title: Issues of power in a history of women's football in New Zealand: A Foucauldian genealogy

authors: Cox, Barbara Douglas

subjects: women's football

abstract: In the majority of countries throughout the world, football is a highly popular sport for women and girls and one which continues to grow in playing numbers. According to FIFA, 26 million females were registered as football players in its member countries, an increase of four million players within the past five years (FIFA Big Count, 2006). Despite such popularity of participation, histories of women’s football ‘speak’ of exclusion, struggle and conflict, and thus, the prime question which underpins this study is: “how has women’s football in New Zealand gone from a position of struggle to a point where the game is perceived as a ‘normal’ sporting activity for women and girls?” In order to examine this question, I have used Michel Foucault’s concept of conducting a ‘history of the present’, a genealogical approach which accounts for the “constitution of knowledges, discourses, domains of objects and so on...” (Foucault, 1978, p. 117). I drew extensively on a wide range of source material: media texts from newspaper articles and letters to the editor; football texts from the minute books of various football associations, official correspondence and six scrapbooks; interviewing texts which were produced by in-depth interviews with 15 women who had been purposefully selected because of their involvement in playing and coaching/administration of football for at least five years; and vignettes of my own footballing experiences over a 35 year period. Within this genealogical approach, I identified and interrogated how dominant power-knowledge discourses produced power effects for female footballers, and impacted upon the development of the game through different periods of time since 1921. An investigation of these various texts revealed that female footballers have been constructed in specific ways as they emerged as “objects of knowledge” (Foucault, 1978, p. 105). In 1921, the tactical deployment of key discourses positioned the emergent girl footballer as irresponsible, selfish and unfeminine; after a blaze of publicity, she vanished without a trace. Fifty-two years later in 1973, the lady footballer emerged and continued to be discursively constructed through similar heterosexual discourses of marriage, motherhood and femininity. However, this time the tactical deployment of the same discourses which led to the disappearance of the girl footballer, intersected with other prevailing discourses to re-emerge in sufficiently modified forms to make it possible for the lady footballer to play, and continue to play, football. An examination of a dominant discourse in the period approximately 1980 to 2008 revealed how new and different elements, associations and relations intermeshed into a common network to provide the conditions which would allow women’s football to develop and flourish. The ‘truth’ of the discourse Female Football – The Fastest Growing Sport in New Zealand continued to be reinforced by increasing participation numbers and, combined with various sporting practices in clubs and schools, gradually normalised football as an ‘appropriate’ sport for females. However, this same discourse concealed the struggles of female footballers who attempted to become involved in coaching and administration within male-dominated organisations, suggesting that this ‘normalisation’ only extended to females playing football. My research findings have highlighted the usefulness of deploying Foucault’s genealogical approach in examining current issues within women’s football and, I suggest, other women’s sports as well. In an examination of the power effects produced by power-knowledge discourses, the resultant struggle to disseminate the ‘dominant’ discourse or the ‘truth’ allows an insightful understanding of how power may be exercised during particular time periods. In turn, this may help us understand how discourses can shape men’s and women’s perceptions of reality, yet, simultaneously prevent them from seeing other views of reality. I believe Foucault’s genealogy is an exciting theoretical and practical method whereby the recording of a sporting history may be combined with an understanding of how power-knowledge discourses can be strategically deployed in gendered relationships of power.

