Building perceptual know-hows in Physical Education and Sport. Learning to listen to one’s body, toward a well-being and health education
Abstract
In Sports and Physical Education (PE), the consideration of the sensations seems to expand, while a technological reading of the body also develops. In France, a group of physical activities (bodybuilding, step, swimming and running) are for example proposed in High School so that pupils learn how to train themselves (CP5), taking account of their sensations.
Freediving counts more and more practitioners (Fricker, 2015) who appreciate to turn to their interiority (Schirrer, 2015). Taking into account the diversity of somatic cultures, we question the possibility of accompanying the followers towards the construction of perceptive know-how (Schirrer & Paintendre, 2017). The term Perceptive know-how is used to describe the capacity to listen and to interpret the sensations which emanate from one’s body, with the intention to adaptat to the environment and/or to have better management of the bodys physical capacity.
This presentation is based on two field studies, using phenomenology and sensory anthropology as a theorical framework (Candau, 2005; Wathelet, 2013). The first one was led in EP, with pupils of High School engaged in step CP5 (Paintendre et al., 2019). The other one was led in apnea, with ordinary and experimented freedivers (Schirrer, 2015, 2017).
These two studies aimed at documenting and analyzing the physical and subjective experience of practioners. From these studies, strategies of intervention susceptible to develop perceptive skills (Schirrer & Paintendre, 2017) will be presented. For example: considering stages sensory and guiding the learner to focus his attention; using contrasts to amplify sensations; helping the analyse of two readings of the body: technological and embodied; co-building scales of felt on the whole course of training or formation.
Finally, developing a perceptive know-how through an explicit sensory education is connected with wider societal objectives for enhancing health and well-being. Especially with adolescents who need to reappropriate their bodies, in a context of objectification of the body.