The following sociologically orientated study explores how two physical education (PE) teachers at two secondary schools in North West England construct the notion of 'healthiness', and how this informs their health-based PE practice. The research process was influenced by figurational sociology [Elias, N. (1978). "What is sociology?"…

In this paper, I explore male youth sport coaches' use of humour in relation to the reconstruction of masculinities, contributing to an emergent body of literature on the role of humour in coaching. Three creative non-fiction stories developed from my own coaching experiences in a competitive youth football (soccer) academy are used to examine:…

Class-related parenting cultures and ideologies have been of considerable interest to academics over the last two decades. Much of the research thus far has focused on exploring Annette Lareau's conceptualisations of 'natural growth' and 'concerted cultivation' and the implications for outcomes in relation to education. The focus of the present…

Capoeira could be defined as a Brazilian martial art and game to be played. This research explored how capoeira play might be considered to facilitate connectedness amongst newly-recruited persons, plus any other ramifications of capoeira involvement. A beginners' course of capoeira was provided to participants, free of charge, in an English city…

Young people are increasingly turning to social media for health-related information in areas such as physical activity, diet/nutrition and body image. Yet, there are few robust empirical accounts of the content and form of the health-related material young people access and attend to, or the health-related content they create and share.…

This paper explores the physical activity experiences of a group of women based in England, and who are over the age of 30. This particular age group represent a 'forgotten' age, that is, they are largely ignored in academic scholarship, policy and physical activity provision. The paper explores how this group of women 're/engaged' in physical…

Young people's experiences of, and (dis)engagement with, physical education has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet one 'group', "care-experienced young people", remain 'hidden' within the prevailing literature. In light of their apparent invisibility within research, this novel, exploratory study seeks to gain some…

Korfball was invented in a mixed Primary School in Amsterdam in the early 1900s [IKF (2006). "Korfball in the Mixed Zone." KNKV; Summerfield and White (1989). Korfball: A Model of Egalitarianism. "Sociology of Sport Journal," 6, 144-151]. The main catalyst for the development of korfball was a need for a competitive mixed sport…

Collaborative action learning was undertaken in response to the growing criticisms of formal coach education. Since it is strongly felt that we can no longer merely commentate on what is not happening in terms of coach learning, a key requirement now is to demonstrate there are other options. The Coach Learning and Development (CLAD) programme was…

Qualitative research is an inherently complex landscape which continually presents researchers with difficult, ethically challenging dilemmas. This paper foregrounds some of those challenges, experienced during a qualitative research study which focused on preschool children's opportunities to access different forms of play in early year education…

This study explores the role of school and university partnership teams in the professional development of physical education (PE) pre-service teachers (PSTs) during their one year Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in England. The paper focuses on the key influences and processes that impacted on PST subject knowledge development. An…

Analyses of curricula in a range of countries show how they tend to reinforce, rather than challenge, popular theories of racism. To date, we know little about the contribution of physical education (PE) curriculum policy to the overall policy landscape. This paper examines the construction of race and racism in two national contexts (Norway and…

This article explores how our understandings of gender and Physical Education (PE) have developed since the publication of "Shaping Up to Womanhood" in 1992. I reflect back on my research which, using qualitative methodology and a socialist feminist lens, explored dominant gender relations in the teaching of girls' PE in English…

Participation in sport and Physical Education (PE) has historically been heavily gendered, and the glorification of masculinity and sporting prowess is viewed as a potentially negative influence on participation for both males and females. This paper explores male and female experiences of sport and PE to grasp how the field of physical culture…

Policy agendas for early childhood education in the UK as in many countries elsewhere are driven by expectations that play will impact positively on a child's educational attainment, health and well-being. This paper focuses on health knowledge, social class and cultural reproduction within early year education in England, looking specifically at…