Writing scripts and learning lines: an exploration of improvisation within primary PE provision and the emergence of watchfulness

Research concerning the current state of provision for primary school Physical Education (PE) within England has accelerated in the last decade; exacerbated by the spotlight drawn to it from being included as an Olympic legacy following the 2012 Games. Existing literature has paid particular attention to questioning the role of professional coaches being deployed in education. Equally, research has suggested that there are stark differences between how different socioeconomic environments approach PE provision. The overarching aim of this thesis was to explore the current landscape of funding and provision for PE within primary education and consider the implications for practice. Using a method of Comparative Ethnography, this thesis explored two sites from opposing socioeconomic environments, one utilising coach led provision and one teacher led provision. Through a year of immersive fieldwork, split equally between the two sites, I played an active role within the two schools, allowing me to gain an intimate understanding of the sites. As a product of this fieldwork, I co-produced a thick description of the professionals’ realities. I exposed the barriers and lack of support from structural, mechanical, and emotional enablers that exist within both socioeconomic environments. Through a process of analysis and sense-making I employed a dramaturgical lens which was used to highlight the significance that improvisation plays in guarding professionals from their vulnerabilities around PE provision. As a consequence of uncontrolled improvisation, professional vulnerabilities emerge from both teachers and coaches. I established and explained how Watchful Vulnerabilities has been created as a result of the continued need for both teachers and coaches to perform PE provision that they are unprepared, untrained and unsupported in. Lastly, I have provided practical recommendations to how future provision might seek to reduce the barriers and, thus, eliminate Watchful Vulnerability from the provision.