One Teacher’s Experience of Teaching Physical Education and Another School Subject: An Inter-Role Conflict?

Purpose: This study was situated within a longitudinal study of 5 teachers examining the realities of teaching physical education by determining the impact of individual dispositions and contextual factors on the career trajectories of postprimary physical education teachers in Ireland (Iannucci & MacPhail, 2017). One of these participants, Jane, was examined in this study to gain a greater understanding of the realities and tensions experienced by a postprimary teacher enacting 2 distinct sets of role expectations when teaching physical education and another school subject concurrently. Method: Data reported in this article were collected through a semistructured interview and living graph. An interpretative framework was used for analysis, assessing Jane’s perceived meanings of the identified critical incidents in relation to role theory. Results: Teachers timetabled with physical education and another subject concurrently may be expected to navigate and negotiate 2 distinctly different roles within the school community causing difficulty in assuming both roles simultaneously. Short narratives were used to convey 2 themes: (a) role prioritization and (b) role performance. Conclusion: The study results suggest that the already complex and multifaceted role of a school teacher (Richards, Templin, Levesque-Bristol, & Blankenship, 2014) seems to be further complicated when teachers are tasked with simultaneously teaching physical education and another school subject. With the presence of a role conflict management strategy such as role prioritization (Stryker, 1968), one can presume that teachers who are tasked with teaching physical education and another school subject may experience some level of role conflict.     

In the face of adversity: four physical educator’s experiences of resilience in high-poverty schools

Background: Emotional resilience can be vital to longevity in high-poverty school settings. Equally important to staying the course is the ability to remain motivated despite the unique challenges presented by teaching in high-poverty schools. Students within these schools need teachers who are able to manage their emotions and remain positive and optimistic, persist, remain confident, and continually focus on learning and self-improvement no matter their work environment. This study explored four PE teachers’ perceptions of their resilience teaching in high-poverty schools through the lens of resilience theory.

Research design: This study utilized an exploratory multiple case study design (Yin 2003). The main premise of the case study method is to better understand complex educational and social phenomena, while retaining the holistic and meaningful particularities of real-life circumstances (Yin 2003). Teacher interviews and teacher shadowing were used to examine the experiences of PE teachers in high-poverty schools.

Findings: Results indicate that several psychological factors (relating to positive personality, motivation, focus, and perceived social and administrative support) protected the PE teachers in this inquiry from the potential negative effect of stressors by prompting their metacognitions and challenge appraisal. These processes promoted facilitative responses that proved to be key to developing and maintaining their capacities for resilience. The teachers demonstrated a sustained commitment to self-improvement and student success by implementing effective teaching practices.

Conclusion: The teachers in this study possessed strong individual dispositions and were able to demonstrate behaviors that facilitated an elevated level of resilience. School administrators must establish a strong culture of support to enable teacher resilience. Identifying ways to increase the resilience capacity of physical education teachers has the potential to decrease the concerns surrounding teacher attrition and increase job satisfaction for teachers working in high-poverty schools. Implications also indicate a need for physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to identify candidates with the individual dispositions that aid in resilience and provide them with experiences in high-poverty schools. This partnership may assist in minimizing the effects of reality shock oftentimes experienced by new teachers.     

Understanding the perceived mattering of physical education teachers

Previous research related to occupational socialization theory has indicated that, in certain school contexts, physical education (PE) and physical education teachers are socially constructed as being less important than, or marginal to, the primary purpose of schooling. This research highlights the challenges associated with occupying a position of marginality. Another way to look at the social experiences of physical education teachers is to examine the extent to which they feel as if they matter to those around them. Drawing upon qualitative and quantitative data sources, the purpose of this study was to examine physical education teachers’ perceived mattering. A mixed-methods design was employed, and data sources included responses to an online survey (N?=?105) and individual telephone interviews (N?=?23). Quantitative data were analyzed using 2?×?2 (education?×?teaching level) Factorial MANOVA; interview data were analyzed using analytic induction and constant comparison. Quantitative analyses indicated that teachers with advanced degrees and those in secondary schools perceived a higher level of mattering than those with bachelor’s degrees and teaching in elementary schools. Respondents perceived that PE mattered slightly more than they did as teachers of the subject. Qualitative analysis indicated that (a) relationships were critical to teachers’ mattering, (b) physical location of the gym and isolation contributed to mattering, and (c) PE was viewed as a service to others in their workplace. Perceived matter is dependent upon a variety of factors related to both personal and workplace factors. Enhancing teachers’ perceptions of mattering may reduce feelings of marginalization.     

