Beliefs of university teaching staff’s physical education regarding body and health concepts

Abstract

The following article is the result of an investigation carried out at a private university in La Serena, IV Region, Chile, during the year 2008. The investigation goals have been to identify, describe and analyse (interpretatively) the beliefs of University teaching staff (physical education) regarding the “Body” and “Health” concepts, as those beliefs determine the way our discipline is understood, practiced, and also the way in which our professional daily routines are carried out. This investigation is a phenomenological study formulated inside the interpretative paradigm. The methodology is qualitative due to its descriptive and relational profile. The results of this study show that, despite the development of the physical education discipline, the beliefs of University teaching staff (physical education) regarding the two above mentioned concepts are coherent with what is known in the specialized literature as technocratic physical education. The concepts of body and health are in agreement with the principles of technocratic physical education.