Exploring Young People's Experiences of PE: An Intersectional Approach

This presentation is based on findings from my PhD study, which aims to explore different young people’s experiences of PE. Research in PE is dominated by single issue research. While this approach makes valuable... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation is based on findings from my PhD study, which aims to explore different young people’s experiences of PE. Research in PE is dominated by single issue research. While this approach makes valuable contributions to knowledge, it does not enable understandings of young people’s experiences beyond broad categorizations. Adopting an intersectional framework offers the possibilities to explore the complexities of young people’s lives, and their influence within PE spaces. Along with intersectionality I have use theoretical resources associated with power, space and identity to analyse how they understand and negotiate these complexities.

The study took place in an inner-city secondary school with higher than average rates of ethnic minority students and those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Therefore,the study drew provisional boundaries around the categories of ethnicity, disability and gender. 13 girls took part in the study. All were classed as having an SEN and were from varying ethnic backgrounds (7 South Asian, 3 Slovakian, 3 White British). Methodologically, I drew upon student voice principles, foregrounding the young people’s voices. I utilized ethnographic methods, spending 2 years observing practice in the school, and conducted 8 focus groups sessions with each student.

Preliminary results illustrate the complexity of these young girls’ lives. Although there are some commonalities in identity markers, each girl has a unique story to tell about her PE experience. While each student is affected by dominant power relations and discourses, the ways they negotiate these and construct their own meanings in PE varies. Notions of ‘belonging’ and ‘otherness’ are key to perceptions of, and experiences within PE, but these constructions are highly contextual and fluid. By representing these data in narrative form I hope to foreground the student’s voices while offering insights about how power and identity contribute, in different ways, to each girl’s experience of PE.