. Karen’s new university had its own accessibility issues. The main building housing the kinesiology department was not fully accessible; the equipment room was housed in the basement, the J\PQDVLXP RQ WKH WKLUG ÀRRU DQG WKHUH ZDV QR HOHYDWRU 2QFH again, Karen encountered disabling barriers that she had to overcome, but her presence, which would be soon followed by other athletes with impairments, forced people in power to ask questions such as, “Why does this building not have an elevator? Why don’t we have an accessible gymnasium?” Career in Sport Pedagogy .DUHQ HYHQWXDOO\ EHFDPH DQ LQVWUXFWRU 6KH FRDFKHG ¿QLVKHG her dissertation, and became pregnant. Karen was hired as an assistant professor. She started teaching classes in addition to supervising student teachers. Karen was still frustrated by her lack of DFFHVV²VKHFRXOGQRWHDVLO\YLVLWKHUFROOHDJXHVRQWKHVHFRQGÀRRU Regarding gender, Karen was in the minority in her department, not only as one of two women, but also as the only female tenuretrack professor. Most of the people in the positions of power were men. $IWHU¿QLVKLQJKHUGLVVHUWDWLRQ.DUHQEHFDPHLQWHUHVWHGLQUHsearching the ergonomics of wheelchairs, an issue about which she LVSDVVLRQDWH You put a 30-pound kid in a 50-pound chair, and you want her to push it? She’s not going to push it. They’ve got armrests … push handles up to their armpits. The wheels are way too far back … it’s a folding chair. They look terrible. The chair is way too heavy … how could you feel good about yourself when you look in the mirror and there’s this huge, horrible, ugly chair … would you want to wear a size 20 shoe, when really you should be wearing 12? … So I’m going to change that. Karen had a wealth of experience in this area. In her words, “I can’t separate my disability from who I am, and I can’t separate that from my teaching.” Karen seldom addressed her impairment, but here is once case where she puts it in perspective. With her interest in wheelchair set up, she expressed a desire to help young people to overcome disabling environments by putting them in maneuverable chairs; this was her passion. Thus far in our results/ discussion, all of the themes correspond to stages in Karen’s life, KRZHYHUWKHIROORZLQJWKUHHWKHPHVGRQRWPDUJLQDOL]DWLRQDFWLYity/injury, and the centrality of sport. Marginalization A goal of this study was to explore the dimensions of marginalization including subject status, gender, and ableness. In the area of subject status, we found several incidents of marginalization. In the school where Karen taught PE to children, she felt that the teachers marginalized her subject. She reported that the teachers UHOHDVHGWKHLU\RXQJSXSLOVODWHWR3(EHFDXVHRIXQ¿QLVKHGFODVVroom projects. The teachers valued classroom work over physical movement, thus relegating the PE to an inferior status. Karen felt her subject was marginalized because the teachers valued their work over learning in the physical realm. Vol. 28, No. 2 | 2014 | PALAESTRA 51 Although she held a master’s degree in sport pedagogy and she had an impairment herself, the teachers felt they needed to give her books and suggestions on how to teach to children with impairments. Karen explained, You don’t need to sit here and talk to me about how I should FRQVLGHU P\ NLGV ZLWK GLVDELOLWLHV µFDXVH QHZV ÀDVK², have one. So that was a nice little real world—how do you want to be marginalized? Okay, you know, let’s clue in here, here’s your books; let me shove these books up your ass! Karen’s strong reaction revealed the marginalization she felt. The teachers thought they had to teach Karen how to teach. Karen experienced that as insensitive and felt that with her educational background and personal experience, she had the expertise to teach her subject. Not only did Karen feel that her subject was marginalized, but she as a teacher was as well. Karen expressed feeling marginalization based upon gender. She only one of two women in the department; she was an assistant professor, and the other female was a lecturer, and neither was in a position of power; they may have had a voice, but they lacked administrative power. Being a woman … I sometimes feel marginalized … there’s only two of us … so I’m a woman, which puts me in a small minority, and then I use a chair, which, where I’ve been, I’ve always been the only one. Karen’s statement expressed that she felt multiple layers of marginalization, as well as isolation. She also wondered why more women were not considered for tenured positions in the universities where she had worked. Sparkes et al.’s (1993) study similarly found that women held fewer of the positions of power and suggested “the gatekeepers to jobs are predominantly men and they do not always believe women are either capable or suitable, because of their competing family and work roles, for advancement into senior positions” (p. 391). We cannot state empirically that women or people with impairments were hired less often, but we can say that Karen expressed a feeling of isolation based on gender and ableness. .DUHQZDVDOVRDVNHGDERXWKHUUROHFRQÀLFWDFRQVWUXFWUHODWHG to gender, and