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This blog post explores navigating ethical issues when examining the influence of neoliberal performativity on primary teachers’ work in physical education (PE). The sophisticated ways in which teachers work within performative cultures is largely underexplored in PE. By offering teachers a liminal space to contemplate their PE practices and redirecting them towards a more holistic way of existing in performative cultures, research could offer a healthier, sustainable form of retention of high-quality teachers amid the retention crisis. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations in the English school context. Prior to primary school teachers’ summer holidays (in July 2025), I conducted a set of initial interviews (II) with four participating teachers, broadly around their experiences of performativity. The use of a reflexive diary (RD) highlighted two ethical dilemmas: a poverty of time and insider status.

Time poverty

Time poverty – the feeling of having an unmanageable number of professional tasks to complete – had an adverse impact on my data collection (Thompson & Hogan, 2025). First, having decided to conduct the first set of interviews shortly before the school summer holidays, I felt ‘inadequately prepared’ (RD). Trying to manage four interviews in the space of a fortnight, I was also susceptible to emotional burnout. Second, having conducted the initial interviews at the end of the school year, a time ‘when most teachers are typically winding down’ (RD), performativity was less likely to be influential on teachers’ work. I felt, therefore, that my findings would not be reflective of the actual school culture. However, through reflection with my research supervisors, I tried to ‘keep an open mind’ (RD). For example, given summer can present a rare moment for teachers to relax, such winding down could open teachers up to more candid responses, potentially providing a more sophisticated understanding of performativity. However, while curriculum coverage tends to cede, teachers’ administrative and extra-curricular duties – such as managing school trips, coordinating sports day and writing school reports – become heightened (Perryman, 2022). I had to, therefore, maintain a greater sensitivity to teachers’ time. For example, to ‘ensure minimal inconvenience’, I conducted interviews immediately afterschool, and prior to the interview, I reminded teachers that I wanted it to be ‘a positive experience’ (RD) for them. However, ultimately, as a qualified primary teacher myself, I feared that I was ‘eating into teachers’ precious time’ (RD). As a result, I rushed some interviews, meaning key themes and concepts might have been underexplored, resulting in my often ‘answering on behalf of the teachers’ (RD).

Insider/outsider

‘My “insiderness” was useful as I could create a shared conceptual understanding or “fusion of horizons” with the participating teachers.’

My fluid insider status was difficult to navigate. As a regular supply teacher at the participating school, having built ample rapport with the participating teachers, I was considered an insider – or ‘part of the furniture’ (RD). Given I could recall likely key incidents, such as the school’s recent Ofsted inspection, my ‘insiderness’ was useful as I could create a shared conceptual understanding or ‘fusion of horizons’ with the participating teachers (Gadamer, 1975). However, at the same time, teachers often assumed that I knew what they were talking about, perhaps not seeing the need to elaborate on their responses – ‘you already know that…’ (II). Irrespective of being a regular member of staff, however, I could never be enough of an insider to get to the ‘truth of the issues I wanted to talk about’ (RD). Given my position as a researcher, and the discursive positionalities which teachers construct themselves as ‘effective’ within performative cultures (Ball, 2003), teachers engaged with a degree of circumspection. Although I frequently reminded teachers that the information they provided was confidential, and that their identity would be anonymous, they all maintained that while ‘some days could be more difficult than others’ their identity was largely predicated on ‘doing the best for the school’ (II), even if this meant working within a performative environment.  

Reflections and recommendations for researchers

First, researchers aiming to conduct a similar study should carefully consider when during the school year to collect their data, allowing plenty of time so that they can afford adequate space between each interview (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). Second, while I could have placed greater emphasis on doing my research with (rather than for) the participants (Arnstein, 1969), the performative culture seems to have diluted the ‘value’ gained from participating in qualitative, teacher-led research projects. This blog post recommends, therefore, that researchers are continually reflexive of their evolving positionality, recognising how their role, the institutional context and performative pressures shape participants’ engagement with the research process.

References

Arnstein, S. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224.

Ball, S. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215–228.

Finlay, L. (2002). ‘Outing’ the researcher: The provenance, process, and practice of reflexivity. Qualitative Health Research, 12(4), 531–545.

Gadamer, H-G. (1975). Truth and method. Sheed and Ward.

Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography: Principles in practice (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Perryman, J. (2022). Teacher retention in an age of performative accountability: Target culture and the discourse of disappointment. Routledge.