‘Here, PE is sick!’: an ethnodrama of pupils’ experiences of physical education in alternative provision schools

A growing number of young people are attending alternative provision schools, with limited research considering how they, from their perspective, experience this and particularly the subject of physical education (PE). The aim of this unique paper is therefore to (i) spotlight the voices of pupils from alternative provision schools and illuminate their experiences of PE and, in doing so (ii) share the realities of conducting research in such settings. As part of a wider project, we engaged with 25 pupils aged 11–16 from four different alternative provision schools in England. Using a variety of arts-based methods, including (1) write, draw, show and tell, (2) character creation, (3) active mapping and (4) graffiti walls, alongside recorded group interviews, we sought to elicit pupils’ experiences, thoughts and perspectives on PE in alternative provision schools. Drawing on narrative analysis, we adopted the position of ‘story analyst’ and ‘storyteller’ to (re)present the data in the form of an ethnodrama. This process involved scrutinising the data to identify themes before (re)creating stories through plot setting, characters and dialogue. The subsequent informative and evocative ethnodrama is split into two distinct scenes – ‘first contact’ and ‘on their terms’. We believe the ethnodrama provides a first glimpse into the realities of pupils’ experiences of PE in alternative provision settings and offers useful learnings for mainstream PE with respect to what, how and why PE is delivered in alternative provision schools. Similarly, it showcases the realities of conducting research in such settings and the need to be flexible, adaptive and patient when seeking to facilitate and listen to youth voice.