ABSTRACT
Introduction There is a growing body of literature that explores the impact of social structures such as race and gender (e.g. Azzarito, 2009), social class and location (e.g. Wright, Macdonald and Groom, 2003; Evans and Davies, 2008), and healthism and obesity discourses (e.g. Burrows, Wright and Jungersen-Smith, 2002; Evans et al., 2008) on young people’s conceptions of health and their participation in physical activities. What is lacking in the current literature, however, is an exploration of how young people’s meanings and experiences with physical activity evolve over time. The aim of this chapter is to explore young people’s voices on their experiences in physical education and sport and physical activity as they move through and beyond school. The particular question addressed in this chapter is ‘How do social structures such as class, gender, school and location (place) shape young people’s engagements with physical activity over time?’ To address this question, data will be drawn from the Life Activity Project (LAP), an Australian longitudinal qualitative project exploring young people’s engagements with physical education and sport and physical activities.
