Research on motor learning frequently reports gender differences.
However, there seems to be limited tools in the research with
which to make use of these insights in educationally relevant
ways. Movement learning and gender are intensely researched in
movement education research, but the issues rarely intersect in
the literature. The purpose of this article is to shed light on how
movement learning and gender norms intersect when students
learn to juggle. A pedagogical intervention in two secondary
school classes (15–16 year olds) was explored ethnographically.
Two composite narratives illustrate how gender norms affected
the juggling practise to a different extent in the two classes,
indicating that these norms are highly contextual. Learning to
juggle seems to include aspects of both ‘doing boy’ and ‘doing
girl’, i.e. regarding respectively controlling objects in space and
persistent practising. The findings indicate some ways in which
teachers can help students transcend traditional gender norms.
2021. Vol. 33, no 5, p. 531-546