Abstract
This paper presents direct, participative observations of the social behaviour of eleven-year-old pupils and teachers during compulsory Physical Education classes in France with the aim of improving understanding of the myriad expected and unexpected behavioural incidents in an interactive and micro-sociological perspective. Pupils recieve four hours per week " total immersion " for a full school year (two hours twice a week). The findings led to a further discussion of fundamental related teaching and learning issues in this discipline. Findings also brought to light the reality of learning from peers, which is virtually independent of the institution and the will of the teacher, although a dialogue may be maintained with the latter.