Through the years: a longitudinal study of physical education teachers from a research-based preparation program

This study investigated factors that enhanced and constrained the career development of six teachers, who had graduated from the same university teacher education program, in their induction years (Woods & Earls, 1995) and again later in their career cycles. Three participants were physical education teachers (PETs), and three were former physical education teachers (FPETs). Fessler's (1985) Teacher Career Stage Model provided the theoretical framework. Data sources were: interviews with teachers and their teacher educators and direct observations of lessons. Results indicated that the PETs continued to have skill development as their primary teaching objective. The teachers maintained many of their teaching skills, and shifted between the career cycles of "competency building" and "enthusiastic and growing." All three FPETs left their physical education positions during the career frustration stage and at the time of publication were in the career exit stage.     

Socialization of Prospective Physical Education Teachers: The Story of New Blood

There has been much criticism of how teachers are prepared to teach and physical education has not been immune from this criticism. Despite numerous efforts to improve the content and focus of teacher education programmes there is still a paucity of programme evaluation research on the efficacy of these teacher education programmes (Metzler & Tjeerdsma, 1998). This paper reports on part of a yearlong investigation on the efficacy of a graduate physical education teacher education programme to prepare teachers. The focus of this aspect of the study was to identify what attracted graduate students to pursue a teaching career and what beliefs they held about physical education teachers and teaching. This was a qualitative case study and multiple data sources were gathered to address the research questions. The data sources included interviews, analyses of the students' autobiographical statements, and observations of their teaching, critical incidents from their teaching and peer responses to critical incidents. Findings indicate that this cohort of graduate students, many embarking on a major career change, was more committed to teaching and their love for teaching children than coaching. While their own success and love of sport was a factor in their career choice, their experiences in helping young people engage in and enjoy physical activity was more significant than their desire to gain a teaching credential. They believed their role as a physical education teacher was to be a physically active role model and help students appreciate the importance of physical activity, to contribute to the development of student self-esteem, especially those sometimes marginalized in physical education classes, and to plan and teach lessons that would motivate all students to participate in class. This work is grounded in the occupational socialization literature and the findings are discussed in terms of what we know about how to maximize the impact of teacher education programmes especially when students' beliefs may not be aligned with those of the programme.     

Physical education teacher education in Norway: the perceptions of student teachers

A feature of academic literature on physical education teacher education (PETE) is the expectation that it can and should impact upon student teachers' beliefs and prospective practices in some significant ways. This is despite research over the last 20 years or more alluding to the apparent failure of PETE to ‘shake or stir’ (Evans et al., 1996) what might be termed the (typically conservative and conventional) pre-dispositions of student and early career PE teachers. In this article, we examine the perceptions of PE student teachers in Norway in order to ascertain just what it is that makes them so resistant to change and, for that matter, such infertile ground for sowing the seeds of reflexivity. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 41 PE student teachers from the three routes through teacher education available at Nord University College (Nord UC). Among the main themes identified in the data were the PE students' perceptions of: the purposes (and ostensible benefits) of school PE and PETE as well as the nature of PETE itself (including subsidiary themes of sporting and teaching skills, other ‘competencies’, school placements, mentoring and mentors, PETEs' (physical education teacher educators) teaching styles and the students teachers' relationships with the PETEs). The article concludes that, as far as the students at Nord UC were concerned, the significance of PETE revolved around the programme's efficacy in developing the sporting skills and teaching techniques they viewed as central to their preparation for teaching. The minimal impact of the more theoretical aspects of PETE appeared to be partly attributable to the students' perceptions of PE as synonymous with sport in schools and partly to their particularly pragmatic orientations towards PETE. In this vein, the students viewed experience as the most important, most legitimate ‘evidence’ on which to base their beliefs and practices and were resistant to the ‘theory’ of teacher education, rationalising their tendencies to select the evidence that suited them.     