text: Issues of power in a history of women's football in New Zealand: A Foucauldian genealogy In the majority of countries throughout the world, football is a highly popular sport for women and girls and one which continues to grow in playing numbers. According to FIFA, 26 million females were registered as football players in its member countries, an increase of four million players within the past five years (FIFA Big Count, 2006). Despite such popularity of participation, histories of women’s football ‘speak’ of exclusion, struggle and conflict, and thus, the prime question which underpins this study is: “how has women’s football in New Zealand gone from a position of struggle to a point where the game is perceived as a ‘normal’ sporting activity for women and girls?” In order to examine this question, I have used Michel Foucault’s concept of conducting a ‘history of the present’, a genealogical approach which accounts for the “constitution of knowledges, discourses, domains of objects and so on...” (Foucault, 1978, p. 117). I drew extensively on a wide range of source material: media texts from newspaper articles and letters to the editor; football texts from the minute books of various football associations, official correspondence and six scrapbooks; interviewing texts which were produced by in-depth interviews with 15 women who had been purposefully selected because of their involvement in playing and coaching/administration of football for at least five years; and vignettes of my own footballing experiences over a 35 year period. Within this genealogical approach, I identified and interrogated how dominant power-knowledge discourses produced power effects for female footballers, and impacted upon the development of the game through different periods of time since 1921. An investigation of these various texts revealed that female footballers have been constructed in specific ways as they emerged as “objects of knowledge” (Foucault, 1978, p. 105). In 1921, the tactical deployment of key discourses positioned the emergent girl footballer as irresponsible, selfish and unfeminine; after a blaze of publicity, she vanished without a trace. Fifty-two years later in 1973, the lady footballer emerged and continued to be discursively constructed through similar heterosexual discourses of marriage, motherhood and femininity. However, this time the tactical deployment of the same discourses which led to the disappearance of the girl footballer, intersected with other prevailing discourses to re-emerge in sufficiently modified forms to make it possible for the lady footballer to play, and continue to play, football. An examination of a dominant discourse in the period approximately 1980 to 2008 revealed how new and different elements, associations and relations intermeshed into a common network to provide the conditions which would allow women’s football to develop and flourish. The ‘truth’ of the discourse Female Football – The Fastest Growing Sport in New Zealand continued to be reinforced by increasing participation numbers and, combined with various sporting practices in clubs and schools, gradually normalised football as an ‘appropriate’ sport for females. However, this same discourse concealed the struggles of female footballers who attempted to become involved in coaching and administration within male-dominated organisations, suggesting that this ‘normalisation’ only extended to females playing football. My research findings have highlighted the usefulness of deploying Foucault’s genealogical approach in examining current issues within women’s football and, I suggest, other women’s sports as well. In an examination of the power effects produced by power-knowledge discourses, the resultant struggle to disseminate the ‘dominant’ discourse or the ‘truth’ allows an insightful understanding of how power may be exercised during particular time periods. In turn, this may help us understand how discourses can shape men’s and women’s perceptions of reality, yet, simultaneously prevent them from seeing other views of reality. I believe Foucault’s genealogy is an exciting theoretical and practical method whereby the recording of a sporting history may be combined with an understanding of how power-knowledge discourses can be strategically deployed in gendered relationships of power.

year: 2010

title: 'Seeing' play through the virtual looking glass:  A metaphysical laboratory for de-framing and re-framing play for ECE

