I have received and advance copy of the book edited by Heather Piper, Touch in Sports Coaching and Physical Education: Fear, Risk and Moral Panic.
There are eleven chapters in the book. As a collection of readings:
This is the first international collection which addresses how the imperative of protecting children and young people from abuse has impacted on sports coaching and physical education.
I have a chapter in the book (Chapter 9, pp.135-150): She’ll be right? An Australian perspective on caring for young people in physical education and sport.
My opening paragraph is:
This chapter explores issues surrounding practice, pedagogy, and policy relating to touch in physical education teaching and sport coaching in Australia. It is a contribution to the open discussion of touch inspired by the work of Heather Piper and her colleagues in general and the publication of a special edition of the journal Sport, Education and Society (Piper et al. 2013a) in particular. It reflects the view that discussion about touch must acknowledge contextual complexity and nuance, at a time when ‘common sense is itself a problematic and disputed idea’ (Piper et al. 2013b; p. 578). Given Australia’s cultural diversity, it is important that any discussion of touch in teaching and coaching is sensitive to this reality (Santoro et al. 2011).
My hope in writing the chapter was that I might contribute to the discussion of ‘relational touch’. It is an optimistic account of practice and pedagogy empowered through clear policy.
