Ash Cox: Story Sharing

From the very beginning of my PhD I have wanted to capture the experiences of adolescents in conducting muscular fitness activity to help guide future intervention design. I successfully captured the experiences of adolescent boys, which suggested a lack of exposure in the school environment. The plan was to deliver a muscular fitness intervention during school PE; however, halfway through my PhD the global pandemic hit, forcing me to alter the trajectory of my PhD research! This has resulted in discussions with PE teachers and an assessment of their perceptions and experiences of muscular fitness delivery in the school environment. Following a national survey amongst PE teachers, a participatory approach to designing CPD to enhance the knowledge and understanding of muscular fitness activity delivery was undertaken. If I have taken anything away from my experience to date in participatory research, it is to:

1. Define key terms in the research area early on, we all need to sing off the same song sheet

2. Identify the driving force for participant engagement, what is their “why”?

3. Do not be overly academic in your approach, it has to be fun, understandable and meaningful to the participants involved