不同学段体育课中教师因素对学生身体活动水平的影响

探讨教师因素对体育课中小学和初中学生身体活动水平影响的差异。以上海市284节体育课中小学和初中学生身体活动水平及其任课教师为调查对象,通过测量法、观察法和调查法等分析不同学段体育课中学生身体活动水平、教师教学行为现状及教师因素(包括性别、教龄和教学行为)与体育课中学生身体活动水平的关系。结果显示:小学和初中学生体育课中MVPA时间百分比均未达到50%的课堂时间标准,且两者间无显著差异;小学和初中体育课中教师在教学指导和课堂管理行为上的用时均为最高,小学教师的课堂管理行为和动作示范行为用时显著高于初中教师,而初中教师的教学指导行为和观察行为用时显著高于小学教师;小学和初中体育课中男教师执教班级的MVPA时间百分比均高于女教师,而教龄仅与小学生体育课MVPA时间百分比有显著负相关关系。教师的促进健康行为对小学和初中体育课MVPA时间百分比均有显著正向影响,而观察行为仅对初中生体育课中MVPA时间百分比有显著正向影响。研究表明:教师因素对小学和初中体育课学生身体活动水平影响存在较大差异,今后应针对不同学段学生采取有针对性的干预措施。     

Teacher and school outcomes of the Physical Education and Physical Literacy (PEPL) approach: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of a multicomponent intervention to improve physical literacy in primary schools

ABSTRACT

Background: Physical education (PE) can be considered the centrepiece of school physical literacy (PL) programs, but ineffective lessons or an absence of PE across the public primary school system has raised concern. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation, acceptability and impact of teacher delivery of PE as part of a multicomponent Physical Education Physical Literacy (PEPL) approach, designed to improve classroom teachers’ provision of PE and PL opportunities within a cluster of suburban primary schools.

Method: Within a pragmatic randomised cluster-based trial with mixed methods, a PEPL coach was appointed to seven schools for one school year, with another seven schools continuing their usual practice as the control group. The coach’s role was to support and professionally develop classroom teachers to teach PE and to create opportunities that develop PL inside and outside the school environment. Focusing on Grade 5 teachers, the implementation, acceptability and teacher impact were assessed using direct observations of PE teaching style, a daily log kept by the coach and interviews with principals and teachers.

Results: The PEPL coach visited each school on average once a week for the 33 available weeks of the school year. There were several positive effects for teachers and schools. With no classroom teacher initially taking PE or classroom physical activity breaks, all seven teachers regularly introduced a PE lesson and activity breaks into their weekly schedule. PE class instructional time increased (intervention; +4.8 vs. control; ?3.5 min/lesson; β?=?1.69; SE?=?0.76; p?=?.05), with lessons of greater duration (intervention; +8.6 vs. control +1.9 min/lesson; β?=?1.14, SE?=?0.58, p?=?.05) and moderate and vigorous physical activity increased 5.7 min in intervention classes (p?<?.05). The PEPL coach introduced regular physical activities before and after school and linked the schools with a national sports coaching scheme. Interviews indicated that the PEPL approach was both valued and well-accepted by staff, that classroom teacher confidence to teach PE increased and that principals perceived a shift toward a school ‘culture’ of physical activity.

Conclusions: Well-received by classroom teachers and principals, the PEPL approach resulted in classroom teachers introducing both PE and activity breaks into their weekly teaching program and schools were linked to external sport coaching programs. These effects suggest that the PEPL approach enhanced opportunities for the development of physical literacy in this suburban primary school setting.

Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry identifier: ACTRN12615000066583.     

Early childhood teachers’ views about teaching physical education: challenges and recommendations

Background: Educational scholars emphasize that in order to gain a better understanding of the complexity of teaching, greater attention needs to be paid to teachers’ views and perceptions of the challenges and barriers of teaching.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe preschool teachers’ views and perceptions of the main challenges of teaching physical education. The major question addressed was: what are the main challenges that preschool teachers face in teaching physical education, and based on their experiences what suggestions do the preschool teachers make in reference to early childhood physical education?

Data collection and analysis: Four experienced early childhood educators from Cyprus volunteered to participate in this study. Data were collected through formal interviews and were analyzed inductively via individual-case and cross-case analysis.

