Pupil voice in physical education and the desire for (in)visibility
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7168787 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Littlefair (0000-0001-5342-493X, Northumbria University, corresponding author), Michael Jopling (0000-0002-2720-5650, University of Brighton), Nancy Kelly (0000-0002-7558-1853, Northumbria University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 728-741 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sport Education and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1357-3322 • E-ISSN: 1470-1243 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13573322.2024.2349946 |
| OpenAlex | W4396772055 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 48 |
The importance of children is a universally accepted concept in schools.However, do we actually listen to what children have to say? Rudduck and Fielding [2002.The transformative potential of student voice: Confronting the power issues.Paper presented at BERA Annual Conference, University of Exeter, p. 2] argue that the voices of pupils are 'silent' or 'silenced'.The aim of this study was to listen to the voice of pupils, concerning their experiences in Physical Education (PE) in schools, with the direction of the study being driven (although not codesigned) by pupils and thereafter following the issues that they raised.It involved 154, 14-16-year-old pupils across the two schools, one an independent school and the other a state academy.A focus group in each school (6 pupils per study) drove the direction of the study which then sort breadth through a questionnaire to the whole year group in both schools (154 respondents) and finally depth through 12 individual interviews.A theoretical framework (Social Field Theory) was selected post findings to ensure that it best represented the emergent data.Through this Pupil voice method, five themes emerged, those being Participation, Choice, Pressure, Ability and Development, and Health.These indicated that pupils have vastly different experiences in the PE lesson, in particular, if they are at either end of the ability spectrum.For some it is that of humiliation and censure, and for others it is about success and achievement.The uniqueness of the lesson with regard to physique and the exposure of both skill and body can affect this duality, negatively and positively.This can lead to the desire for, or coerced, (in)visibility for many pupils.Solutions from pupils, at both ends of the ability spectrum, to counter issues in PE involved giving choice of activity and having ability setting for classes
Aesthetics · Art · Cognitive psychology · Geography · Meteorology · Pupil · Visibility · Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport · Neuroscience · Physical Education and Pedagogy · Psychology · Sports, Gender, and Society
Childcare, Choice and Class Practices
How phenomenology can help us learn from the experiences of others
Student voice and the perils of popularity
Healthying physical education - on the possibility of learning health
Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning
Theorizing student voice
Exploring the relative lack of impact of research on ‘ability grouping’ in England
Health benefits of physical activity
Narratives and marginalised voices
Children’s rights in student voice projects
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis
Understanding pupils' hiding techniques in physical education
Go for it Girl’ adolescent girls’ responses to the implementation of an activist approach in a core physical education programme
Bourdieu and the social space of the PE class
One of the worst statistics in British sport’
Re-engaging disengaged pupils in physical education
Friendship, physicality, and physical education
Boys, Masculinities and PE
Strong girls’ in physical education
Setting policy and student agency in physical education
Mission impossible? Reflecting upon the relationship between physical education, youth sport and lifelong participation
Evidence for the social construction of ability in physical education
Physical education, youth sport and lifelong participation
Making a Difference? Education and ëAbilityí in Physical Education
The Principle of Assumed Consent
Transformative approaches to student voice
Weight-Based Victimization Among Adolescents in the School Setting
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Sound, Presence, and Power
Learning as becoming in vocational education and training
The Problem of Speaking for Others
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |