Education News | Page 23 y or exclusionary ?
relevant due to the way PE has historically treated sex and gender as binary categories and privileges heterosexual sexualities while marginalizing others . If we want people to continue to take up and enjoy PE in both grade school and postsecondary school , then we need to discover how PE can exclude and alienate 2SLGBTQ + students in order to intervene and transform these spaces to be inclusive and welcoming ."
The study used an explanatory sequential design with two phases . Phase 1 included a crosssectional web-based survey exploring 2SLGBTQ + students ’ lived experiences of PE both at the K-12 and post-secondary contexts . Phase 2 included 45-minute semistructured individual interviews with a subset of participants from Phase 1 . Additionally , interviews occurred with professors and instructors who had taught a PE course in the last few years . Student participation permitted the researchers to learn about the students ’ lived experiences in PE courses , while faculty participation gave insight into what was occurring with PE pedagogy at the post-secondary level .
Initially the researchers struggled to recruit participants , especially with the study occurring during the pandemic . They got creative and used multiple methods of recruitment . In the end , Niya notes that " the 2SLGBTQ + students who agreed to be interviewed were very receptive and grateful for the experience of being interviewed . They thoroughly enjoyed sharing their experiences ( both good and bad ). We had very fruitful discussions that were both instructive to the research and beneficial for them to share their experiences and to know others have shared similar experiences ."
Though the analysis has not been completed yet , the preliminary quantitative results indicate to the researchers that " especially at the K-12 level , we have a lot of work to do to ensure those in the queer community feel safe and comfortable in the PE space ."
Niya says , " A couple of things jumped out at me after doing the interviews . One was the fact that the students who appeared to have the most negative experience in grade school PE were the students not in the Physical Education Teaching program , and the ones with positive experiences were the ones who went on to seek careers as PE teachers . So , this potentially demonstrates how negative experiences in PE in grade school can lead to long-term negative thoughts and avoidance of PE . Second , the students all