‘It is a grey area in sport, not just in school’: A figurational analysis of banter in secondary Physical Education in England

Abstract

This article provides a figurational sociological analysis of how secondary school pupils and teachers perceived, manifested and determined (in)appropriate banter in Physical Education (PE). Generated through lesson observations, pupil focus groups and teacher interviews, ethnographic data is thematically analysed and interpreted through Elias’s (1978, 2012) concepts of figuration and individual civilising process. Banter was increasingly normalised and legitimised amongst most older pupils, who often enjoyed banter’s motivating and competitive functions. Such productive functions were deemed appropriate, whilst judgements on inappropriate banter were fluid, relationally dependent and emotion laden. Within a PE figuration centred on sociality, competitiveness and performance-related commentary, to successfully understand, engage in and navigate (in)appropriate banter, older pupils embodied cognitive foresight, social awareness and emotional intelligence. Given these qualities, social constructions of appropriateness, and policy-based concerns regarding inappropriateness, we recommend educators/pupils and coaches/players develop a localised shared understanding of appropriate banter and agreed mechanism to report inappropriate banter