ERIC Number: EJ1466376
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1357-3322
EISSN: EISSN-1470-1243
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Conceptualising and Navigating Bullying in English Secondary Schools: A Figurational Analysis of Power Imbalances in Physical Education
Sport, Education and Society, v30 n3 p340-352 2025
This article focuses on how secondary school pupils and teachers conceptualise bullying and how pupils navigate bullying within physical education (PE). This ethnographic case study presents findings from participant observations, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews. Applying figurational sociology, power imbalances central to bullying within the PE figuration are analysed. Elias and Scotson's [(1994). "The established and the outsiders." Sage. (Original work published 1965)] model of established--outsider relations is applied to demonstrate how peer commentary proved an effective power resource that some sporty pupils used to marginalise and exclude perceived less sporty peers. Elias's [(2001). "The society of individuals." Bloomsbury] personal pronoun model is also utilised to analyse how fear, stigmatisation, and identity self-preservation underpinned a culture of silence in reporting bullying. Throughout our results and discussion, we provided much-needed empirically and theoretically informed insights into the gendered nuances, and similarities, in boys' and girls' experiences of bullying in PE. Finally, we propose a more negotiated PE-specific code of conduct may be more beneficial.
Descriptors: Bullying, Secondary School Students, Physical Education, Power Structure, Peer Relationship, Student Experience, Student Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Ethnography, Social Isolation, Student Characteristics, Form Classes (Languages), Fear, Social Bias, Self Concept, Psychological Patterns, Gender Differences, Behavior Standards, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Sport, York St John University, York, UK; 2School of Education, Language and Psychology, York St John University, York, UK