Findings: The findings suggest that the four early childhood teachers believed that the main aim of physical education, in the early years, is to provide children with opportunities to develop their psychomotor, cognitive, and social skills. Although the participants consider physical education to be an important subject in the school curriculum, they admitted that it has been undermined to a great extent and is viewed as a marginal subject. Findings from the study suggest that the four early childhood educators faced common barriers, deficiencies, and constraints, relative to the teaching resources. Finally, the participants called for meaningful professional development programs. Implications of these findings for educators are discussed.     

Following the Footsteps of Specialist Physical Education Teachers in Singapore’s Primary Schools

This study explored the footsteps of specialist physical education teachers in Singapore’s primary schools. In particular, this paper uncovered the physical education teacher training in Singapore during post-colonial days, ground situations leading to the rise of the specialist physical education teachers and government policies influencing the increase of them in primary schools. Document analysis was employed to trace the development of teachers teaching physical education in Singapore’s primary schools since the 1950s. The focus was on how this development influences the position of specialist physical education teachers in primary schools. The key role of the primary school physical education teacher has changed from a teacher whose focus was on physical fitness to a teacher who looks to develop pupils holistically through pupil-centric sports and outdoor activities. A generalist teacher that did not specialize in physical education is no longer suitable to teach physical education. Government policies and initiatives such as the robust recruitment of physical education teachers and the continuation of the Diploma in Physical Education programme have had a direct impact on the increasing number of primary school specialist physical education teachers. However, this increase is still insufficient. A concerted effort must be made by the school management to prioritize the quality of physical education lessons and sports programmes.     

Understanding Teacher Change: A National Survey of U.S. Physical Educators

Physical education is critical to addressing childhood obesity, yet many school-based programs do not meet established quality standards and teachers are called upon to change. Little is known about how change is initiated and its associated internal and external factors. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical education teacher change that was self-initiated and externally initiated and to examine dispositions toward the change process relative to initiation. Method: A random national sample of physical educators representing each SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators regional district participated in a survey measuring past programming changes, primary initiators of change, and teachers’ dispositions toward change. In total, 2,423 teachers (46% response rate) completed electronic, paper, or telephone questionnaires. Results: Teachers most often made minor curriculum changes, and they added/subtracted student assessments (primarily informal assessments) least often. Self-initiated (bottom-up) change was most frequently (83.1% of the time) reported. Externally initiated (top-down) changes were less frequent and were most often associated with professional development. Teachers reported principals’ involvement in both top-down and bottom-up change processes was minimal. Teachers who were more disposed to making future changes reported making significantly (p < .01, η² = .046–.119) more past changes than those who were less disposed to change. Conclusions: Physical education teachers primarily self-initiated minor programming changes without involvement from administration. Externally initiated change was infrequent and mostly involved professional development. Dispositions toward change were individual and enduring such that teachers who had made more past changes were more likely to also make future changes.     

‘Singled out because of skin color … ’: exploring ethnic minority female teachers’ embodiment in physical education

There is a significant lack of diversity within the teaching population nationwide that reflects historical, political, and institutional racialized inequality. In the context of physical education, ethnic minority teachers often report feeling ‘different,’ marginalized, and struggle to negotiate the dominant school culture they feel they do not belong to. Purpose: To explore how race and gender intersect in the lived experiences of ethnic minority female PE teachers in predominantly white schools in the United States. Methods: This study used narrative and visual research methods. Results: Participants often felt isolated and uncomfortable in their educational contexts, actively seeking out other ethnic minorities to make meaningful connections and validate their lived experiences. Discussion: The intersection of race and gender in participants’ embodied identities reflects sexist and racist systems in which white privilege is positioned as normal or universal. PE and PE teacher education programs must actively work to disrupt and destabilize these norms.     

影响新课标下太原市高中田径教学开展的因素

文章采用问卷调查法对太原市21所高中体育教师和学生进行调查,从中分析影响新课标下太原市高中田径教学开展的因素。结果表明:太原市高中的体育教师对新课标已经有了一定的认识,但缺乏对学生的阐述力度;体育教师要不断丰富田径课的组织形式和教学内容,使得教学方法和练习手段新颖多变;体育教师要运用文明的教育技巧去感染和影响学生,进而使学生们在高中阶段就能为终身体育打下坚实的基础。     

Implementing a school-based physical activity program: process evaluation and impact on teachers’ confidence,perceived barriers and self-perceptions

Introduction: Secondary schools have the potential to promote health-related fitness (HRF) and physical activity within and outside school hours. As such, schools are often chosen as the setting to implement child and adolescent physical activity programs. School-based programs often utilise teachers as delivery agents, but few studies examine effects on teacher-level outcomes.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to determine the impact of teacher training embedded within a physical activity intervention on teacher-level outcomes. The secondary aim of this study was to evaluate process data, including implementation, satisfaction and fidelity.

