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

planned. They had an activity decided for the end. But they weren’t quite sure 
how to do it. They had thought it sounded interesting
.
 
(FN 15.10.07) 
Some teacher’s encountered difficulty with planning and thinking the lesson 
through to completion prior to teaching, however they found that having a colleague to 
bounce ideas off helped enormously;
Miriam - 
And what you want to hear from your colleague is ‘that worked, or make that 
a bit shorter, prioritise the second part of it. 
Alannah - 
Or as Darragh says, ‘don’t do that that doesn’t work.’ He says that was the 
most important thing
(2 FGT 5). 
As the PDP continued teachers commented that planning together with 
colleagues wasn’t something they did in physical education prior to the PDP;
I suppose the planning is always a concern. How will I structure it? Will it work 
out? But you know, with the planning and the consultations certainly that 

---

209 
Miriam and I did on Monday…I think it made it definitely easier for me.
(2 FGT 
Alannah 5) 
Some teachers (third class) commented that this year was the first year that there 
had been such collaboration in the school and not just in the area of physical education; 
‘I’m here now 16,17 years and I’d say this is the first year that I’ve actually liaised with 
the people in the [same year group]’
(2 FGT Eve 3). These thoughts on collaboration 
were echoed by the Principal who felt the PDP was the driving force behind 
collaboration in the school; 
I think this has been the catalyst to a kind of um, team teaching, as in T-E-A-M, 
as distinct from T-H-E-M-E. But um traditionally, I mean, teachers in our 
school would have worked in isolation in their classroom. They were very 
similar…And there weren’t many opportunities or great, um, despite the fact 
that we would have tried to encourage you know, teachers getting together as, 
as a group at a particular level. And kind of thrashing out a subject. There was 
no huge enthusiasm for that. Now, I think that is happening now. But it has 
started with PE. And probably that was the catalyst. The teachers seeing the 
value in sitting down together, looking at the curriculum, thrashing out what 
they find difficult, sharing good practice. Um finding what is, you know, that 
each of them, each teacher has an ability or an interest. And once they shared 
those interests, then it makes life easier for them. So they’re planning together 
now… but they are not just doing it in terms of PE. You started with PE. And 
they saw the value in it. And now it’s gone onto the other subjects. And they’re 
planning as a group…I don’t think it’s something that can be imposed…I think it 
has to happen organically really you know…
(IP) 
Eamonn, (third class teacher) stated that my (and the PDP’s); 
‘legacy to the 
school has been getting teachers to plan and work together’
(FN 09.11.07). Naively, I 
thought that this was something that the teachers had always engaged in, but both 
Eamonn and the Principal assured me that teachers prior to the PDP never planned 
together, sat and talked together, nor worked together on the curricular areas outside of 
staff meetings, which happened once a month. These meetings did not always include 
time on curricular areas on the agenda. Following stage 1 of the PDP, teachers made 
time to sit and plan, and talk, and more importantly they did it together and shared 
ideas, resources and gave each other feedback on what worked and what didn’t. The 
collaboration had its origins in the research element of the study, specifically the focus 
group interviews, and though not cultivated as part of the PDP it continued to develop 
from there. At stage 2 the timetable was restructured in order to ensure similar classes 
followed each other to ease organisation issues, and this also allowed for teachers to 

---

210 
have a quick chat during the changeover to outline what went well and what might not 
go to plan due to the equipment not being available.
In second class, the teachers who had been part of the initial PDP in 2006-2007 
were quick to collaborate and support their colleague, Siofra, a newly qualified teacher.
During the PDP, I went to Siofra to ask if she required any support or help she replied; 
No, I’m fine, the other two teachers have met with me, have explained to me 
what to do. They’ve given me the resources and I’m very happy to go on ahead 
and do it. They explained to me how simple it was.
(FN 11.10.07) 
During the interview Siofra expressed the fact that collaboration would happen 
more with physical education than with other subject due to its physical nature; 
I think that it would happen more, especially with this [O&AA], anyway, 
because, like, when I came in anyway, like, I’d find I’d look, reading through it 
and that like. How, like, its just on paper ok, it seems grand, then I’d be trying to 
imagine myself so you’d need to go [and ask a colleague for help] even more so 
than other curriculum areas.
(2 FGT Siofra 2) 
Although teachers liked the fact that they had opportunity to collaborate and 
work with their colleagues they were also at times frustrated by their colleagues, 
especially when other teachers did not return equipment after lessons; 
Sometimes I wanted to do something different, like I ended up doing those two 
say activities that were quite similar I thought but when I went the equipment 
wasn’t put back so I had…that’s what was left and I had to choose…although I 
didn’t want to do that.
(2 FGT Miriam 5) 
With the introduction of the curriculum and the roll-out of national in-service 
the changes that have transpired have meant that teachers are extremely busy in all areas 
of the curriculum and time seems to be at a premium. Although many of the teachers 
expressed that collaboration was indeed helpful and encouraging they also indicated that 
there was not enough time to plan together. Time to plan and time for teachers to meet 
and plan, especially in the context of the primary school where teachers do not have 
‘free periods’ in which to plan or meet with colleagues, Jack summed up the importance 
of time and the lack of it; 
‘It’s the investment of time that some of us don’t have, to 
spend two or three hours actually going through … well here’s what you do, this map 
goes with this control, goes with this clipboard, you know’
(2 FGT Jack 4). The 
Principal was providing some time for collaboration during the year but he agreed with 
teachers in that it wasn’t enough; 

---

211 
Trying to free up time I suppose is the single biggest issue we have. And I’ve 
done that in terms of taking assemblies, and giving them [teachers] a little bit of 
time. But it’s too short I’m finding. You know teachers have gone in [to the staff 
room] and invariably you’ll have a chat about the weather and the game at the 
weekend. And its, you know, by the time you’ve sat down and you actually get 
into talking about whatever subject you’re going to talk about, or planning for 
the next fortnight, you know, your 40 minutes 45 minutes is up.
(IP) 
In summary, effective professional development involved collaboration on a 
number of levels – collaboration between the professional developer and the teachers, 
collaboration between classroom teachers of the same class level and collaboration with 
the Principal and children. These collaborations can lead to a community of practice, a 
shared vision and a collective responsibility for ensuring all children experience 
learning through a quality programme of physical education.