Curtner-Smith (2009) suggested that sport pedagogy researchers interested in doing policy-oriented research should focus on how physical education is “read” by pupils. Gore (1990) suggested that children interpret physical education due to the ways in which they have been socialized. In addition, and based on their differing socialization, it is possible that sub-groups of children read physical education very differently from each other. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of middle school pupils' acculturation on their reading of and expectations for physical education. The sub-questions that guided the study were (a) How do middle school pupils read physical education? (b)What expectations do middle school pupils have for physical education? and (c) What factors lead to middle school pupils’ readings of and expectations for physical education? The theoretical framework employed was socialization theory.
Method:
Participants were 94 pupils with diverse socioeconomic status (SES) and racial backgrounds attending one middle school with a progressive physical education curriculum. Data were collected through non-participant observation, requiring pupils to write a fictional account of the ideal physical education lesson, and conversational, informal, focus group, and stimulated recall interviews.
Analysis/Results:
Data were analyzed with analytic induction and constant comparison. Pupils’ readings of physical education were largely positive. The majority believed that the subject’s purposes were to learn how to participate in sports and games, become knowledgeable about health and fitness, and provide healthy amounts of physical activity. A minority of pupils were more negative about the subject, believing that it merely served to give them a break from academic work or had little value at all. Boys were generally more positive about physical education than girls. Perceived success in the subject was high among pupils in all three grades but decreased as pupils got older. Pupils from lower SES backgrounds were more negative about the subject than those from higher SES backgrounds. Perceptions about and expectations for physical education were similar across different races. Key socializing agents that shaped pupils’ readings of the subject were their parents, siblings, peers, physical education teachers, teachers of other subjects, experiences in physical education, experiences in sport outside school, television, film and print media.
Conclusions:
The findings of the study suggested that much of the socialization which shaped pupils’ perceptions about physical education was negative. The ability of their physical education teachers and strength of their program, however, largely served to overpower this negativity.
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