Methods: Resistance Training for Teens (RT for Teens) was evaluated using a cluster randomised controlled trial in 16 secondary schools. Teachers (N?=?44; 48% female/52% male; mean?±?SD years teaching experience?=?10.6?±?8.0) from 16 secondary schools were assessed at baseline. Intervention group teachers (i.e. from eight schools) delivered a structured school-based physical activity program over 10-weeks. Teacher outcomes included confidence to teach health-related fitness (HRF) activities, perceived barriers to teaching HRF activities, and perceived fitness. Detailed process evaluation data were also collected. Assessments were conducted at baseline and 6-months (post-program), and outcomes were assessed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results: There was a positive group-by-time effect for the confidence composite score (p?=?.010, partial eta squared?=?0.29), but no effects for the two (contextual, interpersonal) barrier composite scores. Also, there was a significant effect for perceived ‘general fitness’ (p?=?0.044, partial eta squared?=?0.13), but not for specific fitness subdomains. Teachers were highly satisfied with both the training and the program, believing it was beneficial for students. Resource usage and adherence to the SAAFE (Supportive, Active, Autonomous, Fair, Enjoyable) delivery principles was high.

Conclusion: RT for Teens improved teachers’ confidence and perceived fitness. These findings highlight the potential for high-quality teacher training and program delivery to positively influence teacher-level outcomes. This may provide support for the use of teacher professional development to improve HRF-related pedagogy.     

Promoting schoolchildren’s self-esteem in physical education: testing the effectiveness of a five-month teacher training

ABSTRACT

Background: Schoolchildren’s personality development is considered a central goal of physical education (PE). With regard to the relationship between psychological well-being and global self-esteem over the life course, the promotion of positive self-esteem is an issue of particular significance. Past research revealed that PE taught with an individualized teacher frame of reference (iTFR) and a reflexive teaching style is associated with positive effects on facets of children’s perceived sports competence. However, it remains an open question whether this teaching styles has the potential to promote positive self-esteem.

Purpose: The present study investigated whether a five-month teacher training, aimed to enhance the teachers’ iTFR and their reflexive teaching style in PE, has a positive effect on students’ perceived sports competence and their global self-esteem. To analyse the implementation quality, changes in students’ perceived iTFR and perceived reflexive teaching style were investigated.

Method: A total of 21 teachers were assigned to either an intervention group (n?=?13), receiving the five-month teacher training, or a control group (n?=?8) consisting of regular teaching without teacher training. The teacher training encompassed five three-hour consecutive sessions during which the teachers acquired theoretical and practical knowledge about the promotion of competence perceptions in PE with a reflexive teaching style and an iTFR. Between the sessions, the teachers were instructed to implement an iTFR and a reflexive teaching style into their own PE classes. To evaluate the effects of the teacher training, their students’ (N?=?315, 53.7% girls, M_age?=?13.2 y, SD_age?=?1.3 y) perceived teaching style (iTFR and reflexive teaching), perceived sports competence and global self-esteem were measured with paper-pencil questionnaires at three measurement points (pre, post and follow-up).

Findings: Linear mixed effect models showed that students of the intervention group reported an increase in their teachers’ reflexive teaching style, but there were no changes with regard to iTFR. With regard to students’ perceived sports competence and global self-esteem, there were significant interaction effects between time and group over a period of eight months (from pre-test to follow-up), indicating positive effects on these self-concept dimensions due to the teacher training.

Conclusion: The present study indicates that a long-term teacher training supports PE teachers to implement teaching styles with the aim to promote students’ self-concept. Furthermore, the findings lead to the assumption that a more pronounced iTFR in combination with an enhanced reflexive teaching style has the potential to positively influence schoolchildren’s perceived sports competence and global self-esteem.     

