Educação física como punição escolar: análise crítica de uma prática escolar excludente no ensino fundamental

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis analyzes the practice of using Physical Education as a form of punishment in schools, specifically through excluding students considered misbehaved in other subjects. The research was developed based on the author's experience as a Physical Education teacher in a full-time public school, where he frequently observed students being denied access to Physical Education classes as a disciplinary measure. This study adopts a qualitative, descriptive, and reflective approach, grounded in direct observations, field notes, and interpretative analysis of situations experienced in the school context. The findings show that such practice contradicts pedagogical principles of Physical Education, harms children’s motor, cognitive, emotional, and social development, violates their right to play, and weakens the educational purpose of the discipline. The theoretical analysis, supported by authors such as Freire, Darido, Bracht, and Betti, indicates that excluding students from Physical Education classes reinforces authoritarian and reductionist conceptions of discipline, disregards teacher autonomy, and ignores the legal foundations established by the Brazilian LDB, which ensures the compulsory and essential role of Physical Education in students’ holistic development. It is concluded that this practice is pedagogically inappropriate and must be revised by schools, administrators, and teachers in order to promote an education that respects integral development and guarantees all students full access to Physical Education classes.