‘It’s about portraying that we are organised …’ A case study looking at understanding identity changes within one Free school’s Physical Education and School Sport (PESS) programme.

This research looked at changes made towards PESS at one of the first Free schools in England. Opened by parents as a new institution within an unfamiliar setting, the school had to contend with limited resources for an ambitious programme based upon a full complement of examination courses and an emphasis on prestigious team sports. A single case study methodology revealed that subsequent changes in identity stemmed from staffing changes, alongside a shift in personal philosophies towards a more inclusive ideology. Research participants agreed that ‘too much’ had been attempted ‘too soon.’ Using Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’, changes are explained by the analysis of a team ‘performance’ communication to parents, identified by interviewees as key policy actors in the life of the school. This approach has been successful in justifying change, a finding that will help to understand the extent to which parental expectations are managed at Free schools.

Citation

Williams, G., Burrows, A., & Williams, D. (2023). ‘It’s about portraying that we are organised …’ A case study looking at understanding identity changes within one Free school’s Physical Education and School Sport (PESS) programme.‘ Educational Review, 75(2), 305-323. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1917522

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Journal

Educational Review

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10034/626970

DOI

10.1080/00131911.2021.1917522

Type

Article

Description

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Educational Review on 20/05/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1917522

ISSN

0013-1911

EISSN

1465-3397

Additional Links

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2021.1917522