The challenges of intersectionality: researching difference in physical education¹

Negotiating the discursive spaces of inclusive education: narratives of experience from contemporary Physical Education

“…As Evans (2004) and Fitzgerald (2005) have pointed out, as long as 'male' sporting performance values like strength, power and aggression (Messner 1992) remain valorised in PE, young people who do not display such 'ability', including those with a disability, almost automatically become labelled as 'lacking ability', as 'physically unintelligent' and as 'deficient'. For Emilie, the intersections of her gender identity, her working class background and her disability make her extra vulnerable (Flintoff, Scraton, and Fitzgerald 2008).…”

Reviewing research evidence and the case of participation in sport and physical recreation by black and minority ethnic communities

“…However, important though it is, ethnicity is patently not the sole defining criterion of sporting inclusion. It is the way ethnicity intersects with gender, class, income, disability, age, religion and other factors that shapes sporting opportunities (Ratna 2008;Carrington 2008;Flintoff et al 2008). As argued elsewhere, people working in sports organisations need to have a more sophisticated understanding of racisms in order to promote racial equality (Back et al 2001;Hylton 2010).…”

Playing the ‘Race’ card? Black and minority ethnic students' experiences of physical education teacher education

“…All interviews were taped with permission, and conducted face-to-face apart from four, conducted over the telephone to accommodate distant school placements. Interview transcripts were fully transcribed and each initially coded and analysed thematically by two members of the research team, the interviewer, and the lead researcher who read all transcripts (see Flintoff, 2008;Flintoff and Webb, 2012). Key themes were then collated and refined by the lead researcher (Flintoff) before 11 being presented back to the research team at a later group discussion.…”

“…She argues that 'race' and ethnicity as social divisions are produced through the twin processes of differentiation (and identification) and positionality. In order to explore how these processes operate, Anthias (1998) Flintoff et al, 2008), that has replaced an 'additive' approach to inequalities based on 'race', gender and other power relations, with one that recognises their intersections. As Brah (1996, p.109) has noted, structures of class, racism, gender and sexuality are experienced simultaneously,…”