Friendship, physicality, and physical education: an exploration of the social and embodied dynamics of girls’ physical education experiences

Abstract

Physical education represents a dynamic social space where students experience and interpret physicality in a context that accentuates peer relationships and privileges particular forms of embodiment. This article focuses on girls' understandings of physicality with respect to the organisation of physical education and more informal social networks. Research exploring the connections between the body, capital, physical activity, and femininity and work on friendship and other social relationships underpin the study. The article draws on findings from ethnographic work involving 12-and 13-year-old girls in a multi-ethnic, mixed comprehensive school in the United Kingdom. The meaning of physicality was interwoven with differences in social status, membership in friendship groups, gender ideologies, and ethnicity. Girls' interpretations of their experiences centred on their perceptions of the importance of displays of competence and the ways that practices in physical education reinforced and challenged their social networks. Girl-only physical education contexts did not emerge as unproblematic as practices were used to both include and exclude other girls, to reinforce social status and to marginalize others. Girls who were physically skilled and socially valued were able to exercise power and maintain their status through demonstrations of competence and strategies of inclusion and exclusion. Girls' activity choices and evaluations of physical education related to their own feelings of competence, the potential for positive or negative social interactions, and their ability to acquire and utilize desirable forms of social and physical capital. Implications for teaching include the necessity of incorporating inclusive practices that acknowledge the diverse range of girls' experiences, interests and needs, the need to reflect on the link between activities and social relationships, the possibility of incorporating space for critical reflection, and the influence of friendships and social networks.

The Processes of Inclusion and Exclusion in Physical Education: A Social-Relational Perspective

“…The significance of physical skills for the recognition and participation of students in PE have also been described by others (Carlson, 1995;Griffin, 1984Griffin, , 1985Grimminger, 2013;Grimminger 2014b, Hills, 2007Portman, 1995aPortman, , 1995b. Even if physical skills are undoubtedly important for the legitimacy ascribed to students, in our observations and interviews with students it also became clear that students' physical skills were neither a guarantee nor a prerequisite for the legitimacy ascribed.…”

“…So the relations between the girls and between Michael and the girls hamper Michael's participation, placing him in a peripheral position (upper corner field 2, Figure 2) and at risk of being marginalised (lower corner field 2, Figure 2) in this specific case. The significance of social relations or popularity among peers has also been reported in studies by Hills (2007), Grimminger (2013) and O'Donovan (2003). Hills (2007) found that girls' physical skills, as well as girls' social relationships, were important in shaping their involvement in PE and for the power relations between the included and the excluded students.…”

“…The significance of social relations or popularity among peers has also been reported in studies by Hills (2007), Grimminger (2013) and O'Donovan (2003). Hills (2007) found that girls' physical skills, as well as girls' social relationships, were important in shaping their involvement in PE and for the power relations between the included and the excluded students. The relevance of social relations was also confirmed in our interviews when students talked about team selectiona strategy described as a typical way of being ascribed legitimacy or not in PE (Grimminger, 2014b).…”

“…Thereby, they also question the appropriateness of social categorisation. Another example is reported by Hills (2007), who shows how gender, ethnicity and ability interact in girls' experiences of inclusion and exclusion processes in PE classes in English secondary schools, and moreover how these experiences are influenced by the girls' social status and which fellowship group they belong to outside PE classes.…”

Self-efficacy, soccer skills and the influence on students’ learning experience

“…Ideally, physical education was used as a platform to provide students with the chance to acquire and develop motor skills, build selfesteem, gain knowledge through physical activity, collaborate with peers as well as to participate in an enjoyable learning environment [10].…”