Eimear Enright

‘Can I do it in my pyjamas?’ Negotiating a physical education curriculum with teenage girls

The data for this paper were generated during a three-year, Participatory Action Research project, with 41 15—19-year-old female co-researchers and activists, within and beyond the walls of a secondary school. The purpose of the larger study was to work with these students to understand and transform their self-identified barriers to physical education (PE) engagement and physical activity participation. The focus of this paper is on one of the transformation sites, the students’ formal PE curriculum. Participatory Action Research (PAR) constituted the theoretical, pedagogical and methodological framework for this study. The specific questions we seek to address in this paper are what does a negotiated PE curriculum process look like, and how does students’ increased involvement in curricular decision-making impact on their engagement with physical education. Data for this paper were generated through individual and group conversations with five student researchers and curriculum designers during the first year of the study. These conversations were guided by participatory research artefacts (e.g. photographs, posters). Findings suggest that participatory approaches to research and curriculum-making can serve to promote students’ meaningful engagement in the critique and the reimagining of their PE and physical activity experiences. The girls in this study, when provided with guidance and encouragement, rose to the challenge and took ownership of their learning, and doing so was a positive, energizing and exciting experience for them and one in which deep learning occurred and deep insights were produced. Negotiating the curriculum was not without challenge however, and both students and adult allies needed support in persevering beyond the transition and the novelty of initial excitement.

Looking beyond what's broken: towards an appreciative research agenda for physical education and sport pedagogy

Despite the volume of research devoted to the many ills that beset the pedagogical field of physical education and sport, we begin by arguing that there has been insufficient attention given to the way scholars conceptualise change and imagine bringing it about. In particular, we point to a tendency within the field to prioritise problems—whats broken—and suggest that this tendency harbours a self-fulfilling logic. Although somewhat oversold by some of its advocates, we then draw on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a potential intellectual resource for new agenda setting in physical education and sport pedagogy (PESP) research. AI invites researchers to prioritise the positive in the research contexts they study with a view to discovering and generating stories about success that research participants and scholars alike might build on. We argue that an appreciative agenda calls for more flexible and open communication about the start and imagined end points of our research, and a greater emphasis on collaboration that takes seriously the capacity of research participants to be the authors of change and the source of new directions in PESP inquiry.

Youth culture, physical education and the question of relevance: after 20 years, a reply to Tinning and Fitzclarence

This article is an attempt to think through the idea that physical education should draw from youth culture in order to be more ‘relevant’ to students. We begin by revisiting Tinning and Fitzclarences 1992 article ‘Postmodern youth culture and the crisis in Australian secondary school physical education’ in which they essentially argued that young people were bored by physical education because it had failed to keep pace with the pleasures they derive from consumer culture. With this as a starting point, we try to both critique and extend Tinning and Fizclarences ideas by drawing on two broad areas of scholarship; cultural studies of youth and participatory action research. Our purpose here is twofold. First, we want to help clarify what might be meant by the terms ‘youth culture’ and ‘relevance’. Flowing on from this, we suggest some directions for practice and research. These suggestions are not ‘solutions’ and we are at pains to argue that the ‘relevance problem’ may in fact be an unwitting shorthand for a range of related but distinct challenges. Because of this, as well as our own differing perspectives, we propose contradictory paths forward, including both more and less interest in student subjectivity and more and less allowance for student autonomy.