she stated that she felt immense pressure, sometimes to the point of considering quitting, because she felt responsible for being in charge of the household and childcare. Together with her spouse, she worked out a plan to share those duties, but viewing her life history, she grew up in a home with (what was perceived at that time as being) a traditional upbringing where womHQZHUHLQFKDUJHRIDOORIWKRVHGXWLHV,WZDVGL̇FXOWIRUKHUWR change those perceived societal expectations. It remains to be seen whether working out a plan of shared home responsibilities will reGXFHUROHFRQÀLFWDQGWKXVEHFRPHDVWHSWRZDUGFDUHHUORQJHYLW\ The main form of marginalization came from inaccessibility of EXLOGLQJV%DUULHUVZHUHHYHU\ZKHUH The thing about marginalization, discrimination, is that it’s always there … ‘cause I’m always aware of it … but where it really gets me … like in AmeriCorps, where it’s just like I couldn’t avoid the fact that I couldn’t get places … but here, there’s no elevator here … you never ever think about going into a building. You never think about going up stairs … you never think about whether there is a curb cut, these never enter into your mind … these are things I am constantly thinking about … here’s a new building, is it accessible, is it not? 52 PALAESTRA | 2014 | Vol. 28, No. 2 Karen experienced marginalization based upon her environment, especially the buildings. These proved to be disabling. Activity and Injury Injuries appear alongside sport or activity in the interviews as a UHFXUULQJWKHPH+HUHDUHVRPHH[FHUSWV³:HZHQWVOHGGLQJDQG I slammed into the root of a tree”; “I tripped over a root … my arm broke”; “my sister broke her wrist in a dodgeball game”; “she runs smack into a fence, and knocked out her front teeth.” It could be that Karen simply organized memories of sport experiences in her mind around painful or remarkable circumstances. This is plausible since she herself experienced an injury that changed her way of viewing the world. Not all of her remarks about sports included injuries. We contacted Karen about this connection while transcribing the interviews, and she replied, “I’m not sure I have a comment other than I guess it’s just part of the risk … don’t forget skiing and a broken back.” Karen never allowed her impairment to disable her in terms RI VSRUW DQG DFWLYLW\ ,Q WKH IROORZLQJ H[FHUSW .DUHQ R̆HUV D UHbuttal to the optimistic cliché, “When life gives you lemons, make OHPRQDGH´ It’s always make lemonade out of lemons, blah, blah, blah … sometimes you get lemons. Sometimes life just sucks, and that’s okay, and what I discovered in that process was that there was this little 16-year-old girl that I had never mourned and never cried for. … I have been so busy in my life, moving on and moving forward … that I had never taken the time to be sad. Karen made this statement while explaining a watershed moPHQWLQKHUOLIHLQ*HRUJLD6KHWRRNWKHWLPHWREHLQWURVSHFWLYH and to deal with her life-changing injury. One way that Karen has found to persevere is to be a realist, to make changes when you can, but when you can’t, accept them. In light of her life history, it is not surprising that she links sport and injury. Centrality of Sport Karen mentioned more that 20 reasons why she likes or dislikes physical activity and sport. Among Karen’s reasons for participatLQJ WR EXLOG VWUHQJWK WR FRPSHWH DW HOLWH OHYHOV WR ¿QG VROLWXGH and for pure exhilaration. It was really Karen’s college sport experiences, along with hard work and good fortune that launched her to elite status. From the viewpoint of the social model of disability, Karen may have been impeded from entering certain buildings; however, she never allowed her impairment to hinder her sport participation. Conclusion A goal of this study was to hear the voice of our collaborator, Karen. This story is a “co-construction” between the authors and our participant. It is our hope that the reader can learn lessons from Karen on how to persevere in the face of obstacles. This being a qualitative study, we do not claim that these results are generalizable, but the reader must decide whether the results are applicable to their situation. We do not share this life history as one of valor, but as that of an educator who faced marginalization continues to persevere. Karen’s life history might prove helpful to others with impairments who enjoy teaching sport skills but do not consider WKHSRVVLELOLW\RIDFDUHHULQ3(+HUVWRU\KHOSVEUHDNDQDWWLWXdinal barrier, that people with impairments cannot teach PE. As Rovegno stated, “One of the goals of qualitative research is to share teachers’ stories in the hope of opening possibilities of change for other teachers” (2003, p. 305). The transformational power of Karen’s life history should open such possibilities for change. But what practical lessons can people take from Karen’s story? :KDWZHOHDUQHGLVWKDWZHPXVWDOOFKRVHRXUEDWWOHV¿JKWKDUGIRU change, but at times to let go of anger. Strength training was an important key that opened the door to opportunities for Karen, doors to athletics and academia. Finally, the presence and visibility of people with