authors: Novak, Rene

subjects: Early childhood education

abstract: In this thesis I address the ambiguous nature of play by interrogating alternative ways of ‘seeing’ play beyond what I assert to be its contemporary Enframed state. I argue that to gain alternative insight into the basic features and functions of play, the concept of play needs first to be Deframed. Play is described as an ambiguous, elusive phenomenon, which makes it susceptible to being framed in ways that deter learning and development of children in ways consistent with the basic purpose of play. Such Enframing is evident across many situations and settings, including unsubstantiated assumptions about the way children’s learning is best assessed in early childhood education. These assumptions contribute to misperceptions of teachers regarding play, including the effects of their presence or absence in children’s play. The ambiguity of play also accounts for difficulties in empirical research; applying traditional researching approaches to investigate such an elusive phenomenon has proven ineffective. These investigative shortcomings have contributed to a lack of clear pedagogical and methodological insights about play. As an alternative methodological framework to ‘see’ beyond the elusiveness of play I shift the focus from asking questions about how play can support learning to instead employing a phenomenological investigation of what play is that enables Deframing.
I argue that to gain alternative insight into the basic features and functions of play, the concept of play needs first to be Deframed. Utilising Heideggerian phenomenological notions of Enframing and poiesis, I enter into a metaphysical laboratory in the virtual space, accessed through virtual reality (VR). This space offered insights into players’ subjective experiences when engaged in play. Play could thus be examined through empirical engagement rather than studied as an object. 
Two distinct yet related theoretical concepts were employed to encounter the phenomenon of a virtual representation of play: visual pedagogies and the embodiment theory. Visual pedagogies focus on the implications of visuality on teaching and learning and often rely on video as an empirical research method. Embodiment theory accounts for the expanded spectrum of sensorial modalities beyond the visual which enables an immersive experience. At the intersection of these two theories a new branch of pedagogy arises, referred to in this thesis as immersive pedagogy. 
The study found that the methodology applied was very effective in helping teachers develop alternative insights about play. Their centre of attention shifted from play as a tool for learning towards a focus on free play as a self-actualising tool for human development. In their interaction with the immersive experiences, teachers encountered a number of emotional responses that affirmed the use of virtual reality as a suitable metaphysical laboratory, available on the virtual side of the cybernetic looking glass, as a place for thought, reflection and phenomenological transcendence, referred to by Heidegger as poiesis. Poiesis is an aesthetic, esoteric and metaphysical term that brings forth a multiplicity of meanings of phenomena.
Deframing through poiesis was affirmed by play revealing itself to teachers in a new way. By becoming part of the dynamics of play and by assuming the role of ‘invisible’ observers genuinely invested in play, teachers were able to develop fresh insights about play’s inner workings. It revealed itself in a new way. On the basis of their experience, they re-framed play for themselves subjectively, thus separating it from its unproven association with standardised learning. 
Some of the potential implications of these discoveries were suggested by participating teachers themselves, who proposed the methodology be used by teachers as a reflective tool for learning more about educational phenomena. They also suggested that the tool would enable parents and other educational stakeholders to develop important insights about play-based curricula, which are currently difficult to comprehend. It is possible that on a larger scale these insights, which enable play to define itself to the players, could usefully change current perceptions of play for teachers, parents, researchers and educational policy makers.

text: 'Seeing' play through the virtual looking glass:  A metaphysical laboratory for de-framing and re-framing play for ECE In this thesis I address the ambiguous nature of play by interrogating alternative ways of ‘seeing’ play beyond what I assert to be its contemporary Enframed state. I argue that to gain alternative insight into the basic features and functions of play, the concept of play needs first to be Deframed. Play is described as an ambiguous, elusive phenomenon, which makes it susceptible to being framed in ways that deter learning and development of children in ways consistent with the basic purpose of play. Such Enframing is evident across many situations and settings, including unsubstantiated assumptions about the way children’s learning is best assessed in early childhood education. These assumptions contribute to misperceptions of teachers regarding play, including the effects of their presence or absence in children’s play. The ambiguity of play also accounts for difficulties in empirical research; applying traditional researching approaches to investigate such an elusive phenomenon has proven ineffective. These investigative shortcomings have contributed to a lack of clear pedagogical and methodological insights about play. As an alternative methodological framework to ‘see’ beyond the elusiveness of play I shift the focus from asking questions about how play can support learning to instead employing a phenomenological investigation of what play is that enables Deframing.
I argue that to gain alternative insight into the basic features and functions of play, the concept of play needs first to be Deframed. Utilising Heideggerian phenomenological notions of Enframing and poiesis, I enter into a metaphysical laboratory in the virtual space, accessed through virtual reality (VR). This space offered insights into players’ subjective experiences when engaged in play. Play could thus be examined through empirical engagement rather than studied as an object. 
Two distinct yet related theoretical concepts were employed to encounter the phenomenon of a virtual representation of play: visual pedagogies and the embodiment theory. Visual pedagogies focus on the implications of visuality on teaching and learning and often rely on video as an empirical research method. Embodiment theory accounts for the expanded spectrum of sensorial modalities beyond the visual which enables an immersive experience. At the intersection of these two theories a new branch of pedagogy arises, referred to in this thesis as immersive pedagogy. 
The study found that the methodology applied was very effective in helping teachers develop alternative insights about play. Their centre of attention shifted from play as a tool for learning towards a focus on free play as a self-actualising tool for human development. In their interaction with the immersive experiences, teachers encountered a number of emotional responses that affirmed the use of virtual reality as a suitable metaphysical laboratory, available on the virtual side of the cybernetic looking glass, as a place for thought, reflection and phenomenological transcendence, referred to by Heidegger as poiesis. Poiesis is an aesthetic, esoteric and metaphysical term that brings forth a multiplicity of meanings of phenomena.
Deframing through poiesis was affirmed by play revealing itself to teachers in a new way. By becoming part of the dynamics of play and by assuming the role of ‘invisible’ observers genuinely invested in play, teachers were able to develop fresh insights about play’s inner workings. It revealed itself in a new way. On the basis of their experience, they re-framed play for themselves subjectively, thus separating it from its unproven association with standardised learning. 
Some of the potential implications of these discoveries were suggested by participating teachers themselves, who proposed the methodology be used by teachers as a reflective tool for learning more about educational phenomena. They also suggested that the tool would enable parents and other educational stakeholders to develop important insights about play-based curricula, which are currently difficult to comprehend. It is possible that on a larger scale these insights, which enable play to define itself to the players, could usefully change current perceptions of play for teachers, parents, researchers and educational policy makers.

