ABSTRACT

This paper explores the ways in which working-class boys negotiated the content and delivery of physical education at a ‘typical’, white working-class secondary school located in the north of England. The study utilised a quasi-ethnographical case-study design conducted over a non-continuous three-month period involving covert and overt participant observation, guided conversations, and group interviews. A total of 48 key stage 4 (Year 10 and 11) male pupils were selected to take part in eight focus groups following the observation of approximately 340 key stage four (KS4) pupils in PE lessons. The data revealed that the vast majority of these male pupils arrived at the school with a narrow sporting repertoire as result of the upbringings and lifestyles made up of ‘traditional’ working-class activities such as football and fishing. Their strong predisposition for recreational involvement in these activities impacted directly on what the young males would, and could, do during PE at school and in this way were able to influence (to lesser and greater degrees) the content and delivery of their PE experiences. The findings of the study, therefore, go some way explaining how PE in many working-class secondary schools may come to influence the long standing, class-related adult participation anomalies that continue to exist in the UK.

摘要

本文探讨了工人阶级男孩在位于英格兰北部的“典型”白人工人阶级中学协商体育教学内容和授课方式的方式。该研究采用了准民族志案例研究设计，为期三个月，时间不连续，涉及隐蔽和公开的参与者观察、引导性对话和小组访谈。在对大约 340 名关键阶段四 (KS4) 学生的体育课进行观察后，共有 48 名关键阶段 4（10 年级和 11 年级）男学生被选中参加八个焦点小组。数据显示，由于足球和钓鱼等“传统”工人阶级活动构成的成长经历和生活方式，这些男学生中的绝大多数来到学校时运动项目很少。他们对娱乐性参与这些活动的强烈倾向直接影响了年轻男性在学校体育期间会做什么，并且能够以这种方式影响（或大或小）他们体育体验的内容和交付。因此，这项研究的结果在某种程度上解释了许多工人阶级中学的体育课如何影响英国继续存在的长期存在的、与班级相关的成人参与异常现象。