Knowledge. Teachers’ knowledge and education in the area of physical
education was limited. Enabling teachers, through the support provided as part of the
PDP, to teach a new area as much as possible on their own, had a positive effect on their
content knowledge and confidence which impacted positively on their pedagogical
content knowledge. The findings suggest that initially addressing teachers’ content
knowledge is vital prior to attempting to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge
as part of a PDP. As teachers gained content knowledge and observed it applied in their
teaching environment they became more willing to teach and through this experience
they began to challenge and adapt lesson content according to their and their children’s
needs. PDPs need to consider small steps in teacher change initially, beginning by
improving content knowledge is vital, but this must be supported by showing how this
new knowledge is applied in a relevant teaching context.
Collaboration. Although collaborative learning had been identified as a
component of effective professional development it was not a key consideration in the
design of the PDP. In order to collaborate, research demands a certain level of content
and pedagogical content knowledge from the teachers (Armour & Yelling, 2003;
Duncombe, 2005; Garet et al., 2001), therefore, it was exciting to see that teachers
initiated conversations around physical education, prompted by the focus group
interviews. This communication led to collegiality and collaboration enabled by the
teachers’ content knowledge gain and sense of collegiality when faced with the
challenge of teaching a new and complex strand of the physical education curriculum.
It may have initially been at a superficial level in planning and organising for physical
education but according to the teachers and the Principal, strategies that started in
physical education were being used in other areas of planning in the school.
