Learning through group work in physical education: a symbolic interactionist approach

Abstract

In line with contemporary constructivist pedagogies, students are frequently expected to learn through interaction in physical education (PE). There is a relatively sophisticated body of literature focusing on learning in groups, peer teaching, and cooperative learning. Current research has not, however, focused on how the body is implicated in interactional learning. This is surprising given that much learning in PE is expected to take place in the physical domain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to current theorizing by examining social interactions in PE practice. By drawing on symbolic interactionist theory, we put forward a framework for considering how inter-student interactions occur in a multimodal sense. Key ideas relate to (1) the sequential organization of interactions; (2) the ways in which semiotic resources in different fields are used to elaborate each other; (3) the importance of interpretation as a driver of interaction; (4) the creation of local environments in which participants attend to and work together within a shared world of perception; and (5) the influence of material environments on social interaction. The specific concepts employed are epistemic ecology, epistemic position, and learning trajectory. The paper includes observational data from an investigation of learning in Swedish PE to demonstrate the explanatory power and limitations of the theoretical tenets presented. The paper is concluded with practical implications of understanding group work in a multimodal manner.

Physical education in Tunisia: teachers' practical epistemology, students' positioning and gender issues

“…Ligozat (2011) reported that JASD is a pragmatist and social-interactionist approach to classroom practices, which has links with the theoretical works of Mead, Blumer, and Goffman as well as the one of Vygotsky. It has also commonalities with the 'Swedish didactics research tradition' of studying PE practices within a pragmatist and transactional theory of experience (Quennerstedt, 2013;Quennerstedt, Öhman, & Öhman, 2011; see also Ward & Quennerstedt, 2015) as well as in considering that students' learning emerges through social interactions including how the body is implicated in interactional situations (Larsson, Fagrell, & Redelius, 2009; see also Barker, Quennerstedt, & Annerstedt, 2015). From a theoretical standpoint, teacher and students 'joint action' stands for the situated interdependence of classroom actions on the one hand and the cultural, institutional and historical contexts in which the joint action occurs on the Physical education in Tunisia 659 other.…”

Commentary on research into learning in physical education: towards a mature field of knowledge

“…The method essentially consists of teacher explanation of what is to be learned, teacher demonstration (or perhaps a pupil demonstration), followed by organized class practice-sometimes otherwise known as the demonstration, explanation and practice (DEP) method. The golf lesson analyzed by Barker et al (2015) was a nice example of this pedagogical approach. Sometimes the demonstration is omitted or replaced with another visual cue such as a poster, as we saw in the handstandforward roll lesson analyzed by Amade-Escot et al (2015).…”

“…I was fortunate to visit one of the schools in Stockholm during a data collection event and can personally attest to its methodological rigour and to the relatively open access researchers have to schools within the Swedish system. This was an impressive programme of research (which also included the studies of Barker et al, 2015 andKarlefors, 2015), and, in my view, it is this type of programmatic research that has the potential to make significant contributions to our understanding of learning in PE. If we were to use the concept of vertical integration/compatibility for this study, we would find some very useful compatibilities with the published outcomes of work on accountability and communication of learning expectations from researchers at the Ohio State University (OSU) in the USA.…”

Effects of Cooperative Learning and Motivational Strategies for Older Adult on Functional Fitness

“…Cooperative learning allows to assemble learners with different balance and experience into a jointly learning group, increasing diversity of learners' interaction partners and indirectly expanding their balance and skills (Bodsworth & Goodyear, 2017;Barker, Quennerstedt, & Annerstedt, 2015). According to Johnson and Johnson (1993), Cooperative learning can effectively improve higher-order cognitive processes.…”