How pupils’ playfulness creates possibilities for pleasure and learning in physical education

Figures & data

Table 1. Episode 1.

Episode 1: The one where the pupils looked like idiots and got carried away when rolling down a hill.
Setting: A public park nearby school with parkour training facilities. Green, grass covered areas with various levels in the terrain. Warm weather, no wind, grey sky with chances of rain.
Objects: Parkour obstacles, small grass covered hill.
Participants: Whole class, 20 pupils
Initial activity: To practice parkour and try the different obstacles. As a warmup, we played a version of Tag, where two persons should try to fetch the rest of us. The teacher instructed us to walk on both hands and feet, to warm up muscles in shoulders and arms.
Observations: It seemed like they lacked engagement for that task, and some were uncomfortable. Quite many pupils obstructed the game and took a lot of breaks. On the teacher’s request, Liban, Gustav and a few others bent down and started walking uphill on all four hands and feet. They walked in line, and Liban said out loud: ‘Å løøø (local expression)! We look like idiots!’. They continued to walk towards the top of the hill while they talked about the boring and meaningless task and how stupid they felt and looked. Many pupils gathered on the top of the grass-covered hill. Suddenly the activity changed. Some pupils laid down at their back in grass, stretched out their arms above their heads, and started rolling downhills by spinning their upper bodies around and round. The speed increased as they reached the steepest part. In the blink of an eye, all I could see was rolling bodies: floating or stumbling downhills. Some covered their faces by keeping their arms in front of their face, while some crossed them across their chest. Some rolled individually and some in clusters, holding each other’s hands and feet, creating a row. I heard laughing, shouting, and squealing of joy and/or fear. The fetchers also started rolling downhills. The game element disappeared, but maybe it was now the play started? Where the hill flattened out and the momentum ceased, they sat up, brushing grass off their clothes. They seemed dizzy and happy. Many pupils went back up to roll downhills several times.	Interview quotes: Axel: ‘I understood the purpose of the game, but my body is so stiff that I can't reach down to touch my own toes, so it was just unbelievably challenging and painful to stand in that position.’ Divany: ‘I mean … What would people think when we walk like this? When I think about it, I get embarrassed. I picture how I would react if I saw 23 pupils crawling around on the grass and chase each other. I imagine I would have found this very strange.’ Esma: ‘it turned out fun anyways, at least when we came to the top, it was funny to roll down.’’ Mathuvanty: ‘I remember it very well because we held each other’s feet and rolled down together. It was very funny, but a lot of grass got stuck to our clothes.’ [On the top she was a bit afraid because she worried that it could be stones hidden in the grass, and she was relieved when it turned out to be no problem] and luckily it turned out to be okay because I dared to try’. Noora: ‘I was wearing a hoodie that day, so I just put the hood over my head, and then I just started rolling. It was fun. I got dizzy afterwards, but it was fun’.
Closing: After a few minutes, the teacher called for attention, and we went further into the park. The teacher instructed how to overcome the parkour obstacles. We practiced different jumping and landing techniques.

Table 2. Episode 2.