impairment is important. If these people are present, accommodations can be made, and some of these are explained in the following section. $SRVWVFULSWUDGLFDOLPSURYHPHQWVKDYHEHHQPDGHERWKLQWKH accessibility of the campus since the time the initial interviews took SODFH EXLOGLQJ DFFHVVLELOLW\ KDV LPSURYHG VLGHZDONV KDYH EHHQ smoothed—and the building housing sport pedagogy now has an elevator. As we stated earlier, society at times imposes disability (inaccessibility) on top of impairment, however, society can also correct these. We viewed the changes that have occurred to be a combination of structural, environmental, as well as attitudinal ones (French & Swain, 2012). We asked Karen to what she attributed the changes, and she thought the increase in number of students ZLWK LPSDLUPHQWV RQ FDPSXV PDGH D VLJQL¿FDQW GL̆HUHQFH :H agree that presence of people with impairments, including Karen DQG GLVDELOLW\ VSRUWV WHDP VWXGHQW DWKOHWHV ¿UVW FKDQJHG WKH DWtitudinal barriers. This had much to do with Karen and especially KHUKXVEDQG-H̆ZKRVWDUWHGDGLVDELOLW\VSRUWVSURJUDP:LWKWKH attitudinal change, changes were made to the environmental barriers such as the increased accessibility of buildings. It is hoped that structural barriers having to do with the power hierarchies in the college have changed as well, and that people with impairments, especially women, will have the opportunity to rise to positions of power and make important decisions, yet Karen as a doctoral student and later an assistant professor was able to play a role in setting the wheels of change in motion. Selected References Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-336, §2, 104 Stat. 328 (1991). Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. § 4151 et seq. (1968). Armour, K. M. (1997). Developing a personal philosophy on the nature and SXUSRVHRISK\VLFDOHGXFDWLRQ/LIHKLVWRU\UHÀHFWLRQVEuropean Physical Education Review, 3±GRL; Berger, R. J. (2009). Hoop dreams on wheels: Disability and the competitive wheelchair athlete1HZ<RUN5RXWOHGJH Brown, D. (1999). Complicity and reproduction in teaching physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 4 ± GRL 10.1080/1357332990040203 Bryant, L. 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Teachers’ knowledge construction. In S. J. Silverman & C. D. Ennis (Eds.), Student learning in physical education: Applying research to enhance instruction (2nd ed., pp. 295–310). Champaign, ,/+XPDQ.LQHWLFV 6FKHPSS3*  &RQVWUXFWLQJSURIHVVLRQDONQRZOHGJH$FDVHVWXG\ of an experienced high school teacher. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 13, 2–23. Schempp P. G., Sparkes, A. C., & Templin, T. J. (1993). The micropolitics of teacher induction. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 447– GRL Shakespeare, T. (2006). Disability rights and wrongs./RQGRQ5RXWOHGJH 6SDUNHV$&  )URPSHUIRUPDQFHWRLPSDLUPHQW$SDWFKZRUNRI embodied memories. In J. Evans, B. Davies, & J. Wright (Eds.), Body NQRZOHGJHDQGFRQWURO6WXGLHVLQWKHVRFLRORJ\RISK\VLFDOHGXFDWLRQ and health SS± /RQGRQ5RXWOHGJH Sparkes, A. C., & Templin, T. J. (1992). Life histories and physical education WHDFKHUV ([SORULQJ GLPHQVLRQV RI PDUJLQDOLW\ ,Q $& 6SDUNHV (G  5HVHDUFK LQ SK\VLFDO HGXFDWLRQ ([SORULQJ DOWHUQDWLYH YLVLRQV (pp. ± /RQGRQ)DOPHU3UHVV Sparkes, A. C., Templin, T. J., & Schempp, P. G. (1993). Exploring dimenVLRQVRIPDUJLQDOLW\5HÀHFWLQJRQWKHOLIHKLVWRULHVRISK\VLFDOHGXFDtion teachers, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 12, 386–398. 6TXLUHV6/ 6SDUNHV$&  &LUFOHVRIVLOHQFH6H[XDOLGHQWLW\LQ physical education and sport. Sport, Education and Society, 1, 77–101. GRL Templin, T., Sparkes, A., Grant, B., & Schempp, P. (1994). Matching the VHOI7KHSDUDGR[LFDOFDVHDQGOLIHKLVWRU\RIDODWHFDUHHUWHDFKHUFRDFK Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 13, 274–294. Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS). (1976). FundaPHQWDOSULQFLSOHVRIGLVDELOLW\5HWULHYHGIURPKWWSZZZOHHGVDFXN disability-studies/archiveuk/UPIAS/fundamental%20principles.pdf U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau. (2002). Americans with disabilities: Household economic studies 2002 5HSRUW 1R 3  5HWULHYHG IURP ZZZ census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p70-107.pdf Gunars Cazers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Education and Athletic Training at the University of West Alabama. His research interests include life history and sport history. He earned his bachelor’s degree in his hometown at the University of Minnesota, his master’s at Baylor University, and doctorate at the University of Alabama. Matthew Curtner-Smith is Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Alabama. He received his EdD in sport pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Curtner-Smith conducts research of physical education teaching, teachers, teacher education, and curriculum. He teaches undergraduate courses for pre-service teachers learning to become physical educators. He also teaches classes for and supervises master’s and doctoral students studying sport pedagogy. 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