This Thesis Is an Exercise in Telling Stories

“It Didn’t Exactly Make Me Feel Grand”: Students with Physical Disabilities’ Experiences of Secondary School Physical Education Kate Holland A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand June 2014 ABSTRACT Physical Education has long been recognised as the domain of the physically ‘able’ (Barton 1993, 2009). As a result, many students with physical disabilities who do not display the socially constructed abilities, movements or body types privileged in Physical Education remain sidelined or absent from the subject (Barton, 1993, 2009; Evans, 2004; Fitzgerald, 2005). In this thesis I explore the Physical Education experiences of those perceived as physically ‘disabled’. The display, surveillance and use of one’s body is foregrounded in Physical Education more than in any other school subject (Fitzgerald & Stride, 2012), yet the experiences of students with different bodies have rarely been explored. Drawing on theoretical resources found in the disciplines of Childhood Studies, Disability Studies, the Sociology of the Body, Physical Education and Teaching and Learning, I examine six students with physical disabilities’ experiences of secondary school Physical Education in New Zealand. I examine what kinds of movements, bodies and abilities are privileged in the students’ experiences` of Physical Education and ask questions about why and how this is the case. Further I investigate what school-based Physical Education does to, and for, young people with physical disabilities, drawing on the young people’s testimonies to understand how the subject and its imperatives shape their subjectivities. While environmental, social, cultural, pedagogical and political interests clearly constrain the young people’s capacity to engage with Physical Education, their narratives point to the ways young people can, and do, exercise agency, challenge orthodoxies and resist the normative expectations of Physical Education as it is currently configured in some New Zealand schools. The young people in this study i challenge how we come to know disabled, able and normal bodies and raise questions about whose needs, interests and capacities are privileged in Physical Education. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to Lisette and Gill for your supervision, support and proof reading, it is greatly appreciated. Also, thanks to Bridget for your ongoing interest and backing in the research project. To Scott, Ruth, Michael, Mum and Dad, cheers for your light heartedness, kind words and encouragement over the past three years. Most importantly, thank you Shane, Holly, Kelly, Cody, Connor, Angela and your families for your wonderful enthusiasm, interest and participation in this research. I truly hope this thesis does you justice. You are inspirational and powerful young people. I look forward to seeing your big ideas in action and watching you change the world. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS: ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ i TABLE OF CONTENTS: ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF FIGURES: ............................................................................................. viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 Aim and Scope ........................................................................................................................ 3 The Research Context .......................................................................................................... 4 Locating the Research in Legislation and Policy ............................................................... 5 New Zealand’s Education Context and Students with Physical Disabilities ........10 New Zealand Curriculum ..........................................................................................................14 Physical Education in New Zealand Secondary Schools ..............................................17 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................20 A Note on Language ........................................................................................................... 21 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................. 22 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................... 26 Childhood Studies .............................................................................................................. 27 The Field of Childhood Studies ...............................................................................................28 The Social Construction of Childhood .................................................................................30 Children as Social Actors ...........................................................................................................31 Children’s Voice in Research ...................................................................................................33 Childhood Research from New Zealand .............................................................................35 Insights from Childhood Research ........................................................................................36 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................38 Disability Studies ............................................................................................................... 39 The Field of Disability Studies ................................................................................................39 Deficit/Medical Model of Disability ......................................................................................41 Social Model of Disability ..........................................................................................................43 Social Relational Model of Disability ....................................................................................45 Conceptualising Disability in Secondary School Physical Education .....................47 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................48 Understanding the Body .................................................................................................. 49 Naturalised Bodies and Scientific Justification ................................................................49 Socially Constructed Bodies ....................................................................................................51 Understanding the Bodies of Students with Physical Disabilities ...........................53 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................55 Physical Education............................................................................................................. 55 The Development of Physical Education ............................................................................56 The Social Construction of Ability in Physical Education ............................................58 Students with Disabilities’ Experiences and Physical Education .............................61 Constructing Ability Through Adaptation? .......................................................................62 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................64 Teaching and Learning..................................................................................................... 64 Teaching and Learning Practices and Pedagogies within New Zealand Schools .............................................................................................................................................................65 Teaching, Learning and Curriculum .....................................................................................66 Teaching and Learning within Physical Education ........................................................69 Summary ..........................................................................................................................................71 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 71 iv CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ...................................... 73 Research Aims ..................................................................................................................... 73 Philosophical Foundations ............................................................................................. 75 Qualitative Research ...................................................................................................................76 Development of Qualitative Research .................................................................................76 The Role of the Qualitative Researcher ...............................................................................77

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