Episode 2: The one where the pupils were nostalgic and swung down memory lane.
Setting: A small playground with swings, a seesaw, and a horse spring rider. Located in a neighborhood consisting of apartment buildings. There was a pathway along the playground. The weather was grey, but warm. It was quiet in the middle of the day; we were there alone.
Objects: Round net swing, sandy surface, bicycles left at the entry
Participants: 6 pupils, including the researcher
Initial activity: Bicycle trip. The pupils expressed that they were tired and thirsty. We stopped to wait for some pupils that had taken a wrong turn in a crossing. The teacher went off to find them.
Observations: Some of the pupils spotted the playground. They instantly let go of their bikes. The sound of the bikes’ metal frames hitting the ground and the spinning wheels drowned in the shouting of joy while the pupils ran as a pack towards the swing set. Momina looked back on me and nodded ‘Shall we?’ as she was heading towards the big swing. Within seconds, the pupils laughed and squealed with joy, altering who was pushing who on the swing. The shape of the swing was a big, shallow bowl, and the pupils stretched out on their back instead of sitting while swinging. After a little while they urged me to try. The butterflies in my stomach flapped their wings as I laid down and was pushed by two pupils, generating both joy and fear. I felt the world started spinning as the height and speed increased. The light breeze ruffled my hair. We started jumping off when the swing reached the tallest point. I had to gather myself to dare, and the butterflies went crazy as I let go of the swing and sailed through the air. The landings in the dry sand caused radiances of pain from my feet up through my calves. We shared memories from similar experiences with swinging and competing in jumping off the swings in kindergarten and primary school. The pupils’ voices sounded soft when we reminisced about our early years. When the teacher arrived together with the rest of the class, some of the girls lingered and stayed on the swing. It seemed like they did not want to leave the playground. Angelique shouted ‘Just one more jump’ several times and was the last to return to the bicycles.	Interview quotes: Divany: ‘As we were heading towards the swings I felt huge excitement, a rush of joy. (…) We haven’t been to a playground for a long time. It was so nice, just to get the chance to letting go of the bicycle for a few minutes. When we got the opportunity to relax, we took it and went to the swings’. Momina: ‘I like when people push me, and I like when the speed and range are high. I don’t know why, but it makes me happy’. Divany: ‘We were occupied with something else than bicycling, like we did when we were children. In kindergarten I always jumped off the swing and tried to jump the longest’. Momina: ‘We had a similar swing in the schoolyard at primary school, and we always played with it. This reminded me of primary school’. Angelique: ‘A break was nice, but just sitting still would have made me limp, and I would not have had the energy to continue bicycling. But this was an active break, being on a playground, getting fresh air, and relax at the same time was very fun, knowing that we later should continue bicycling a very steep hill’.
Closing: We continued our round trip, heading towards the school. As we hit a steep gravel hill, many of us dismounted our bikes and pushed it down. This was the last lesson of the day, so in every crossing, people said goodbye and headed home.

Table 3. Episode 3.

Episode 3: The one where the pupils enjoyed being creative and developed playful challenges in the water.
Setting: A swimming pool within walking distance of the pupils’ school. The pool was 25 m, with a shallow end and a deep end. It was an early, dark, and cold December morning. Inside it was bright, lit up of fluorescent tubes. The water smelled of chlorine and held 26 degrees Celsius.
Objects: Diving board (2 m), diving bricks (1 m), booklet containing swimming exercises and tests, ball, floating devices (foam boards, noodles)
Participants: 3 pupils
Initial activity: Practice swimming skills: floating, crawl, backstroke. The three pupils in this episode were in the intermediate group. The main part of the lesson was spent practicing to swim longer distances: 200–500 m, using various techniques. The pupils did what they were told but seemed disengaged. The last 15 minutes was free activities
Observations: Liban and Gustav started diving. The teacher brought them a booklet with tests for achieving swimming awards. My impression was that this was to motivate them and keep them busy. At first, they were very eager to solve the tasks described in the booklet. Liban was in charge of the booklet. He read the next level and said ‘Hey, let’s do this challenge now!’. Water dripped from his hair and left wet marks in the booklet. They worked together to understand how to perform the task. They cheered and looked happy as they completed the tasks. They did not seek the teacher’s or other pupils’ response explicitly. After completing a few tasks, the activity shifted. They started altering the tasks by adding personal variants and using noodles and foam boards as toys. Resul joined them. The activity developed into a jump-while-you-fetch-a-ball-in-the-air-before-hitting-the-water-competition. They made various routines and added personal style with poses, spins, and tricks. Soon, they seemed to have forgotten about the booklet, and collaborated in making more and more advanced challenges. They laughed, splashed around in the water, and commented on their own and each other’s performances. There was a lot of excitement. They did not want to hit the shower when time was up. The teacher had to call them out several times before they complied.	Interview quotes: Liban: ‘So it’s cool if they [teachers] try something new. Suddenly the pupils can be like ‘Oh, this was so much fun!’, and the activity would still meet the criteria for being physical education’. Liban: ‘[When I experience mastery] I feel gassed. I get hyperactive, I get lots of energy, and I get the feeling of wanting to continue to see how far it can go. I get excited and I get an energy burst, I guess.’ Gustav: ‘It is fun [when I succeed]. I feel the adrenalin. It makes me want to continue. And I don’t have to worry anymore [because I mastered the task]’ Conversation between Gustav and me: Me: Do you have any advice for the teachers’ choice of activities in physical education? Something you want more of? Gustav: Something that is fun for everyone. Something we like and enjoy doing. Me: what could that be? Gustav: Something everyone will be able to carry out. Not only activities where you must improve your skills. Resul: ‘The swimming was fun, we had it today.It is fun because we got to do whatever we wanted to do, be with], play.’
Closing: The cold air gave us goosebumps as we stepped out of the pool. I rushed towards the changing room and into the steamy showers.