How pupils’ playfulness creates possibilities for pleasure and learning in physical education

Abstract

Background: Physical education has been described as too instrumental and uncritical, where a focus on utility has limited the value of pleasure in movement. Decades of previous research has addressed the need for changes where embodied experiences and learning are emphasized [Kirk, David, and Richard Tinning. 1994. “Embodied Self-Identity, Healthy Lifestyles and School Physical Education.” Sociology of Health and Illness 16 (5): 600–625; Kirk, David. 2010. Physical Education Futures. London: Routledge; Wrench, Alison, and Robyne Garrett. 2015. “PE: It’s Just Me: Physically Active and Healthy Teacher Bodies.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE) 28 (1): 72–91; Wright, Jan. 2000. “Bodies, Meanings and Movement: A Comparison of the Language of a Physical Education Lesson and a Feldenkrais Movement Class.” Sport, Education & Society 5 (1): 35–49]. Accordingly, we align with the ongoing call for a ‘corporeal turn’ [Smith, Stephen J. 2007. “The First Rush of Movement: A Phenomenological Preface to Movement Education.” Phenomenology & Practice 1 (1): 47–75, 66] in physical education, towards a more holistic understanding of learning and experience as embodied and emplaced [Pink, Sarah. 2011. “From Embodiment to Emplacement: Re- Thinking Competing Bodies, Senses and Spatialities.” Sport, Education and Society 16 (3):343–355.]. This turn may involve a curriculum where pleasurable and meaningful movement experiences are educational goals. Building on this, we ask whether a pedagogy that gives room for playfulness may be a starting point for physical education being perceived as more meaningful and pleasurable. Our theoretical framework builds upon Wellard’s model of body-reflexive pleasure, Hyland’s understanding of playfulness as a responsive openness and Gibson’s theories of affordances. Purpose: In this study we explore pupils’ embodied experiences in physical education, using empirical findings from a sensory ethnography. The research questions asked are ‘How do pupils’ playfulness create possibilities for pleasure in physical education? And which opportunities for embodied learning are being offered through playful and pleasurable experiences?’ Our aim is to inform and develop pedagogies of embodiment by including playfulness as a strategy for facilitating opportunities for pleasurable and meaningful experiences that enable embodied learning. Method: The empirical data is based on a sensory ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a 10th grade class (23 pupils, age 15–16 years) in Oslo, Norway. The first author conducted the fieldwork as a participant observer. This included joining all physical education lessons for one semester and conducting 17 interviews with pupils by the end of the semester. In the analysis and interpretation process we have combined ‘the ethnographic hunch’ [Pink, Sarah. 2021. “The Ethnographic Hunch.” Experimenting with Ethnography: A Companion to Analysis: 30–40] with an abductive analysis approach [Tavory, Iddo, and Stefan Timmermans. 2014. Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press]. Results and discussion: The findings are represented in three episodes that show how pupils playfully changed the teacher-given tasks, and in doing so created possibilities for pleasurable experiences. The findings are discussed using [Wellard 2012. “Body-reflexive Pleasures: Exploring Bodily Experiences Within the Context of Sport and Physical Activity.” Sport, Education and Society 17 (1): 21–33] model of body-reflexive pleasures and phenomenological perspectives on playfulness [Hyland, D. 1977. ““And That Is The Best Part of Us:” Human Being and Play.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 4 (1):36–49], and affordances [Gibson, James J. 1986. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates]. Playfulness emerged as a criterium for perceiving activities as pleasurable. The pupils’ playful stance assisted them in their search for meaning and pleasurable activities because it enabled them to be open and responsive to the possibilities that emerged in the physical and social environment. This led to pleasurable experiences of physical thrill and psychological flow in social interaction when moving with others. We discuss how pleasurable experiences may have potential for the pupils’ embodied and emplaced learning, as participants in place-events. As illustrated in the three episodes, the playful and pleasurable activities offer opportunities for learning and practicing integrated competencies, e.g. physical, social, and creative competencies. Suggested implications for physical education teachers may involve giving pupils the freedom to be playful by being open to letting pupils’ innovative initiatives influence the teaching and contribute to create a safe space for movement exploration.