Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Avhandlingen handlar om barns (10–12 år) villkor för delaktighet i, om och genom rörelse i skolan utanför ämnet idrott och hälsa. Utgångspunkten är att skolan i hög grad reglerar när barn förväntas röra sig och när de ska vara stilla, utifrån en vuxencentrerad syn på rörelse. Detta riskerar att osynliggöra barns egna erfarenheter av rörelse.

Studien är förankrad i barndomssociologi, där barn ses som kompetenta aktörer vars perspektiv bör tas på allvar. Avhandlingen bygger på fyra delstudier där barns erfarenheter och uttryck av rörelse i skolan samt lärares förhållningssätt undersöks genom deltagande metoder, observationer och intervjuer, samt en reflekterande studie om forskningspraktiken.

Resultaten visar att barns möjligheter till rörelse formas av normer kring kön, idrott och hälsa samt klassrummets stillhetsnormer. Under rasterna dominerar idrottsnormer, särskilt kring fotboll, vilket gynnar vissa barn, ofta pojkar med hög idrottslig status, medan andra barns rörelsemöjligheter begränsas. Därtill kan vuxnas syn på fysisk aktivitet främst som ett medel för hälsa upplevas som krav av vissa barn.

I klassrummet skapar barn egna möjligheter till rörelse genom att navigera stillhetskrav, men alla barn har inte förmågan och riskerar att gå miste om möjligheten att röra sig. Lärares förhållningssätt till elevinitierad rörelse i klassrummet påverkas av krav på ordning, tid och kunskapsresultat, vilket gör att rörelse ofta underordnas skolarbetet.

Sammantaget visar avhandlingen hur barns rörelse i skolan kan begränsas av normer och betonar vikten av att inkludera barns perspektiv för att skapa mer jämlika rörelsepraktiker.

School regulates when children are expected to move and when they should remain still. These expectations are largely shaped by adult perspectives on physical activity as an instrumental means of promoting health. Such perspectives risk marginalising  children’s own experiences of movement as meaningful in the present and as part of their everyday lives. Against this backdrop, there is a need for research that foregrounds children’s perspectives and the conditions shaping their opportunities for movement in school. Therefore, this thesis focuses on children’s conditions for participation in, through and about movement in school, outside the subject of Physical Education and Health. These dimensions guide the discussion of children’s opportunities to influence movement practices in everyday school life.

The thesis is situated within the interdisciplinary field of sport science and draws on social science perspectives, particularly childhood studies, educational research and research on children’s and youth sport. Theoretically, it is informed by the sociology of childhood, which views children as competent social actors whose perspectives should be heard and taken seriously. The sociology of childhood functions as an overarching framework and is complemented by a view of movement as a socially and culturally situated practice. Across the sub-studies, additional analytical concepts are employed.

Focusing on children aged 10–12, the thesis comprises four qualitative studies. The first study uses participatory methods inspired by the Mosaic Approach, combining child-led tours with interviews to explore children’s experiences of movement opportunities in school. The second study is based on classroom observations and highlights how children use affordances for movement. The third study draws on focus group interviews to explore what shapes teachers’ agency regarding pupil-initiated movement in the classroom. The fourth study is a methodological reflection on ethical dilemmas encountered when using participatory methods in research on movement.

The findings show that children’s conditions for participation are shaped by intersecting norms related to gender, sport, and health during recess, and by classroom norms that position bodily restraint as a prerequisite for academic achievement. During recess, dominant competitive sport norms, particularly those surrounding football, privilege certain children, often boys positioned as athletically skilled, while limiting others’ opportunities for participation and movement. Sport is also valued more highly than playful forms of movement during recess, further constraining some children’s opportunities for movement. In addition, health norms, framed by adults’ understanding of physical activity primarily as a means of promoting health, may be experienced by children as demands, sometimes leading them to avoid movement altogether.

Further, the results illustrate that children creatively navigate these classroom norms by using both physical and social affordances to create opportunities for movement, although children’s initiatives for movement remain tightly regulated. Teachers’ agency regarding pupil-initiated movement in the classroom is shaped by competing demands related to time, order and academic outcomes, which often render movement as secondary to academic work. Teachers’ approaches indicate that pupils must meet certain conditions to engage in movement, for example, by completing their schoolwork. This constructs movement as a privilege to be earned rather than a right available to all pupils.

Finally, the findings highlight how participatory methods can generate nuanced insights into children’s experiences of movement in school, while also raising ethical dilemmas that emerge in situ. These dilemmas require the researcher to make situated ethical judgements, often without clear solutions, while remaining open to the unexpected and attentive to moments of uncertainty and discomfort.

Taken together, the thesis demonstrates how children’s opportunities for movement in school are shaped and constrained by intersecting norms and adult-defined expectations. By foregrounding children’s perspectives and the contextual and relational dimensions of movement, it challenges narratives that position children merely as passive objects. The thesis contributes new knowledge about how norms shape children’s conditions for movement and participation in school and highlights the importance of recognising children as active agents in developing more equitable movement practices.