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In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults’ health behaviours. This paper presents new qualitative evidence to examine the largely under-explored relationship between leisure-sport participation and health within the context of educational transitions among a sample of 30–35-year-olds in north-west England. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 participants between July and August 2009, the paper illuminates the differential impact that gender and social class had on sports participation, and other health-related behaviours (e.g. drinking and smoking), among different groups of adults during the inherently transitional life-stage of youth. The findings suggest that while significant, the length of time spent in education and the differential educational experiences recalled by adults cannot adequately explain the observed differences in health and leisure-sport participation. The major sources of difference, while associated with educational transitions, appeared to lie instead in the broader inequalities that characterized adults’ lives and it is argued that simply enhancing leisure-sport participation and individual lifestyle change, as a means of health promotion, is a futile endeavour that does little to tackle the socio-economic structural determinants of health. We conclude by suggesting that until this is recognized by government and those both inside and outside of the health and sport policy communities, stubborn differences in leisure-sport participation rates and health inequalities—that have their foundations in childhood and youth, but extend over the life course—are likely to remain intact, and the unequal lives people currently lead are likely to become even more unequal in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Writing over a decade ago, Penney and Harris examined extra-curricular physical education (ECPE) provision in state schools in England and Wales and focused, in particular, on issues of inclusion, equality and equity. They concluded, among other things, that ECPE provision was highly gendered, characterised by a disproportionate emphasis on traditional team games and competitive sport and provided a limited number of opportunities to only a minority of pupils. Although Penney and Harris were less concerned with reflecting upon how the content, organisation and delivery of ECPE may come to impact the involvement and experiences of young disabled people and those with special educational needs (SEN), their analysis nevertheless has important implications for understanding this largely under-explored and neglected aspect of research. In this paper, therefore, we draw upon some key aspects of Penney and Harris's analysis to examine the extent and ways in which physical education (PE) teachers have endeavoured to incorporate disabled pupils and those with SEN in ECPE. In particular, by drawing upon the findings of a study conducted with 12 PE teachers working in five secondary schools in north-west England, the central objectives of this paper are to: (i) examine the ways and extent to which teachers have endeavoured to incorporate young disabled people and pupils with SEN in ECPE; and (ii) explore the extent to which the content, organisation and delivery of ECPE impacts on pupils' involvement and experiences. The findings suggest that the trend towards including disabled pupils and those with SEN in mainstream schools has not radically altered the content, organisation and delivery of ECPE which, according to PE teachers, continues to be heavily dominated by competitive team sports that retain a strong emphasis on performance, excellence and skills. This provision, it is claimed, appears to have done more to reduce, rather than enhance, the opportunities for pupils to participate in the same activities and to the same extent in ECPE than they might have done in the special school sector. Indeed, when compared to their non-disabled peers, some disabled pupils and those with SEN typically tended to be provided with a limited and somewhat narrow range of sports and physical activities in which to participate. Teachers also suggested that some pupils rarely participated, if at all, in ECPE and, in some cases, they were often taught separately from other pupils in clubs and teams that were developed specifically for them in an effort to cater more adequately for their needs and abilities. It is concluded that until PE teachers and schools are willing and/or able to bring about desired change in the content, organisation and delivery of ECPE, rather than developing more inclusive and non-segregated forms of provision, teachers in many schools will be constrained and/or inclined to continue providing programmes that, in effect, continue to provide what Penney and Harris call 'more of the same for the more able' pupils in ECPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on data from a broader study, the central object of which was to explore the place of sport and physical activity in young people's lives. More particularly, the paper reports the findings of 24 focus groups conducted with 153 15-16 year olds in north-west England and north-east Wales in order to examine young people's views towards activity choice in physical education (PE). In this regard, it is suggested that despite their deep-seated preferences for 'traditional', games-dominated PE curricula and the constraints imposed upon them from the existence of a national curriculum for PE and government policy over the past two decades, PE teachers continue to provide young people with a degree of activity choice in the later secondary school years. The 15-16 year olds in this study considered activity choice to be a very positive feature of their experience of PE at key stage 4 and viewed it as a vehicle for greater enjoyment of and engagement with PE. It was also the case that the 15-16 year olds appeared to attach