Valuing the Voices of Young Disabled People: Exploring Experience of Physical Education and Sport

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

“…Notwithstanding the epistemological challenges of 'voice' (Richardson 2000), we support therefore those who believe it is important to provide opportunities for these young disabled people's 'voices' to be 'articulated' and 'heard' (Slee 2000), because their experiences are vital for professionals and for understanding the field, and moreover, by engaging them within the research process, we hope that the young people will be able to further explore and critique their experiences (Fitzgerald, Jobling, and Kirk 2003). The first author has long work experience from trying to support young people to receive a worthy, just physical education, which is a right according to the Norwegian Education Act (KD 1998), and has been personally troubled (Wright Mills 1959) by many students' stories of exclusion and inequitable practice in PE lessons, as well as in the recently introduced additional school subject of 'physical activity for health' (Utdanningsdirektoratet 2009).…”

“…Young people, disability and PE As we stated above, there is a dearth of research in the field of disability and PE in a European context, not least with regard to research which focuses on how young people experience the subject (Fitzgerald, Jobling, and Kirk 2003;Goodwin 2009;Smith 2009). Fitzgerald, Jobling, and Kirk (2003, 178) state that .…”

“…Barton (2009) recently characterised the need to critically analyse the conditions, relations and practices of the subject as urgent due, in part, to the overall lack of a focus on disability and rather a tokenistic, 'bolt-on' approach when first adopted, but also due to revelations in the existing research which point to large discrepancies between the rhetoric of inclusive practice and what is actually taking place in PE lessons. Given PE's historical legacy of being closely tied up to the practice of sport and performance cultures, and society's increasing focus on the 'cult of slenderness' and the 'ideal' body (Tinning 1997(Tinning , 2010Turner 1996), there are concerns that bodies which fall short of the ideal continue to be defined as inferior and are being marginalised despite a curriculum framed by a valorisation of difference (Fitzgerald, Jobling, and Kirk 2003;Fitzgerald 2005). There is research that suggests that many PE classes construct learning spaces which normalise a celebration of able-bodied pupils and offer a relatively narrow range of 'acceptable' ways to move the body (see e.g.…”

Capturing the world of physical education through the eyes of children with autism spectrum disorders

“…An 'auto-driving' (Clark, 1999) photo-elicitation exercise was chosen as photos taken by the pupils were to be used to inform an unstructured interview, and to stimulate 'negotiated interpretation' (Pope, 2010, p. 193). This strategy was selected to promote dialogue between the teacher and pupils (Fitzgerald et al, 2003b) through meaningful conversations and 'interesting talk' (Harper, 2002, p. 23). The method was also informed by the work of Richardson's (1997) concept of 'collective stories' as a pedagogical tool, 'aiming to give voice to those silenced or marginalised by dominant cultural narratives (Pringle, 2008, p. 216).…”

Physical Education and Special Educational Needs in North-West England

“…Some pupils with SEN spend less time in PE lessons and often participate in a narrower PE curriculum when compared to their cohort (Atkinson and Black, 2006;Fitzgerald, 2005;Fitzgerald et al, 2003aFitzgerald et al, , 2003bGoodwin and Watkinson, 2000;Morley et al, 2005;Smith, 2004;Smith and Green, 2004;Sport England, 2001). In attempting to explain these unequal experiences, Smith (2004: 45) suggests that many of the PE teachers that he interviewed claimed to provide 'as much opportunity as possible' in order to meet their legal obligation to include pupils with SEN.…”