Do as we do and not as we say: teacher educators supporting student teachers to learn on teaching practice

This paper reports data from a larger study into the ways in which Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students engaged in professional learning during teaching practice (TP) in Ireland. The study comprised one umbrella case study of Greendale University, schools and PETE students that consisted of five individual cases: tetrads of PETE student teacher, cooperating teacher (CT), University tutor (UT) and School Principal (SP). Each tetrad was defined as a unique community of practice located within the wider structures of school, education and university policies on teacher education. Data were collected over one academic year using qualitative research methods and grounded theory as a systematic data analysis tool.

Findings indicate that in each of the five cases, support for PETE student learning was, to some degree, dysfunctional. In particular, it became evident that there were two conflicting teacher-learning curricula in operation. The official curriculum, expressed in policy and by SPs, UTs and CTs (also referred to as mentors), valued a PETE student who cared for pupils, had a rich pedagogical content knowledge, knew how to plan for and assess pupils’ learning, valued reflection, and was an active member of a community of practice. The unofficial but essentially more powerful enacted curriculum, encouraged PETE students to draw upon their own resources to learn pedagogical content knowledge in an isolated and unsupported manner.

The data highlight the force of the unofficial curriculum and the ways in which PETE students were guided to the core of the dysfunctional community of practice by untrained CTs (mentors) and untrained UTs. PETE students in this study learned to survive in a largely unsupportive professional learning environment and, just as theories of social reproduction intimate, indicated that they would reproduce this practice with PETE students in their care in the future.

The findings suggest that in cases similar to those studied, there is a need for teacher educators in Ireland, (in both universities and schools) to critically interrogate their personal practices and implicit theories of teacher education and to engage in training for their role. There is also evidence to suggest that PETE students in Ireland could benefit from the development of school–university partnerships that act as fundamental units of high quality professional learning. In the cases studied, this may have led to a stronger focus on the intended or official curriculum of TP, led by the revised maxim: ‘Do as we say and as we do’.     

Interpretation and enactment of Senior Secondary Physical Education: pedagogic realities and the expression of Arnoldian dimensions of movement

Background: New curriculum developments present opportunities for established thinking and practice in physical education to be reaffirmed or challenged in government, professional and institutional arenas. The introduction of a new official text for the Victorian Certificate of Education Physical Education [VCEPE] in 2011 provided a prompt for renewed debate about the ways in which ‘multiple ways of knowing' could prospectively find expression in senior secondary physical education. Previous analysis of the new VCEPE official text and associated assessment requirements led to a prediction that a theoretical–practical binary may well be reaffirmed amidst implementation of the new course in schools, such that senior secondary physical education (SSPE) in Victorian schools may remain an essentially propositional/theoretical subject.

Purpose: This paper reports on research that has pursued this prediction and specifically explored the expression of Arnold's three dimensions of education in, through and about movement, in teachers’ interpretation and enactment of the new VCEPE Study Design. The research sought to pursue the potential for originality and creativity in SSPE amidst the introduction of a new official curriculum text, examine factors facilitating or limiting this and document the ‘pedagogic realities’ of SSPE in Victorian schools.

Methodology: The study used a case study approach, involving two government and two independent secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Data gathered from teacher interviews, classroom observations and documentary sources in 2012–2013 are reported. Analysis pursued internal and external factors framing the curriculum and pedagogical practices prominent in enactment of the new course in the case study schools, and the individual and collective representation of Arnold's three dimensions of movement in the schools’ curriculum and teachers’ pedagogical practices.

Findings: The findings reveal complexities and tensions associated with the representation of new curriculum policy in school curriculum and teachers’ pedagogic practices. Attention is drawn to ways in which the interplay between official texts, accompanying assessment requirements, other professional texts and the wider educational context variously shape the ‘pedagogic realities’ of the VCEPE in practice. The discussion explains how this interplay influences (and limits) the expression of Arnold's dimensions in VCEPE.

Implications: This paper reaffirms previous work in SSPE that has highlighted the need for conceptual coherence between curriculum texts and assessment frameworks. This research directs attention to opportunities for development of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, through both official and professional channels, in ways that facilitate teachers’ professional learning about the potential expression of Arnold's dimensions in VCEPE. It also calls for curriculum authorities, professional learning associations and teacher education institutions to work more coherently to be at the fore of thinking about pedagogic possibilities in senior secondary physical education.     

