Concerning the Quality of the Development of Knowledge in Sport Pedagogy

Abstract

Whereas 10 years ago research on teaching physical education was characterized as a dismal science, recent judgments on the state of the art are rather optimistic. It is argued that this optimism must be guarded. Three research tasks are distinguished after an exposition of subject matter and concern of scientific work on sport pedagogy. A cohesive execution of the three research tasks is accepted as the criterion for the quality of the development of knowledge in the field. The question is raised as to which extent the three tasks are fulfilled in the two main scientific subcultures of sport pedagogy (the West German and the North American). Some support is presented for the thesis: whereas sport empirical work is severely neglected in West Germany, North American sport pedagogical research suffers from a (meta-) theoretical shortage. Finally some suggestions are presented for improving the communication between the two subcultures.