Understanding the complexity of the lived experiences of Foundation Degree sport lecturers within the context of Further Education

Abstract

This paper provides an ethnographic account of the lived experiences of Further Education (FE) lecturers (N=4) who are engaged in the transmission of pedagogic knowledge within a Foundation Degree. To further understand the experiences of the lecturers the paper draws upon Stones' quadripartite cycle of structuration. This conceptual and methodological approach has informed an understanding of how the transmission of pedagogical knowledge is shaped through connections between the external structures of FE and the embodied practices of agents. The paper draws its empirical perspective from an ethnographic case study exploring relations and experiences of agents within one FE college, Hope (pseudonym). The data highlights the numerous in-situ practices of the lecturers, reflecting how their embodied experiences and resulting agency continually influence the transmission of conjunctural-specific forms of pedagogic knowledge. The data draws attention to the knowledgeability of agents in evolving and reproducing forms of pedagogic knowledge socially, intellectually and corporeally and how this begins to shape the student experience. The paper concludes by reflecting upon the complexity of their role and the outcomes of this for the transmission of pedagogic knowledge within the context of FE and the need to reflect upon how FE supports lecturers within this context.

Keywords:

• Further Education
• Pedagogy
• Reflexivity
• Structuration Theory
• Transformative Practices

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Oxford Ethnography Conference, September 2011. In addition, the author would like to express his gratitude to the two external reviewers and proof reader who took the time to make constructive suggestions regarding earlier drafts of this paper.