Phoebe is a kinesiology professor responsible for a class with several units on dietetics. She has taught the course for more than 10 years. Phoebe is currently supervising Aya, a doctoral student in kinesiology, and has invited Aya to review her syllabus and course curriculum. Phoebe is aware that Aya has taught similar courses during her master’s program and welcomes her feedback on the content and assigned readings.
Aya reviews the course and offers that the curriculum would be strengthened by questioning and problematizing cultural constructions of “health” and “wellness.” Phoebe is intrigued, but not immediately sure what Aya means by cultural construction. Aya offers that a number of social and political locations, including language and regionalism, shape social, institutional and cultural notions of health. These shape everyday interactions with nutrition and exercise, as well as scientific knowledge production related to nutrition and exercise, which are then reproduced and inscribed in policies and practices.
Phoebe asks Aya for her literature recommendations and her suggestion for where such conversations may fit in the curriculum. Aya provides citations that are written from different global perspectives, as well as literature that summarizes the phenomena of social construction in medical science. Phoebe agrees to integrate Aya’s curriculum suggestions. Inspired by Aya’s critique, Phoebe suggests that they attach in-class activities to the curriculum, which invites storytelling from all students to illustrate how social norms are or are not reflected in the scholarship and contemporary practices in kinesiology.
- The Issue: Phoebe’s kinesiology curriculum does not account for the cultural construction of kinesiology knowledge, and as a result does not discuss or problematize Western notions of health and wellness.
- The Deliberation: Phoebe’s colleague and graduate supervisee Aya broaches the conversation about the curriculum gap. Phoebe invites additional reflection and engages in reading Aya’s recommendations.
- The Growth: Phoebe grows her consciousness to a new dimension of kinesiology, expands the complexity and nuance of her curriculum and imagines ways to integrate the new content in her course through active learning.