a great deal of importance to the ways in which the activities provided them with the opportunity to engage in activities within PE that they also do in their leisure-time, and which they are likely to do in the future. At the same time, however, many young people expressed dissatisfaction with what they perceived as unnecessary and undesirable limitations on the number and range of activities made available to them. Restrictions on choice were particularly felt among girls and those from lower social class backgrounds who were evidently dissatisfied with what they saw as the over-representation of a small number of traditional team sports and activities in PE. It is concluded that if PE teachers and policy-makers want to increase their impact upon young people's participation in PE and 'modernise' further the curricula provided for pupils, then they need to appreciate more adequately the significance of the twin processes of democratisation and informalisation, since both processes help explain young people's growing preference for choice in PE and in other social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the levels and forms of participation in extracurricular physical education (PE) of a cohort of 1010 15-16 year olds attending seven state schools in north-west England and north-east Wales. The data reveal that extracurricular PE provision in all schools retained a particular focus on competitive team sports alongside a number of recreational partner sports and individualized activities. At the same time, the study confirmed previous findings that young people's reported levels and forms of participation in different sports and physical activities in extracurricular PE varied significantly and differentially according to gender and, to some extent, social class. To this configuration, however, needs to be added the particularity of the schools young people attend. Schools evidently influenced patterns of participation, particularly among 15-16-year-old girls. It seems likely that the medium through which higher rates of female participation are realized — particularly in lower working class areas — is the particular blend of sports and physical activities available in extracurricular provision. In other words, the kind of sports and physical activities a school provides appears to be a critical factor in understanding school-level differences in participation. In this regard, it seems that becoming a Specialist Sports College is prominent among a number of developments which may result in a diversification of extracurricular PE opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on data from a broader study which investigated the place of sport and physical activity in the lives of 15-16 year olds in England and Wales, this paper examines a relatively neglected dimension of research in physical education, namely, young people's participation in sport and physical activity through National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE). The paper reports upon data generated by questionnaires completed by 1010 15-16 year olds who attended six secondary schools in the North-West of England and one secondary school in the North-East of Wales during 2003 and 2004. The study revealed strong inter-school variations in the mixes of sports that pupils experienced within NCPE. More specifically, the findings revealed that NCPE was largely dominated by competitive team-based sports that tend to be gender-stereotyped, alongside more individualized and less-competitive physical activities, It was also clear, however that the reported levels and forms of participation in different sports and physical activities in NCPE during Years 10 and 11 varied significantly and differentially according to gender, social class, the school which young people attended, specialist sports college status and whether youngsters studied GCSE PE. The paper concludes by suggesting that inter-school variations are probably explainable in terms of a combination of traditions, facilities and the enthusiasms and perceptions of PE teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the long-standing debate about the nature and purposes of physical education (PE) in schools, comparatively little research has examined the ways in which PE is viewed by young people themselves. This study set out, therefore, to explore young people's views on the nature and purposes of PE from a sociological perspective in the belief that a more adequate understanding of the process of PE requires us to appreciate something of the ways in which the subject is viewed and experienced in reality by pupils in schools. The study involved focus group interviews with 38 15–16-year-old white British young people (17 males; 21 females) from one secondary school in the north-west of England during February 2005. The main finding of the study was that young people held an amalgam of views regarding the nature and purposes of PE that centred, for the most part, upon perceptions of fun and enjoyment and the extent to which sociability is recurrently generated in lessons. In addition, young people also offered justifications based on the role of PE in health promotion and the development of game- and sport-related skills and knowledge of a kind more in tune with conventional justifications found in academic literature. It is argued that young people's views on the nature and purposes of PE are characterized by a number of well-understood, shared meanings that can only be adequately understood if we locate them within the networks of relationships characteristic of their lives more broadly. The paper concludes by arguing for the need to engage more in the realities of PE as practice, and to develop a more adequate understanding of what PE is for the young people involved, not least if government, policy-makers and teachers are to provide a more valuable and meaningful PE curriculum for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]