THE SOCIAL CONTEXT AS 6
obtaining a variety of ages, experience, and gender, as well as sampling from schools with a
varied average student socio-economic status. These sampling methods are particularly
useful for highlighting both uniqueness in the sample and shared patterns across different
participants (Patton, 2002).
Data from interviews with thirteen male and nine female PE teachers working in
central or southern England will be used to illustrate the PE teachers’ accounts. All but one
interviewee were of White ethnicity and one teacher was of Australian nationality. Teachers
ranged in age from 22 to 56 years and teaching experience ranged from 0 to 33 years. Twenty
teachers were employed by co-educational (i.e. mixed-sex) schools, one taught in a boys-
only school and one in a girls-only school. Furthermore, 20 worked in state schools and two
in private schools. Pseudonyms for each teacher are given throughout in order to assist
anonymity.
An interview guide was developed to provide a framework to the interaction while at
the same time attempting to remain flexible and sensitive to emergent issues. The intention
during interviews, following recommendations by Chase (1995), was to invite the
participants to tell their stories rather than simply provide reports. The interviews were semi-
structured in nature with the guide acting as a loose collection of related themes as opposed
to the detailed set of questions and probes that characterize more formal interview schedules
(Patton, 2002).
The themes incorporated in the guide were as follows: “How do you assess students’
motivation in lessons?”, “Some teachers have mentioned some types of students are more
motivated in PE than others, whilst some have not mentioned this, can you think of any?”,
“Do you feel any pressure from any sources when thinking about how you motivate
students?”, “What do you think motivates students to participate in PE?”, and “Can you give
me specific examples when you have used this strategy?”. The interview themes included in