Gendered grouping practices in secondary physical education in England: Listening to student voice

There is substantial international literature on single- and mixed-sex grouping in physical education (PE), much of which focuses on the relative impact on students’ physical activity levels, perceived self-confidence and/or interactions with teachers and peers. A smaller body of research has explored students’ perspectives on single- and/or mixed-sex grouping in PE. However, much of this research is dated, limited in scope to a relatively small number of students from a small number of schools and/or dominated by binary thinking, with little recognition that students may express preferences for a combination of grouping approaches. This study was designed to extend previous research by generating large-scale data relating to cisgender students’ preferences for single-sex grouping, mixed-sex grouping or a combination of these approaches in secondary school PE. The study used an online survey to generate data from 2073 boys and 2161 girls (n = 4234) from 47 co-educational secondary schools located throughout England. Analysis of responses revealed that, overall, most boys and girls preferred single- (52.7%, n = 2231) to mixed-sex grouping (23.1%, n = 979) or combined arrangements in PE (24.2%, n = 1024). Further exploration of preferences showed variations by demographic and situational factors, including gender, ability, cultural background, familiarity with a particular approach and/or the nature of the learning situation. Discussion pursues the potential benefits and challenges that schools may face in adopting flexible, situation-specific, gendered grouping practices in PE. The paper affirms the importance of student voice in decisions that powerfully shape learning opportunities and experiences and in potentially assisting in advancing gender equity in PE.