The rules of the game: An ethnographic study of health and physical education teacher education professionals' embodying policy work

Author Identifier

Victoria Evans: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7229-8828

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

School

School of Education

First Supervisor

Dawn Penney

Second Supervisor

David Aldous

Third Supervisor

Christine Cunningham

Abstract

The study explores the embodying policy work of Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (H/PETE) professionals in Western Australia (WA). The research focus and direction—embodying policy work—applies and extends Bernstein-informed concepts of the pedagogic and corporeal devices in exploring H/PETE in one institution in WA. The study foregrounds the corporeality of policy work and, specifically, the rules that connect contexts, people’s actions, and potential meanings as integral to the policy work of H/PETE professionals. This theoretical framing presents a heuristic framework, which facilitates the exploration of three sets of rules: (a) contextual rules of embodying policy work; (b) rules of/for embodying actions; and (c) rules of/for embodying potential meanings. This research particularly explored how these rules are crucial in advancing understanding of professionals’ policy work at an in situ level and the possibilities arising for the continued transformation of H/PETE. The heuristic framework was employed in designing and undertaking the ethnographic study within the institution hereafter referred to as Karri Institute. The ethnography was conducted in two phases over a period of 27 weeks. Multiple methods, including participant observation, semi-structured and incidental interviews, and documentary analysis, were used to generate data. Phase One was exploratory and aimed to understand the context and its rules. This phase involved 22 participants and used semi-structured interviews and documentary methods. Phase Two centred on two purposively selected H/PETE professionals and involved shadowing the two professionals. In-depth data generation involved focused observations, incidental interviews during coffee conversations, and observations during meetings. The data set was analysed using a 6-phase process of reflexive thematic analysis. The findings highlight the complex biosocial interrelationships and the significance of individuals in shaping and enacting policy. The findings of the study affirm that people, as policy actors, matter and, more specifically, that they are inseparable from policy. Findings are presented in relation to two prime themes: maintaining the status quo and silencing possible futures. The findings also underscore how the gendering of (h)PETE is maintained through the gendered discourses and gendered dispositions of individuals, which are evident and positioned within both themes. The concluding discussion explores the findings in relation to the heuristic framework and answers the research questions. The chapter explores how the data, analysis, and findings have both extended and challenged my conceptual understanding of embodying policy work. The research prompts reflection about what H/PETE professionals embody in their everyday practices, as well as why and how policy work unfolds as it does within institutional contexts. The study expands visions for future transformations of H/PETE and generates lines of inquiry for future research to pursue.

Access Note

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DOI

10.25958/52t4-kx04

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