The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of mothers' perspectives of their children's experiences in inclusive physical education. It describes the value mothers placed on physical education, the meaning they ascribed to their children's physical education experiences, the role of the Personal Program Plan (PPP) in mother's communication with the school, and the other means of communication they used to share their thoughts about children's participation. The stories of mothers of elementary (1 boy, 3 girls) and secondary (2 boys, 1 girl) aged children with spina bifida were collected and analyzed using the hermeneutic phenomenological methods of semistructured interviews, artifacts, documents, and field notes. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: A Good Thing But…, Connection to Disability Sports, and Beyond the Curriculum. Peters ' (1996) model of disablement provided the conceptual framework for the interpretation of the findings.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As I come to the end of another chapter in my life, I am aware that I owe a debt of gratitude so many persons who helped and supported me in completing this thesis.

This study explored inclusion practices in general physical education (GPE) from the experiences and perspectives of elementary physical education teachers. The stories of four teachers (two females, two males) between 27 and 57 years of age were gathered using the phenomenological methods of semi-structured interviews, photographs, school documents, and field notes. Bandura's social-cognitive theory provided a conceptual framework to interpret the findings of this inquiry. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis: engaging in learning; adapting strategies to meet students' needs; and moving beyond the educational goals. The findings suggest that inclusion practices (teacher's behaviours) in GPE were constructed by the dynamic interactions between teachers' knowledge of disability and motivation to learn about their students (personal factors) and children's needs and learning goals (environment).

The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore the experiences and meaning of parental involvement in physical education from the perspectives of the parents of students with developmental disabilities. The stories of four mothers of elementary aged children (3 boys, 1 girl), two mothers and one couple (mother and father) of secondary-aged youth (1 girl, 2 boys) with developmental disabilities, were gathered by using interviews, photographs, school documents, and the researcher’s journal. Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) ecological system theory provided a conceptual framework to interpret the findings of this inquiry. Three themes emerged from thematic analysis: being an advocate for my child, understanding the big picture, and collaborative partnerships undeveloped in GPE. The findings lend additional support to the need for establishing collaborative partnerships in physical education between home and school environments (An & Goodwin, 2007; Tekin, 2011).

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