How pupils’ playfulness creates possibilities for pleasure and learning in physical education

Background: Physical education has been described as too instrumental and uncritical, where a focus on utility has limited the value of pleasure in movement. Decades of previous research has addressed the need for changes where embodied experiences and learning are emphasized [Kirk, David, and Richard Tinning. 1994. “Embodied Self-Identity, Healthy Lifestyles and School Physical Education.” Sociology of Health and Illness 16 (5): 600–625; Kirk, David. 2010. Physical Education Futures. London: Routledge; Wrench, Alison, and Robyne Garrett. 2015. “PE: It’s Just Me: Physically Active and Healthy Teacher Bodies.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE) 28 (1): 72–91; Wright, Jan. 2000. “Bodies, Meanings and Movement: A Comparison of the Language of a Physical Education Lesson and a Feldenkrais Movement Class.” Sport, Education & Society 5 (1): 35–49]. Accordingly, we align with the ongoing call for a ‘corporeal turn’ [Smith, Stephen J. 2007. “The First Rush of Movement: A Phenomenological Preface to Movement Education.” Phenomenology & Practice 1 (1): 47–75, 66] in physical education, towards a more holistic understanding of learning and experience as embodied and emplaced [Pink, Sarah. 2011. “From Embodiment to Emplacement: Re- Thinking Competing Bodies, Senses and Spatialities.” Sport, Education and Society 16 (3):343–355.]. This turn may involve a curriculum where pleasurable and meaningful movement experiences are educational goals. Building on this, we ask whether a pedagogy that gives room for playfulness may be a starting point for physical education being perceived as more meaningful and pleasurable. Our theoretical framework builds upon Wellard’s model of body-reflexive pleasure, Hyland’s understanding of playfulness as a responsive openness and Gibson’s theories of affordances. Purpose: In this study we explore pupils’ embodied experiences in physical education, using empirical findings from a sensory ethnography. The research questions asked are ‘How do pupils’ playfulness create possibilities for pleasure in physical education? And which opportunities for embodied learning are being offered through playful and pleasurable experiences?’ Our aim is to inform and develop pedagogies of embodiment by including playfulness as a strategy for facilitating opportunities for pleasurable and meaningful experiences that enable embodied learning. Method: The empirical data is based on a sensory ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a 10th