TY - CHAP
T1 - Postqualitative Inquiry
AU - Bartle, Gillian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 selection and editorial matter, Liz Durden-Myers; individual chapters, the contributors.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - In this chapter, postqualitative inquiry is introduced as an approach to investigating physical literacy (PL). Two example articles are foregrounded to show how thinking with, and building on, Whiteheadian philosophy of PL can inform research, including empirical work. Postqualitative inquiry is a speculative approach, based on a one-world ontology. A sense of immanence underpins postqualitative inquiry, meaning that static ideas about ‘being' are replaced with the notion of ‘becoming'. Thus, events or happenings in movement contexts are created as people-environment-things/equipment together enact those activities. Moreover, postqualitative inquiry relies on thinking with theory and the example articles in this chapter draw on sociomaterialism and posthumanism, both of which do not privilege the human at the expense of other things. Thinking-doing research this way, acknowledges that the researcher(s) is entangled ‘in the middle' of things. The importance of how relations are fundamental to creation of engaging physical activity experiences is emphasised. The chapter concludes with encouragement that researchers be sustained by reading theory to reorient their thinking. There are then suggested questions that practitioners might ask themselves as they encourage PL-enriched movement experiences, and those experiences will be enacted differently every time.
AB - In this chapter, postqualitative inquiry is introduced as an approach to investigating physical literacy (PL). Two example articles are foregrounded to show how thinking with, and building on, Whiteheadian philosophy of PL can inform research, including empirical work. Postqualitative inquiry is a speculative approach, based on a one-world ontology. A sense of immanence underpins postqualitative inquiry, meaning that static ideas about ‘being' are replaced with the notion of ‘becoming'. Thus, events or happenings in movement contexts are created as people-environment-things/equipment together enact those activities. Moreover, postqualitative inquiry relies on thinking with theory and the example articles in this chapter draw on sociomaterialism and posthumanism, both of which do not privilege the human at the expense of other things. Thinking-doing research this way, acknowledges that the researcher(s) is entangled ‘in the middle' of things. The importance of how relations are fundamental to creation of engaging physical activity experiences is emphasised. The chapter concludes with encouragement that researchers be sustained by reading theory to reorient their thinking. There are then suggested questions that practitioners might ask themselves as they encourage PL-enriched movement experiences, and those experiences will be enacted differently every time.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038482009
U2 - 10.4324/9781032703466-55
DO - 10.4324/9781032703466-55
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:105038482009
SN - 9781032703336
SN - 9781032703428
T3 - Routledge International Handbooks
SP - 552
EP - 561
BT - Routledge Handbook of Physical Literacy
A2 - Durden-Myers, Liz
PB - Taylor and Francis - Balkema
CY - London
ER -