Social disadvantage and the role of Physical Education and Sport-for-All in young people at Cyprus and Greece: discourse of social class, gender and race by Foteini Papadopoulou Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Year 2019 Abstract Global austerity and prolonged recession have made social disadvantage prominent in young people’s lives, thus the call for the prevention and tackling of the phenomenon appears urgent (Dagkas, 2018). In particular, evidence suggests that Physical Education (PE) as well as Sport-for-All programmes (SfA) can have a life-changing impact on young people who experience social disadvantage (EU EDUHEALTH, 2017-2019; Dagkas and Hunter, 2015). Although investment in these two ‘sections’ of sport has been extensive, not all countries have access to them and at times, the desirable ‘life-changing’ impact does not emerge (WHO, 2013). This research study seeks to explore the views of young people living in Nicosia/Cyprus and Athens/Greece on PE and SfA programmes with the aim of addressing relevant issues linked to social disadvantage and particularly to social class, gender and ethnicity. It examines how such programmes change, shape, influence and impact upon young people’s social disadvantage. This cross-cultural, qualitative study follows a case-study research design complemented by ethnographic elements. Intersectionality is the research paradigm of the study and the theoretical framework that informs this study is rooted in the theories of Pierre Bourdieu, Judith Butler and Critical Race Theory. The qualitative data was collected from research work in two ‘disadvantaged’, secondary schools in Athens and Nicosia, by employing focus-group interviews with students, PE lesson observations, analysis of policy documents and the diary of the researcher. Thematic Analysis was the primary tool for data analysis. Findings indicate that: (a) young people interpret social disadvantage in multi-faceted ways; (b) the role of PE and SfA is positive, yet under certain circumstances; (c) effective PE and SfA programmes are suggested to be ‘for-all’, free-of-charge, complemented with modern and trendy activities delivered by appropriately-trained PE teachers. young people, social disadvantage, PE, SfA, intersectionality, Pierre Bourdieu, Critical Race theory, Judith Butler, thematic analysis i Abbreviations AARE American Educational Research Association AfPE Association for Physical Education Α.Γ.Ο./AGO Αθλητισμός για Όλους (i.e.Sport-for-All) BAME Black, Asian, and minority ethnic BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CPD Career-long Professional Development CRT Critical Race Theory CY Cyprus DCSF Department for Children, School and Families DfE Department for Education EIGE European Institute for Gender Equality EU European Union FP 7 7th Framework Programme of European Communities GR Greece H2020 Horizon 2020 HEPA Health – Enhancing Physical Activity HL House of Lords NVIVO Qualitative data analysis Software NCPE National Curriculum for Physical Education PA Physical Activity PD Professional Development PE Physical Education PESS Physical Education and School Sport ii PESSCL PE, School Sport and Club Links strategy PESSYP PE, School Sport for Young People PLC Professional Learning Communities PYD Positive Youth Development Q Questionnaire SfΑ Sport-for-All WHO World Health Organisation UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNFICYP United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus UK United Kingdom USA United States of America YS Youth Sport ZEP Education Priority Zones iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... i Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents………………………………...………………………………..…...iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………..…...…..vii Chapter I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. ‘Anything but a smooth journey’: my personal stance .............................................. 2 1.3. Background ................................................................................................................ 4 1.4. Research Questions ................................................................................................... 6 1.5. Rationale for conducting this research study ............................................................. 7 1.6. On the Authenticity, Originality and the Aims of this research study ....................... 7 1.7. Organisation of the thesis ........................................................................................... 9 Chapter II – LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 10 2.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 10 2.2. Defining Social Disadvantage ................................................................................. 11 2.3. Social Disadvantage: Policy Perspectives............................................................... .16 2.4. Socially disadvantaged young people in adolescence.............................................. 20 2.4.1. Identity Formation during Adolescence ................................................................ 23 2.5. Introducing the concept of Gender........................................................................... 27 2.6. Introducing the concept of Race and Ethnicity ........................................................ 28 2.7. Introducing Social Class .......................................................................................... 30 2.8. Physical Education and Sport-for-All:defining the terms ........................................ 32 2.9. PE Teachers as the facilitators ................................................................................. 40 2.10. Summarising Chapter II ......................................................................................... 42 Chapter III - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................... 44 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 44 3.2. Building up the theoretical framework ................................................................... 44 iv 3.2.1. On Pierre Bourdieu – Challenging Social Class ................................................... 45 3.2.2. On Judith Butler – Challenging Gender ................................................................ 55 3.2.3. On Critical Race theory – Challenging Racism .................................................... 60 3.5. Summarising Chapter III .......................................................................................... 67 Chapter IV – METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 68 4.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 68 4.2 Introducing the study’s research paradigm: Intersectionality ................................... 68 4.3. Intersectionality ........................................................................................................ 70 4.4. Deciding on conducting a qualitative study ............................................................. 73 4.5. Researching ‘Cross-Cultural’ ................................................................................ 74 4.6. The schools: designing the two case-studies............................................................ 76 4.6.1. Discussing Validity and Reliability in qualitative research .................................. 78 4.6.2. Elements of Trustworthiness ................................................................................. 82 4.6.3 The Case-Study Protocol ....................................................................................... 83 4.7. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................ 84 4.8. Methods of Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................... 85 4.8.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 85 4.8.2. The Participants .................................................................................................... 85 4.8.3. My research diary ................................................................................................. 93 4.8.4. The Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 94 4.8.5. The interviews ...................................................................................................... 95 4.8.6. Document Analysis ............................................................................................... 98 4.8.7. Observations ......................................................................................................... 98 4.9. Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 99 4.9.1.