Letters from Early Career Academics: the Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy field of play

Taking our lead from Rainer Maria Rilke’s (1929) ‘Letters to a Young Poet’, our broader project aimed to create a space for dialogue and intergenerational learning between Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP) Early Career Academics (ECAs) and members of the PESP professoriate. This paper focuses specifically on the experiences of PESP ECAs. We draw upon narratives of thirty ECAs from nine different countries to gain insight into the experiences, joys, challenges and ambitions they associate with being and becoming a PESP academic. A narrative analysis of the data generated by the ECAs was undertaken. The analysis aimed to be holistic in nature, interested in form and content: both the told (the content) and the telling (how it was told). We initially focused our analysis using the six dimensions of narrative (characters, setting, events, audience, causal relations and themes). Bourdieu’s socio-analytical toolkit complemented our narrative analysis and helped us move beyond the personal narratives by linking them to the broader social practices, relations and structures of the various settings or fields (PESP, university, family) within which the participants function. The findings suggest that many ECAs are experiencing crises of habitus, as they work to suppress ethical dispositions and values and adjust to ‘the rules’ that universities increasingly play by. Our discussion engages with the affective costs of playing by these rules, and recruits Bourdieu’s notion of ‘reflexive vigilance’ to advocate for ongoing critical analysis of how power operates in the various field which academics inhabit.

Student Voice as Risky Praxis: Democratising Physical Education Teacher Education.

ABSTRACT Background: Student voice agendas have been slow to permeate higher educational institutions. Curricula in universities, like those in primary and secondary education, are still usually made for students by teachers who, while they may have the best interests of the students in mind, rarely if ever engage students in curriculum decision-making. The need for more equitable, dialogic and democratic engagement by students is particularly relevant in the context of teacher education. It has been argued that pre-service teachers should experience democratic practices during their teacher education experiences in order to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to support democratic opportunities in schools. Purpose: Through the participatory action research project described in this paper we sought to position pre-service teachers as pedagogical consultants who would design feedback strategies, gather feedback with faculty and co-construct physical education teacher education (PETE) curricula. We saw this process as a democratic possibility that might create opportunities for pre-service teachers to critique and transform their own educational experiences. In this paper we detail the process we used to support dialogue about teaching and learning between students and faculty members and draw on the perspectives of the students, pedagogical consultant, lecturer and teaching and learning advocate involved in this project. Participants and setting: The project was undertaken with one cohort (77) of pre-service teachers during the final year of a four-year undergraduate PETE programme in an Irish university and focuses on the democratization of one PETE course. Data collection: Data were generated with and by the pre-service teachers, the pedagogical consultant, the lecturer and the regional teaching and learning advocate. The primary data collection methods were interviews and observation. Data analysis: The data were reviewed repeatedly looking for patterns, themes, regularities, paradoxes, variations, nuances in meaning and constraints [Rubin and Rubin 1995. Qualitative Interviewing. The art of Hearing Data. London: Sage]. The authors coded all data sets independently using constant comparison [Glaser 1965. “The Constant Comparative Method of Qualitative Analysis.” Social Problems 12 (4): 436–445] and then shared their processes and subsequent codes. Our analysis engages Greene’s [1988. The Dialectic of Freedom. New York: Teachers College Press] dialectical theory, to explore how naming and holding the tensions involved in this research and pedagogical enterprise was not stultifying but generative. Findings: Three key dialectics were constructed from the data: student–teacher, critical reflection–learning and responsibility–accountability. We speak to each of these themes from the perspectives of the students, the pedagogical consultant and the lecturer who participated in this project. Discussion and conclusion: Our discussion turns to the challenges and benefits associated with the pursuit and realization of democratic possibilities in PETE.

Physical activity experiences of young people in an area of disadvantage: 'there's nothing there for big kids, like us'

Through an examination of the experiences of young people in one disadvantaged area, this paper adds to an emerging body of knowledge focused on what place physical activity occupies in the lives of young people in areas of disadvantage. A total of 40 young people (21 males, 19 females) participated in focus group interviews. The research question explored the forces which enable and constrain the participation of youths in physical activity and the interplay between such forces and how they experience and exercise agency. All focus group interviews were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed. The findings remind us that young people can be seen as positioned within multiple social relations conferred by specific social identities (such as child, friend, brother or sister) and each of these identities influences the ability of youth to exercise agency in choosing whether, where and when to participate in physical activity. Institutional structures also influenced the physical activity habits of young people in this study. It was interesting to note that staying out of trouble was one of the most discussed benefits of physical activity. Young people also recorded feelings of disempowerment through the belief that no significance was attributed to their words and shared thoughts. This sense of constrained agency presents a particular difficulty when we consider that it is only through accessing the voices of young people that those attempting to promote physical activity can ensure that the range of opportunities being created are matched to the preferences of youth.

