Valuing the Voices of Young Disabled People: Exploring Experience of Physical Education and Sport

Abstract

This article will report on the process of student‐led research as an innovative pedagogical technique for learning more about the physical education (PE) and sporting experiences of young disabled people. The article drawson work fromtwo school based curriculum projects thatsought to work with young people in an empowering manner. We argue that student‐led project work can place value on students voices, promote dialogue between students and teachers and enables students’ to enhance their awareness and reflective capacity.We propose that as researchers we needto rethink our understandingof the research process if we are to support research centralising the voices of young people.

KEY WORDS:

• Student‐led research
• young disabled people
• physical education and sport

Notes

¹ Hayley Fitzgerald is at the Institute of Youth Sport, Loughborough University, UK. Anne Jobling is at the Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia, and David Kirk is at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, UK.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Kirk ¹

1 Hayley Fitzgerald is at the Institute of Youth Sport, Loughborough University, UK. Anne Jobling is at the Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia, and David Kirk is at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, UK.