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

Self-efficacy questionnaire.
There was a 68% (n=19, 68% female) return rate 
of the self-efficacy questionnaire both pre (T1) and post (T2) teaching the O&AA unit 
of work. Teachers (79%) who completed only the baseline measure [51.25
( 6.55)] 
were not significantly different from those who completed the measure at both time 
points [47.95 ( 8.35)]. Table 6.7 displays the descriptive statistics for each item, all 
items had a range from 1-10). The 8-item measure yielded an acceptable calculated 
alpha of 0.8 (Field, 2005).
Table 6.7 Teachers self-efficacy questionnaire – mean distribution and standard deviation across 
items Time 1 and Time 2 
Item Ranked
 
Time 1 
 
Time 2 
 
p-value
 
Mean
 
Sd
 
Mean
 
Sd
 
Planning
 
6.00
2.160
7.47
2.47
p<0.007
2
Equipment
 
5.89
2.447
6.63
2.45
Warm-up
 
7.53
2.547
8.00
2.38
Stretching
 
7.21
2.573
7.53
2.48
Challenge
 
5.32
2.262
7.79
1.47
p<0.002
1
Orienteering
 
4.74
1.881
7.21
1.99
p<0.001
1
Walking
 
4.68
2.262
6.58
2.46
p<0.009
1
Management
 
6.58
2.317
7.05
2.17
Total
 
47.95
8.35
58.26
11.41
P<0.001
1
Note. 
1
Paired samples t-test.
2 
Wilcoxin Signed-Rank test. 
Over time teachers’ total confidence in their ability to carry out the tasks 
involved in teaching the O&AA strand increased significantly from baseline to follow-
up, (47.95 vs. 58.26, (t (18) = -4.213, p< 0.001).

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197 
Figure 6.2 Lesson content areas which showed the most significant increase in confidence by 
teachers
Note* Paired sample T-Test ^ Wilcoxin Signed Ranks Test 
The specific aspects of teaching O&AA which showed a significant 
improvement over time was in the content areas of outdoor challenges (t(18) = -3.702, 
p<0.002), walking (t(18), = - 2.863, p<0.009) and orienteering (t(18), = - 4.198, 
p<0.001). One area of organisation, planning also improved significantly over the 
duration of the PDP (z = -2.41, p<0.007) (Figure 6.2). The findings from these 
measurements provide further validation, through triangulation, of the teachers’ 
qualitative responses. The teachers in this study increased their self-efficacy and felt 
more competent in implementing a new strand by the end of the study. These findings 
confirm the value of investing in teachers by developing their expertise to a high level 
through the provision of high quality professional development programmes.