Media, digital technology and learning in sport: a critical response to Hodkinson, Biesta and James

Background: In their 2008 paper, Hodkinson, Biesta and James draw on the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu to construct what they claim is a ‘holistic’ theoretical framework for understanding learning. While not an attempt to dissolve the long-standing opposition between ‘cognitive’ and ‘situated’ theories, the authors claim that thinking about learning and learners in ‘cultural’ terms via Bourdieus theories allows us theoretically to integrate individuals and learning contexts. The result, they claim, is a ‘scalable’ theory of learning that overcomes the dualisms – such as structure/agency and individual/society – that dog learning theory. We welcome both Hodkinson et al.’s ideas and overall goal. However, we were struck by the absence of any mention of communications media or digital technology in their theoretical framework. Does this mean that media and digital technology can straightforwardly be mapped onto Hodkinson et al.’s theory? Or is this a serious oversight? Purpose: Given the large amount of recent theorising about the transformative educational potential of media and digital technology – admittedly much of it speculative and hyperbolic – there appear to be some grounds for troubling some of Hodkinson et al.’s ideas by prioritising the effects of media and digital technology on learning. Methods: We used two examples of learning in sports, one historical and the other contemporary, to consider the theoretical implications of media and digital technologys role in sports learning. The first explores the ways professional footballers learned to produce displays of emotion during the 1950s and 1960s. Our second example presents data from semi-structured interviews with downhill longboard skateboarders and focuses on how these young people use and think about digital technology as they learn their sport. Findings: While not rejecting Hodkinson et al.’s preference for Bourdieus sociological theories, we draw on other theories that do not see the relationship between the ‘individual’ and ‘society’ as their conceptual starting point. To this end, we touch on Actor Network Theory (ANT), ‘connectivism’ and the theoretical work of Deleuze and Guattari in order to at least question whether Bourdieus ideas are sufficiently flexible or dynamic to account for learning in media- and technology-saturated environments. Most obviously, rather than the individual/society dualism which Hodkinson et al. simultaneously question but also rely on, are there advantages in using ‘flatter’ metaphors such as the ‘network’ to understand learning? Conclusions: We agree with Hodkinson et al.’s point that theories are tools for thinking with and that their metaphorical power can and should be harnessed to improve the way we teach. It is for this reason that we question Hodkinson et al.’s claim to offer a ‘holistic’ theory of learning. All theories, like metaphors, have real-world limitations and this is why we should always be suspicious of theories that claim to be able to ‘see’ the world from all angles and, perhaps more fundamentally, to dissolve the dualisms that they are built on. Theories are always a partial view from somewhere and just as they help us to see some things, they do so by demanding that we not see others.

‘Letters to an early career academic’: learning from the advice of the physical education and sport pedagogy professoriate

Taking our lead from Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, this project represents our attempt to stimulate dialogue between 30 physical education and sport pedagogy (PESP) early career academics (ECAs) and 11 PESP professors. First, the ECAs were invited to write a narrative around their experiences as PESP ECAs. Second, a narrative analysis was undertaken and three composite ECA letters were constructed. Third, these letters were shared with the professoriate, who were each invited to write a letter of response. Finally, six of the professors participated in a symposium, which focused on the letters. The professors’ letters and the transcripts of the symposium constitute the dataset for this paper. While the larger project engages with ECA voices this paper focuses on how the professors construct the university and PESP and the implications of these constructions for how they advise and mentor ECAs. Theoretically, we recruit the work of Pierre Bourdieu, and nascent ideas about mentoring, to challenge our interpretive complacency, and help us think in generative ways about the data. Our analysis engages with three broad themes: constructions of the university; constructions of PESP; and constructions of self. Findings suggest that while much of the professorial advice might be interpreted as targeted towards the development of more accomplished neoliberal subjects, there was some evidence of a more radical, collegial mentoring of sorts, through advice that foregrounded strategies of resistance.

