ABSTRACT
What becomes clear from reading this text is that understanding primary Physical Education is a complex world of interrelationships. While it might be argued that because of such complexity its future would be difficult to predict, it is precisely because of this complexity that reasonable speculations can be made. Both Jess et al. (2011) and Griggs (2012) have drawn on ideas of complexity theory to make sense of the evolutions that have occurred within primary Physical Education. Largely pioneered in the field of economics (Arthur, 1989, 1990; Holland, 1987) complexity theory is ‘a theory of change, evolution, adaptation and development for survival. It breaks with simple successionist cause-and-effect models … and a reductionist approach to understanding phenomena’ (Morrison, 2008: 19) – an approach increasingly advocated by social science scholars to better engage with the micro-dynamics which underlie social processes (Jacobson, 2000; Puddifoot, 2000). When systems or institutions like schools are complex, what must be studied are the interrelationship, interaction and interconnectivity of elements or actors within a system, and between that system and its context (Chan, 2001; Santonus, 1998; Wheatley, 1999; Youngblood, 1997). Most importantly, as Davies (2004: 19) explains, complexity theory ‘is not a grand narrative in terms of an overarching explanatory theory of behaviour, but more of a way of seeing connections and possibilities’. Useful tools within complex systems can be identified and considered to make sense of them. These include non-linearity, initial conditions and amplification, self-organisation, attractors, information and the edge of chaos (see Davies, 2004, for a full explanation). The problem however is that these useful tools can only be used effectively after the event, examining historical trends and patterns. But what if we could create future 144histories? The artefacts would allow us to explore the complexity of the events that occurred and see how they unfolded. By the use of ethnographic fiction this chapter aims to do just that.
