Decades of previous research has addressed the need for changes in physical education where embodied experiences and learning are emphasized (Wrench and Garrett 2015; Wright 2000). Accordingly, we align with the ongoing call for a ‘corporeal turn’ (Smith 2007, 66) in physical education, towards a more holistic understanding of learning and experience as embodied and emplaced (Pink 2011). The concept of embodiment has roots in phenomenological philosophy. As such, understanding the body as the ground of subjective experiences (Standal 2020) deconstructs the notion of a mind/body divide. The theory of emplaced learning involves considering embodied learning as always embedded in the world around us, which we always interact with (Pink 2011).
Pleasure, enjoyment, and meaningful experiences are significant for the individual’s relationship to their own body and for their desire for further participation in physical activity (Wellard 2012; Beni, Fletcher, and Ní Chróinín 2017). Siedentop considered playful activities as ‘important forms of inherently meaningful human experience’ (1972, 209). The fact that many pupils struggle in ‘gaining a love of movement’ (Pringle 2010, 130) is a reason why further research about what pupils experience as pleasurable and meaningful is needed. Exploring the pupils’ embodied and emplaced experiences may lead to insights around what they learn in physical education. Such insights may contribute to create pedagogies where meaningful and pleasurable learning experiences are educational goals (Lambert 2020; Pringle 2010; Wellard 2012). 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.
In this presentation I present empirical findings from a sensory ethnography that aims to explore pupils’ playfulness and their pleasurable experiences in physical education. The research question is ‘How do pupils create possibilities for pleasure in physical education by being playful and responsive to their environment, and what opportunities for learning are afforded?’
To interpret how possibilities for pleasure are created, we draw upon phenomenological perspectives on playfulness (Hyland 1977) and affordances (Gibson 1986). Hyland proposes a phenomenological stance on play, which he operationalizes as responsive openness (Hyland 1977). Openness involves being aware of, and open to, the possibilities that arise in your environment. Responsiveness is explained as the ability to act on the possibilities that emerge through the activity. The concept of affordances (Gibson 1986) can be described as how characteristics of the physical environment encourage action. Affordances are understood as the possibilities that emerge from our interaction with our environment, responsive openness can be described as the way in which we respond to such affordances.