year: 2021

title: Experiences of Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand's public health system: a systematic review of two decades of published qualitative research

authors: Graham, Rebekah Sarah

subjects: Indigenous health

abstract: Objective: This paper aims to synthesise the broader perspectives of Māori patients and their whānau (extended family, family group) of their treatment within the public health system. Our research question was ‘What are the experiences of Māori in the public health and/or hospital system in Aotearoa New Zealand?’ Methods: A systematic search using PRISMA protocols and reflexive typology organised around the categories of Māori, public healthcare and qualitative research identified 14 papers that covered all three categories. We undertook a qualitative metasynthesis on these papers using a critical community psychology approach. Results: Māori patients and whānau from the included papers mention both barriers and facilitators to health. We categorised barriers as organisational structures, staff interactions and practical considerations. Facilitators were categorised as the provision of whānau support in the form of practical assistance, emotional care and health system navigation. Conclusions: For many Māori, the existing public health system is experienced as hostile and alienating. Whānau members provide support to mitigate this, but it comes as a cost to whānau. Implications for public health: Public health providers must find ways to ensure that Māori consistently experience positive, high-quality healthcare interactions that support Māori ways of being.

text: Experiences of Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand's public health system: a systematic review of two decades of published qualitative research Objective: This paper aims to synthesise the broader perspectives of Māori patients and their whānau (extended family, family group) of their treatment within the public health system. Our research question was ‘What are the experiences of Māori in the public health and/or hospital system in Aotearoa New Zealand?’ Methods: A systematic search using PRISMA protocols and reflexive typology organised around the categories of Māori, public healthcare and qualitative research identified 14 papers that covered all three categories. We undertook a qualitative metasynthesis on these papers using a critical community psychology approach. Results: Māori patients and whānau from the included papers mention both barriers and facilitators to health. We categorised barriers as organisational structures, staff interactions and practical considerations. Facilitators were categorised as the provision of whānau support in the form of practical assistance, emotional care and health system navigation. Conclusions: For many Māori, the existing public health system is experienced as hostile and alienating. Whānau members provide support to mitigate this, but it comes as a cost to whānau. Implications for public health: Public health providers must find ways to ensure that Māori consistently experience positive, high-quality healthcare interactions that support Māori ways of being.

year: 2020