At no times did case study participants speak as a collective group. Each participant was kept separate from one another both within the practical management of their interviews, and within my own subsequent extrapolation of their experiences that are given here in this chapter. Within their experiences,
171 there were, however, a number of themes and patterns, to be taken up in the discussion and interpretation chapter to follow, which can be identified as being relatively common amongst all participants.
For a number of the boys, the physical elements of PE were its defining feature. Daniel for example spoke of this physicality in a number of ways. He described it both as a characteristic of the subject which resulted in an increase in his obstructive behavioural tendencies, and also as something that led to a perceived task mastery that was often not possible elsewhere in his curriculum. These views were shared by a number of the more practically proficient and physically larger boys, including Tom and Paul. When they discussed with me the varying sports in which they participated during NCPE, they each placed a high regard on theirs, and others, practical abilities. Seemingly irrespective of the lesson content, they each approached lessons with an aim to demonstrate their performance capabilities. In contrast, for some participants who were not so practically able, including Jack for example, the physical nature of PE was attributed to causing some of the difficulties which he faced in forming friendships with his peers. In this case, he instead gained enjoyment through the act of having contact with the ball. He was someone who, like many of the other cases in this study, placed a high regard on being central to the passage of play.
In achieving some extent of control over their behaviours, in lessons which they were proficient and predominantly active, the boys recognised PE as having an effect upon their behavioural and cognitive states. The conscious use of physical education as a tool that would help them to manage their behaviours was something that participants spoke of in a number of ways. Ben, for example, perceived that the energy expelled during his time in PE resulted in an effect that was akin to escapism from situations that would more commonly cause him difficulties. Consequently, on occasions, the opportunities in PE to demonstrate exaggerated behaviours without the interference of other demands resulted in participants maintaining appropriate behaviours more so than in
172 other lessons. For some, such as Paul, these opportunities were perceived as being acted upon within his own terms. Irrespective of the requirement of him, this perceived control over a situation, in apparently choosing when and when not to participate, resulted in more suitable actions when under direction from his teachers. This perceived control was something that, as with other aspects of their behaviours, the boys spoke of as being important in the eyes of their peers.
The opportunities to work alongside peers, and to share common goals within their teams, were seen as a trait of PE that had a number of recognisable implications. James spoke at length about the social nature of participation, and the subsequent importance of being given opportunities to be actively involved in tasks in conjunction with his peers. As well as giving opportunities to work co-operatively with others, these situations were also seen by some, including Paul and Ben, as a time in which they could directly and favourably compare themselves to others through cementing their relative practical abilities within their group. When not perceived as being competent in this regard, a number of the boys (including and especially Daniel) would behave in ways that were seen as potentially threatening to others. His time in PE directly affected the relations that he had with his peers in all other subjects.
Most of the boys appeared to be seen by their peers as the ones who would „muck about‟, in each of their respective classes. Physical education was an environment in which this prophecy seemed to commonly occur. In practical learning environments that rewarded effort and ability with increased physical freedoms, these behavioural tendencies appeared to manifest themselves more frequently. Ben highlighted his perceived need for space and freedom, which was given to him in some elements of PE. Furthermore, James recognised PE as a time that could alleviate his boredom through the virtues of movement that he himself could determine. For Tom, the inability to control the impulses, which were resultant upon boredom elsewhere, were not an issue within his PE
173 lessons. Rather, such impulses instead resulted in potentially disruptive behaviours that were a product of the temptations which he perceived to face.
The boys recognised that physical education had inherent characteristics which defined it as being a subject that, to them, and for different reasons, was unlike the majority of others in their curriculum. This recognition has been demonstrated through the application of a range of sources which have emerged from the processes of prolonged data collection. As such, this chapter has highlighted the varying reactions that each of the boys had to the subject, in a way that solely privileges the voice of each individual response in isolation. Within these changeable responses, the unspoken commonalities that they shared, on a number of levels, did not hide the apparent complexities of their experiences. Consequently, this chapter has also cited idiosyncrasies in their experiences, where there were times in which their responses did not agree, and their response data did not concur. These varying responses further acknowledge the context in which the individuality of experience must be recognised. An interpretation of the potential reasons behind these responses, including greater comparisons between them, will be given in the discussion to follow.
174 Chapter Six: Discussion and Interpretation
This chapter details experiences that were evidenced on a recurring basis both within, and between, the case study participants. There are a number of noteworthy themes of interpretation that emerge from their experiences, each of which are referenced below in the content of this chapter. These represent both cumulative experiences and developing interpretations from which tentative generalisations (relative to these particular case studies) can be made. So as not to devalue the unique and personal details of each individual, each of these realities is afforded equal weighting in the comparison that follows in the remainder of this thesis. The discussion to follow in this chapter is one that has also been conditioned, by my own learned truths, as I interpret them to be. The question of whose reality is favoured, and my interpretation of these differing realities, has been discussed previously in chapter three, section 3.1.
The summaries of the previous chapter have shown that the boys each reacted in different ways, and to varying degrees, to the innumerable factors that combined to define their time in (and reaction to) NCPE. The uniqueness of each case has been recorded in the previous chapter. The summation of each individual case has also been given within each participant sub-section, in consciousness of the principles of case study design which guide this study. These subsections have provided a résumé of the intricacies and nuances of their experiences, which are the cornerstone of this thesis, and have been evidenced through reference to interaction and transcript sources (see Appendices C and I). The experiences which emerge from their voices, have appeared highly dependent upon the situational nature of the lesson content and the learning environment. This chapter now builds upon these sections, providing the opportunity for a holistic discussion of the key recurring and noteworthy points.
The inclusion of themes within this discussion is not restricted by any criteria of absolute regularity of their illustration across every participant‟s data. There
175 were examples where this has been the situation, and where each case study shared a commonly held experience that transcended all participants. Conversely, there were also other instances, where the diverse experiences that each participant spoke of, would not be expected to have been experienced by each case study. This chapter pays reference to issues and patterns that have emerged from the data of each of the six case studies; not necessarily applying to each of them, but always to more than one.
The contents of each section hereafter are not mutually exclusive; the experiences discussed were complex and inter-related and should be read as such. Consequently, the structuring of these interpretations into sub-sections is for the purposes of presentation only. Each sub-section is, however, a derivative of the themes which emerged from within the subsequent case study chapter. They are illustrative of the most common points of significance within the perceptions of the participants, and are congruent to providing a holistic overview of their experiences of NCPE.