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

Physical activity.
Physical activity was also an important feature of physical 
education throughout the PDP and although teachers recognised that certain less active 
activities were necessary for progression and continuity of the lessons they felt the 
children didn’t like these activities as they were inactive; 
‘with the possible exception 
for the day when they had to walk around but then that was probably valuable because 
it does teach them to map read…’ 
(2 FGT Jack 4). An activity that the children found 
boring and inactive during the initial PDP was compass work. This part of the lesson 
was removed and teachers said it would be something they would cover in Geography 
instead.

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Another objective of the PDP was to include some element of competition based 
in the findings outlined in chapter four. Nancy summed up how she introduced 
competition in her lessons; 
We introduced the stopwatch. I know there would be competition in that, even in 
the last few weeks say to make it more exciting, if you have it say- this is your 
time, off you go and say you have the same partner or whatever to try and 
compare so to compare your time you’re not comparing with anyone else so it’s 
not a competition in the class and we’ll try to beat your time from last week, I 
found that really got them going and they were flying around the place when 
they were doing that.
(1 FGT Nancy 4)
 
Children’s learning.
Although assessment, formative or summative was not 
explicit in the aims and objectives of the PDP, mainly due to the fact that the teachers 
were not familiar with the content, it was implicit in modelling and teaching. It was 
envisaged that as the teachers became confident and competent teaching O&AA that 
assessment, differentiation and other related teaching strategies would be included in 
further development of the PDP. The form of assessment that was used indirectly 
during stage 1 and 2 of the PDP was assessment to provide the teacher with 
‘information which helps enhance the experiences of the child in physical education. It 
can help the teacher discover what the pupils can do and what they know and 
understand’ (Government of Ireland, 1999c, p. 21). It can be accepted that from the 
findings teachers and children recognised learning was occurring throughout both units 
of work during the PDP, through teacher and facilitator observations and the focus 
group interview responses. 
Children were quick to respond following stage 1 of the PDP that physical 
education involved teaching and learning; 
‘It’s physical education, teaching you what to 
do, teaching you different types of activities and different games.’
(1 FGC Girl 6)
But in PE you’re learning different things, and you learn different games, and 
you can show them. And like I learned how to make a pyramid hula hoop [hut].
And I learned um, how to read a map better. And like you actually need those 
for when you are older…
(1 FGC Girl 4) 
This showed a marked change in the children’s perception of physical education 
from the – understanding the environment - baseline findings. The children were better 
able to describe O&AA following stage 2. Some children when asked if they would be 
able to describe an O&AA lesson. They still had problems naming activities but were 
able to describe activities, for example; mapping was used to describe orienteering; an 

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explanation of a challenge was given rather than the name of the challenge, showing 
learning. Some examples of this can be seen, such as this boy describing the ‘Frogger 
activity’; 
I would explain the game where you get into groups of three and two of the 
people get on one pad or marker, they place it in front of the last person who is 
not getting the disc and then the person jumps to the disc and so on til they get 
to the other end’
(2 FGC Boy 2).
Or this girls description of O&AA;
‘I’d say sometimes you will be doing small 
games like the hula hut and sometimes you will be blindfolded and be doing maps and 
pictures and orienteering’
(2 FGC Girl 4). Children were also aware that they were 
learning during the O&AA lessons in comparison with their physical education lessons, 
prior to the PDP; 
‘It’s different to what you usually do because you would usually be 
playing games. You would be kind of learning and you would be kind of educated’ 
(2 
FGC Boy 5). Learning occurred throughout the lessons; 
‘I really saw learning 
happening, I saw children educating children, children that knew how to orientate the 
map showing someone else’
(FN 08.03.07). An increase in children’s knowledge of 
O&AA and the various activities were evident in the focus-group interviews. Children 
enjoyed learning and had fun; 
‘I learned how to use a map.’ 
(2 FGC Boy 2) 
‘There’s 
two things I like, one, I learned how to work in a team and, two, I learned how to work 
with a map. And they were both really fun’ 
(2 FGC Boy 2).
‘The map when we were 
going around I thought that was fun….it sort of teaches us how to use bigger maps as 
we go along’ 
(2 FGC Boy 3). A third class girl commented on how the O&AA lessons 
were different than her usual physical education lessons prior to the PDP and how she 
liked being challenged in physical education having experienced O&AA; 
It’s a bit better than PE but with PE the teachers tells you to do something and 
you do it but with orienteering they tell you something to do obviously but with 
the map. It’s kind of challenging and with PE the teacher tells you everything 
and it’s not challenging so practically what it is, is copying the teacher.
(2 FGC 
Girl 3) 
In this study, children from all classes found that an aspect of O&AA which they 
enjoyed most was that they had to use their heads as well as their bodies; 
‘It’s not really 
like football…because in football the good people dominate, you don’t have to be that 
smart but you have to be smart to do orienteering and everything’ 
(2 FGC Boy 5). 

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