The outsourcing of health and physical education: a scoping review

The outsourcing, or external provision, of Health and Physical Education (HPE) has only relatively recently become the focus of research. This critical scoping review of empirical work on outsourcing in HPE seeks to examine the extent, nature, and range of research that has been undertaken and provide a context for future scholarly inquiry. Literature was sourced from two educational databases, a manual search of five HPE journals, and searches of citations and references. A content analysis of the 31 empirical articles retrieved was undertaken to identify country of origin, study focus, participants recruited, subject and school level researched, study length, data sources, nature of analysis, and theoretical framework. This was followed by a critical analysis of the findings of each empirical study to identify knowledge gaps regarding the outsourcing of HPE. This process revealed that outsourcing varied from being an explicit research focus to becoming of interest as a result of the findings of the study. Nonetheless, there was consistency across all publications in the selection of primary schools as data collection contexts and the recruitment of either school staff or external agency employees as research participants. Thematic analysis of the findings of the articles resulted in three dominant themes: ‘curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment’, ‘expertise’, and ‘partnerships’. Overall, this critical scoping review highlighted that it is crucial that outsourcing continues to be a focus of inquiry for the field and that both balance and depth is sought in the research design of studies that are undertaken.

Brokering and bridging knowledge in health and physical education: a critical discourse analysis of one external provider’s curriculum

ABSTRACT Background: There has been a proliferation of external agencies ‘knocking on the door’ of, and being welcomed into, Health and Physical Education (HPE). This opens HPE up to new products, partners, and services. Although scholarship on the practice of outsourcing HPE is steadily growing in quantity and in scope, there is a significant gap in the literature around how external providers (or outsourcers) of HPE interpret the curriculum, and how this translates into certain kinds of products and services. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse one external provider’s interpretations of the curriculum and of the roles of key pedagogical agents and stakeholders (e.g. HPE teachers and students), as well as their translation of these interpretations into particular kinds of products and services. This is achieved through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Tennis Australia’s Tennis in Secondary School (TSS) Program teacher resources and interviews with key employees of Tennis Australia. Methods: The larger study from which this paper draws is a network ethnography of the external provision of HPE. TSS was selected as a case study in the initial web-audit undertaken as part of this network ethnography. The criteria which resulted in the selection of TSS as a case study were: the utilisation of educational language within product descriptions or marketing, provision of services to a significant number of schools, and a rationale for services that included a contribution to HPE. A CDA was undertaken on the TSS advertising, product materials, teacher resources, and the transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with three employees of the organisation. Findings: Tennis Australia markets an explicit alignment between their TSS Program and the Australian Curriculum: HPE (AC:HPE). For example, teacher resources are structured to include a ‘Learning Intention’ (i.e. a curriculum content descriptor); ‘Focus Questions and Teaching Points’ (i.e. pedagogical styles); and ‘Success Criteria’ (i.e. self-described ‘assessment criteria’). Significantly, however, there were several tensions and gaps in their interpretations and understandings of the AC:HPE and their approaches to pedagogy and assessment within the subject. Conclusion: External agencies, such as Tennis Australia, are becoming increasingly sophisticated at marketing their products in relation to HPE curricula. Rather than divesting or relieving teachers of curriculum decision-making and design responsibility, however, we argue that these efforts from external agencies mean that now, more than ever, teachers need to recognise, articulate, and enact their pedagogical and curriculum expertise. This will allow teachers to better broker, bridge, and translate knowledge and ensure that HPE remains an educative experience.