‘It doesn't matter how they move really,as long as they move.’ Physical education teachers on developing their students’ movement capabilities

Background: Movement is key in physical education, but the educational value of moving is sometimes obscure. In Sweden, recent school reforms have endeavoured to introduce social constructionist concepts of knowledge and learning into physical education, where the movement capabilities of students are in focus. However, this means introducing a host of new and untested concepts to the physical education teacher community.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to explore how Swedish physical education teachers reason about helping their students develop movement capability.

Participants, setting and research design. The data are taken from a research project conducted in eight Swedish secondary schools called ‘Physical education and health – a subject for learning?’ in which students and teachers were interviewed and physical education lessons were video-recorded. This article draws on data from interviews with the eight participating teachers, five men and three women. The teachers were interviewed partly using a stimulated recall technique where the teachers were asked to comment on video clips from physical education lessons where they themselves act as teachers.

Data analysis. A discourse analysis was conducted with a particular focus on the ensemble of more or less regulated, deliberate and finalised ways of doing things that characterise the eight teachers’ approach to helping the students develop their movement capabilities.

Findings. The interviews indicate that an activation discourse (‘trying out’ and ‘being active’) dominates the teachers’ ways of reasoning about their task (a focal discourse). When the teachers were specifically asked about how they can help the students improve their movement capacities, a sport discourse (a referential discourse) was expressed. This discourse, which is based on the standards of excellence of different sports, conditions what the teachers see as (im)possible to do due to time limitations and a wish not to criticise the students publicly. The mandated holistic social constructionist discourse about knowledge and learning becomes obscure (an intruder discourse) in the sense that the teachers interpret it from the point of view of a dualist discourse, where ‘knowledge’ (theory) and ‘skill’ (practice) are divided.

Conclusions. Physical education teachers recoil from the task of developing the students’ movement capabilities due to certain conditions of impossibility related to the discursive terrain they are moving in. The teachers see as their primary objective the promotion of physical activity – now and in the future; they conceptualise movement capability in such a way that emphasising the latter would jeopardise their possibilities of realising the primary objective. Should the aim be to reinforce the social constructionist national curriculum, where capability to move is suggested to be an attempt at formulating a concept of knowledge that includes both propositional and procedural aspects and which is not based on the standards of excellence of either sport techniques or motor ability, then teachers will need support to interpret the national curriculum from a social constructionist perspective. Further, alternative standards of excellence as well as a vocabulary for articulating these will have to be developed.     

Mapping physical education teachers’ professional learning and impacts on pupil learning in a community of practice in South Korea

Background: A new national physical education (PE) curriculum has been developed in South Korea and PE teachers have been challenged to deliver new transferable educational outcomes in character development through PE. In one geographical area, in order to support teachers to make required changes, a Communities of Practice (CoP) approach to continuing professional development (CPD) was adopted. Rather than being based in a single-school, this CoP brought PE teachers together from a number of schools with the aim of sharing learning and impacting on pedagogies, practices and pupils’ learning in character development through PE.

Aims: To map and analyse the ways in which teachers (i) learnt about character education in a CoP, (ii) used this learning to inform their pedagogies and practices, and (iii) impacted on pupil learning in and beyond PE.

Method: The participants were a university professor, 8 secondary school PE teachers from 8 different schools and 41 pupils. Data collection was undertaken in two phases in Autumn 2014 and Spring 2015. In-depth qualitative data were collected in the CoP and the teachers’ schools using individual interviews, focus groups with pupils, observations of lessons, open-ended questionnaires and document analysis. Data were analysed using a constructivist revision of grounded theory.

Findings: There was clear evidence of teacher learning in the CoP and changes to their pedagogies and indirect teaching behaviours (ITBs). Pupils were also able to identify the new intended learning about character development at both cognitive and behavioural levels, although there was little evidence of understanding about or intention to transfer this learning beyond PE (which was the original aim of the Government’s character education initiative). Barriers to teacher and pupil learning are also discussed.

Conclusion: Teachers’ professional learning in the CoP impacted on the development of both teachers’ pedagogies and ITBs which then influenced pupils’ learning, however, linking teachers’ professional learning to pupils’ learning remains challenging. This study has added further insights into the complexity of the processes linking policy, teachers’ learning and pupils’ learning outcomes. While it was possible to trace clear pathways from the CoP to teachers’ learning, and in some cases to pupils’ learning, it was also apparent that a wide range of factors intervened to influence the learning outcomes.