Teacher educators’ conceptualisations of policy, and their sociogenesis: An multi-country case-study of H/PE

Policy has been identified as a ‘grand challenge’ for Health and/or Physical Education (H/PE) internationally, and scholars such as Dawn Penney have argued that all H/PE stakeholders, including teacher educators, have a collective responsibility to engage with policy. Existing research within the context of H/PE, however, tells us little about  teacher educators' (H/PETEs) conceptualisations of policy and how they came to be. Drawing on figurational sociology (Elias, 1979), and Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) concept of assemblage, this paper offers insights into the nature and development - or sociogenesis - of H/PETEs conceptualisations of policy. These insights are important because if we can identify the elements of the H/PE figuration which shape and support teacher educators’ conceptualisations of policy, we can better support H/PETEs and other H/PE stakeholders in necessary policy engagement. This presentation will respond to the questions: i) how do H/PETEs conceptualise policy?; and ii) how have these conceptualisations come to be? The data shared in this paper was generated through semi-structured interviews with 12 H/PETE from 7 countries. Inductive-deductive analysis revealed that H/PETEs viewed policy as: i) informing intended action and change; ii) a way to govern practice; iii) both imposition and possibility. In terms of how these conceptualisations came to be, the deductive analysis suggested that the key features of the H/PETE figuration that were identified as influential include: i) interdependence with human and non-human elements (e.g. colleagues and research papers); ii) balances of power between elements of the figuration (e.g. between policy writers and other stakeholders); and iii) the ways in which policy was seen as a feature of H/PETEs social and individual habitus, or not. It is concluded that acknowledging and capitalising on the aforementioned elements and features within H/PETE professional learning, for example, could support H/PETEs in engaging with policy in productive and meaningful ways. Given that engaging with policy is viewed as a collective responsibility of H/PETEs, and many - if not all - of the H/PETEs felt they needed support in this regard, this should be a key focus for the field.