Practitioners: A Gender Perspective on the Identity Construction Process of Physical Education Students at ISEF CURE Udelar (Uruguay)

Abstract

This article presents an interpretative analysis of the perceptions and meanings attached to the concept of gender by a group of students enrolled in Professional Practice I, a mandatory course in the Bachelor of Physical Education program at the University of the Republic (Uruguay). It also explores the links between these meanings and the identity construction processes that emerge in the context of professional training. Using qualitative methodology and an interpretivist approach, the fieldwork included classroom observations and group interviews with purposively selected students. The findings capture meanings, experiences and testimonies related to professional practice and the explicit and implicit gender configurations present in physical education teacher education and schooling processes. The analysis is structured around three key axes: gender as an analytical category, the social and cultural constructions surrounding training practices, and physical education as a specific field of knowledge about the body. These elements provide a critical perspective on the inequalities and identity dynamics present in the case study.