Teaching outdoor and adventure activities: an investigation of a primary school physical education professional development p

Propositional Statement 2: Support of an external expert through modeling, 
explaining and feedback, impacted on teachers’ teaching 
The goal of this PDP was to enable teachers to become confident and competent 
in teaching outdoor and adventure activities. To this end they were provided with the 
appropriate resources accompanied by experiential learning opportunities. Social 
constructivist learning theory suggests that learning is more effective when it is 

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‘authentic’ (Vygotsky, 1978; Lieberman, 1995; Murphy, 1997). This experience 
clarified what each activity meant in practice and in the context of primary professional 
development. Following stage 1 and prior to stage 2 teachers were asked to comment 
on the content and resources provided for their classes and teachers were encouraged to 
adapt and change activities to suit their classes and teaching intentions. In brief, 
teachers found the activities and lesson content suitable, but questioned two aspects of 
the content, not for its learning potential but its inactivity within a physical education 
lesson. Teachers and children did not enjoy doing compass work or the initial map 
walk during physical education as within the school grounds it was limited and inactive.
Teachers felt that this could be covered within geography lessons, and applied in 
physical education lessons. Teachers were beginning to integrate subjects and adapt 
activities to suit purpose and children, showing understanding and ability to adapt.
Teachers were also supported in their teaching through a number of methods as 
outlined in the PDP design in chapter five and summarised in Tables 6.5 and 6.6. The 
following findings report how teachers engaged and benefitted from the support 
provided based on their requests and needs. 
Table 6.5 Uptake of available support during the PDP – Stage 1