Exploring a pedagogy for meaning-making in physical education

Abstract

This paper responds to calls for an exploration into pedagogies of meaning within physical education. Developing meaningful educational experiences in physical education for lifelong movement involves supporting students to explore their personal experiences in movement and to use these to derive a greater understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. Following a brief overview of the role of meaning-making in physical education, a case study is offered as a practical example for how reflection can be utilised to explore movement as meaningful. The case study presents a series of steps that provide detail about a meaning-making process undertaken during a physical education class. Data suggest that setting aside time for reflection and the generation of rich movement narratives aligned to a ‘first rush of movement’, can shed light on what students find meaningful ‘in’ movement in ways that link physical education to experiences across varying social and environmental contexts. Through giving priority to bodily understandings of movement as felt, sensory experience, participants ( n = 44) were able to express meaning across a wide range of movement contexts. I contend that the exploration of student meaning in physical education is engaging, informative, and serves to extend possibilities for what curriculum is seen as legitimate in physical education by/for whom. The paper sheds light on the use of embodied meaning-making stories as a potential springboard for further exploration and activity in physical education.

Motivating students for physical activity: What can we learn from student perspectives?

“…The circle represents the student and consists of two semi-circles representing the inner world and the world he/she perceives, and their interaction with the outside world, respectively. Ryan and Deci, 2000;Ryan et al, 2008;Van Dongen et al, 2018), and corroborates the importance of the socio-ecological perspective, meaning-making, and the influence of specific contexts and psychosocial factors on the PA of adolescents as demonstrated elsewhere (O'Connor, 2019;Perez et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2012). Our pattern provides the flexibility to understand such specific configurations and it is in line with socio-ecological models that advocate considering the plurality of influences on adolescents' PA across contexts and time (Perez et al, 2017).…”

Another platform and a changed context: Student experiences of developing spontaneous speaking in French through physical education

“…Meaningful physical education potentially fosters lifelong physical activity (Ennis, 2017). O’Connor (2018: 2) explores a pedagogy for ‘meaning making’ in physical education, emphasising the importance of moving beyond ‘a purely cognitive, technical or “fitness-as-an-outcome” approach’ in order to offer meaningful educational experiences. The physical education/French CLIL context allowed individual embodied meaning-making, which influenced levels of perceived language anxiety.…”

“…The concept of ‘moving to learn’ stands out as an understated feature of the discipline and more often than not is underdeveloped or assumed within current pedagogical practices. O’Connor (2018: 4) notes that ‘Physical Education should not be simply a monoculture of nationally popular performative games and sports that cater for the interests of the motorically talented without consideration of wider meaning’. The subject offers much scope in developing meaningful educational experiences beyond the practical and technical approach.…”

Learning Strategies Focused on Decision Making and Collaboration on Physical Education

“…This can contribute to quality training not only on a technical level, but also to develop strategies for students to overcome obstacles and tools to cope with difficulties thanks to reflective and collaborative work, among other factors [40,41].…”