Negotiating Adolescents' Physically Active Life During the School Day

Sara Hoy ^1* Britta Thedin Jakobsson ¹ Carolina Lunde ² Håkan Larsson ¹

• ¹ Department of Movement, Culture and Society. The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Stockholm, Sweden
• ² Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Västergötland, Sweden

School contexts are addressed as important to encourage adolescents’ physically active lives, where whole-school-approaches have emerged as a globally recognized strategy. Recent research emphasizes the need to further understand the contexts relating to physical activity (PA), and strategies to enhance students’ and staffs’ agency in relation to PA opportunities. In the current study, we explore early adolescent students’ daily PA from an ecological perspective, the negotiated opportunities and barriers to PA within differing school contexts, and how individual agency is expressed in relation to PA. This ethnographic collective-case study took place in four Swedish middle schools varying in size, resource denseness, and independent or public provider. The main empirical material was collected from 720 hours of fieldwork during a school year, and 86 interviews with 50 students and 52 staff. A comparative reflexive thematic analytical approach was used. The transition between educational stages came with changes that influenced students and staffs’ agency related to PA. Against this backdrop, the analytical findings were organized around four themes. Students’ PA was negotiated against the logics connected to being a ‘good’ middle school student and teacher. Realizing daily PA also stood in relation to an anything-is-possible spirit that was pitted against the lack of organizing structure and high hopes of PA outcomes – creating a tension between visions and practicalities where student voices were left out. While all four schools claimed a commitment to providing PA opportunities for all, students negotiated agency based on gender, age, social status, and previous experiences with traditional sports that dominated recess activities. Students' PA during and after school was closely interconnected, especially expressed in physical education and health classes. This connection often benefited already active students in resource-rich environments, marginalizing those who were less active, further creating an uneven playing field regarding PA opportunities.The different schools shared challenges connected to students’ daily PA, but challenges also differed between and within schools. Future school policy, practices, and research should aim at addressing cultural, structural, and material dimensions focusing on sustainability, equity, and pedagogical issues, enabling young people to develop their autonomy and ability for meaningful PA.