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Introduction: Student engagement with learning activities is considered in educational research as a primary facilitator of academic achievement and student learning. Teachers play a major role in student engagement with learning activities. The use of metaphors is a way to promote this engagement, especially when students are struggling in school. This case study investigated a teacher's activity when she interacted with struggling students. We were interested in the repeated use of metaphors by the teacher, associated with concerns of promoting student engagement with learning activities. More specifically, we characterized (a) the teacher's concerns about student engagement with learning activities when the metaphors was used from the beginning of the school year; (b) these concerns' dynamics when metaphors were used during the PE unit; (c) the effects of the use of metaphors, as perceived by the teacher, on student engagement with learning activities. This study was conducted following a situated approach from the theoretical framework of the 'course of action.' Methods: Sophie, an expert PE teacher, agreed to participate in this research. The class included twelve struggling students of the first grade of the Middle School. Two types of data were collected: (a) audio-video recordings of the lessons and (b) teacher's verbalizations during self-confrontation interviews. The data were processed in five steps: (a) constructing a two-level protocol; (b) constructing the teacher's course of experience when the teacher aimed to improve the student engagement by using the metaphor; (c) identifying and categorizing Sophie's concerns; (d) describing these concerns dynamics; (e) highlighting the effects of the use of metaphors, as perceived by Sophie, on the students engagement in learning activities. Results: The teacher promoted student engagement with learning activities using a singular metaphor throughout the PE-unit in this class, 'the knife slipping on fresh cream,' to name the learning content in swimming lessons. The results are presented in three stages: (a) the concerns to promote student engagement with learning activities by using the 'knife on fresh cream' metaphor; (b) the concerns dynamics presentation during the PE unit; (c) the effects perceived by the teacher of the 'knife on fresh cream' metaphor on student engagement with learning activities. Discussion and conclusions: The results are discussed in three stages: (a) using metaphors to promote student engagement with learning activities; (b) promoting student engagement with learning activities over time from the first day of class; (c) measuring the effects of metaphors on student engagement from the teacher's experience.

Introduction: One of the aims of physical education (PE) is to develop social skills such as cooperation, teamwork, and mutual helping among students. Cooperation is a broad research topic, implicating several disciplines in the human sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy). It is also an important topic in various domains of practice like organizational management, ergonomics, sports performance, and PE and sports pedagogy. Studies in sport have shown that cooperation between partners is not automatically produced by the cooperative structure of the learning tasks. In this exploratory study, we focused on the links between cooperation and trust judgments about one's partner. We characterized the processes by which students construct trust judgments in dyadic cooperative interactions during climbing lessons. This study was carried out within the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the 'course of action.' Method: Two middle-school students in 10th-grade participated in this study. They formed a fixed dyad based on personal affinity. During the four climbing lessons under study, the students alternated the roles of climber and belayer. Their behaviors and communications were recorded on video and after each session they participated in self-confrontation interviews. From these data, we then reconstructed their courses of experience and focused particularly on preoccupations, meaningful elements in the situation, and mobilized knowledge. The elements contributing to the construction of the climber's trust judgments about his belayer were identified. Changes in these judgments were characterized in relation to the modes of cooperation between the students. Twenty-seven climbs were analyzed. Results and discussion: The results showed that the climber's trust judgments focused on two dimensions of the belayer's activity: the reliability of both the belay and his advice for success in the task. To build these trust judgments, the climber combined knowledge about his belayer (the partner's climbing skills, his mastery of safety techniques, his familiarity with the climbing equipment, and his typical attitudes in class) and interpretations of the events during belayer--climber cooperation (the attention shown by the partner, his requests for advice from other students, and the teacher's interventions). Moreover, the results showed the relationship between the development of each student's trust judgments about his partner and the positive and negative dynamics of cooperation between the students. Three typical connections were identified between the climber's trust judgments about his partner and the climber's involvement in cooperation. The results are discussed on the basis of two points: (a) the dynamic and composite character of the construction of trust judgments and (b) the construction of trust judgments as a condition for genuine cooperation between students. The students in the situation of climber displayed typical processes to build a trust judgment about their partner, and this trust judgment appears to be an important element in promoting and regulating cooperative interactions between students. Conclusions: We propose pedagogical perspectives for teachers with regard to understanding trust judgments in climbing and student cooperation. We also suggest new research perspectives with the objective of fully elucidating the dimensions of trust involved in cooperation.

Introduction: This study investigated the experience of a highly skilled student during a handball physical education unit in a French high school. More specifically, the analysis describes the nature of his involvement during two lessons that follow a pedagogical model close to the principles of Sport Education. The present case study of a student who experiences the gap between school and club practices raises the question of the possibility of promoting real "sport experiences" in school. It contributes to empirical studies investigating Sport Education models and is based on situated learning perspectives and the theory of community of practice. Method: The study was carried out in reference to the theoretical and methodological framework called "course of action," in view of conducting a local analysis based on the actor's point of view. The audio and video recordings of two lessons and post-lesson self-confrontation interviews allowed us to reconstruct this student's experience through the identification of elementary meaningful units. Results and discussion: The results indicated two main characteristics of this student's experience. First, we found a conflicting search for a "modus vivendi," which usually characterizes school practice but which is particularly problematic in this case because of the student's elite handball skills. He attempted to mobilize his outside handball expertise while still maintaining a legitimate activity in terms of school rules. His involvement revealed a considerable amount of negotiation to coordinate his playing with that of other members of the class, and also personal negotiation in response to the resulting instability of his identity. Second, his adoption of the role of tutor to help his teammates' progress led to positive participation in class activities. This position revealed the gradual appearance of a "broker-like" experience between two communities of practice engaged in the same physical activity. It reflects spontaneous adaptation of a dual membership (school and sport) through the use of a pedagogical approach based on sports models of practice. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)

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