Contributions of Motor Behavior to Physical Education: what has changed in the last 15 years?

This article aimed to continue with the reflections on the relationship between Motor Behavior as a field of investigation and Physical Education as an area of knowledge, seeking to analyze what changes have occurred in the last 15 years, regarding the challenges and suggestions formulated in an article that I have published in the Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior’s first issue, in 2006. The analyzes carried out that were based on data extracted from publications throughout this period allow us to conclude that the picture has not had significant changes, particularly concerning the contribution of Motor Behavior researchers to a better definition of the academic identity of Physical Education, which is necessary for the proper contextualization of researches performed on motor behavior in the field. The results show the researchers' lack of interest in discussing more macroscopic themes of epistemological nature, concentrating on the publication of articles to increase their scientific productivity.

The Role of Contexts in the Construction of Academic Identity in Selected South African Universities

Using qualitative interviews and document analysis, that is, national and institutional policies, the study is embedded on the assumption that the purpose of the academic career is knowledge creation, dissemination, and the acquisition and promotion of high-level skills that contribute to scholarship and the support of the economy of knowledge. This implies that academics create knowledge in pursuit of the academic career to develop scholarship. Given the identity-subjectivity-agency theory, the study set out to examine the global and local contexts or dynamics that affect the academic career in constructing academic identity and how they apply to the South African higher education landscape. We argue that the legacy of apartheid affected academic careers differently as higher education institutions were divided, separated, and segregated along racial lines with different purposes. They shaped the roles of academics in different ways, with some enjoying academic freedom and autonomy while some are operating as public servants. Moreover, university academic staff should be encouraged and enabled to advance knowledge. Thus, the study recognizes the need for high-level skills and knowledge creation, which require greater attention to the nature of academic careers.

The China-centric era? Rethinking academic identity for sustainable higher education internationalization in China

Although recent decades have witnessed remarkable development of China’s higher education (HE) since its Open Door policy in 1978, China’s cross-border collaboration in HE has not always been smooth. The global rise of neo-nationalism in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, has put international academic collaboration under grave threat. This conceptual paper first conducts a critical review of China’s strategy for HE internationalization to discern its underlying rationale and what is encumbering the process. By examining the concept of academic identity through the lens of academic nationalism and academic internationalism in Chinese HE context, it is argued that the crux of China’s cross-border collaboration issue may largely lie in the imbalanced nationalist and internationalist dimensions of Chinese academic identity. The article has implications for Chinese academics to balance their identities for better global collaboration and sustainable HE internationalization amid geopolitical tensions in an era of flux.