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Despite the increasing number of students from “Asian” backgrounds in Australian schools, little consideration has been given to the experiences of Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers in teaching these students. This paper centres on the experiences of eight Anglo-Celtic Australian HPE teachers teaching mainly Chinese students in two schools in Queensland. In order to understand the nuanced diversity of their teaching experiences, three key theories were drawn on. They include: Bourdieu's concepts of capital and (mis)recognition, Chinese “complementary difference” and postcolonialism. Underpinned by critical and interpretive ethnographic methods, this paper also discussed key implications for promoting diversity in HPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Chinese migrant young people's lifestyles and physical activity experiences in relation to the values and cultural investments of their families in Australia. The data in this paper were taken from a larger-scale study underpinned by a critical and interpretive ethnographic method conducted in two school sites. The young people's lives were significantly shaped by dominant Chinese cultural norms and traditional notions of gender. Bourdieuian concepts are drawn upon to explain the (re)production of the Chinese young people's habitus cultivated at home. Based on the young people's pursuit of cultural capital as a consequence of familial values, discussion also focuses on the agency of these young people in relation to their lifestyle choices. Dominant discourses in the ‘talk’ of these young people included their notions of excelling, hyper-investment in academic success and, especially for the girls, skin colour and safety. Traditional Chinese family power relations limited the choices these young people had regarding physical activity which was complicated by the cultural and social fluidity of their lived experiences. The inter-generational flow of habitus and capital of these Chinese migrant young people's families tended to privilege a particular set of discourses based on gender, race, social class and hierarchical practices that resonated with traditional Confucian philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports how aspects of Chinese young people’s perceived identities can be viewed as resources in Australian schooling. The data in this article were taken from a larger scale study underpinned by a critical and interpretive ethnographic method conducted in two school sites. Qualitative methods elicited young people’s perspectives about their identities, ethnicity, and perceived strengths and weaknesses with regards to their daily lives, academic and school physical activity contexts. Based on Yosso’s notion of cultural wealth and its various forms of capital and operationalised by drawing on Bourdieu’s notions of how capital works to privilege and marginalise, we aim to problematise the often taken-for-granted, deficit discourses represented in the popular media, research and educational policy, and to promote a strengths-based approach to understand and recognise young Chinese Australians perceived resources within their socio-cultural environment. We conclude that these young people’s lives are constructed across transnational boundaries and they possess resources in dealing with challenges within and beyond schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]