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

The Value of Physical Education.
Teachers were found to teach games 
orientated programmes with a focus on social development and recreation rather than 
education. This was seen to come from the school community’s understanding of 
physical education based on a physical culture of health and sport predominantly. It 

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was essential, in order to provide a basis for the development of a school appropriate, 
teacher needs driven, professional development programme, for the researcher to have 
time to observe and understand this issue in physical education. Consequently, the PDP 
focused on teaching the teachers new knowledge in O&AA but underestimated the need 
to broaden this knowledge to the entire concept of physical education. Details of what 
constitutes physical education according to the curriculum, and what is a quality 
programme of quality physical education needs to be more explicit for teachers.
Teachers’ and children’s conceptualisation of physical education undertook a minor 
transformation during the PDP, but there is still much work to be done on teachers’ 
understanding of physical education, the school’s overall physical education programme 
and physical education ethos. Having an understanding of the subject as well as having 
a positive attitude to the teaching of physical education would appear to be a significant 
starting point in approaching the teaching of physical education with confidence and 
towards teaching quality programmes of physical education. 
Implications 
The evidence informed principles for effective physical education professional 
development emerging from this study are as follows; 
Professional development programmes:
Promote the importance of quality physical education provision and 
encourage teachers to view their own professional development as a 
means to achieving quality physical education for the children they 
teach. 
Are contextualised and take place in school contexts, rather than teachers 
role-playing as children ‘off site’ for the purposes of professional 
development.
Assess the necessity for contextual/structural changes prior to any PDP 
to ensure the success of the programme. 
Take a whole school approach, where there is a driving leader/Principal, 
creating a supportive environment and a shared vision. 
Involve teachers at all stages of the programme in order for them to 
become responsible for their own learning. This gives them a voice, 
their natural right in their own class, where they are best positioned to 
decide what is appropriate for themselves and their children.

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Are individualised to each learner’s needs and engage learners with the 
key skills and processes, ways of thinking and practicing relative to the 
content being mediated. 
Consider the provision of appropriate resources that support teacher 
learning and enhance content knowledge. 
Provide flexible support to scaffold teachers’ learning so that when these 
supports are removed teachers can operate on their own.
 
Encourage and facilitate opportunities for teachers to get together during 
the school day to prompt communication and collaboration and to foster 
a community of learning.
Consider the new model of teacher change due to effective professional 
development outlined at the conclusion of chapter seven