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

Models of Change.
In physical education the change process may occur on one 
of three levels according to Sparkes (1990) and significant change at all three levels are 
necessary to achieve ‘real change’. The three levels of change are surface change (new 
resources or curricula), changes in teaching approach (new activities or strategies) and 
change in beliefs. The most difficult change to bring about according to Sparkes is 
change in beliefs and in the lives of primary school teachers they are rarely if ever given 
time to reflect or discuss their beliefs and understanding of teaching and learning, nor 
are teachers shown how to reflect (Patton & Griffin, 2008). Ward and O’ Sullivan 
(1998) point to a lack of reading of research in the field of physical education by 
teachers as a possible factor in the difficulty to bring about change in beliefs and 
practice.
According to Guskey’s (2002b) model of change (Figure 2.2) professional 
development works through the process of i) changing teachers’ classroom practices, ii) 
changing the learning outcomes of students and iii) changing the teachers attitudes and 
beliefs. This linear model suggests that change in teachers’ attitudes and beliefs occur 
primarily after they gain evidence of improvements in student learning, as a result of 
improvements in teachers’ classroom practices. In other words, teachers believe that the 
professional development has worked because they have seen it work and this has a 
positive effect on their attitudes and beliefs, ‘it is not the professional development per 
se but the experience of successful implementation that changes teachers’ attitudes and 
beliefs’ (Guskey, 2002, p. 383). This concurs with the findings of Richardson (2003); 

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By and large, changes in belief in one academic class that is not accompanied by 
significant and structured involvement in a field experience either do not 
happen, or if they do, may be somewhat suspect because of measurement 
problems with the change measure. (p. 11) 
Guskey believed that for any change to endure, teachers needed to experience 
student learning. He also points out that this learning can take many forms and may not 
necessarily be cognitive achievement only (Guskey, 2002b), which is important in the 
case of primary physical education where learning outcomes include areas such as 
social and physical, as well as cognitive learning. This model does not allow for any 
change in beliefs and/or attitudes as a result of the professional development which 
would cause teachers to change their classroom in the first instance.
Figure 2.2 Guskey’s model of teacher change (Guskey, 2002b) 
Huberman (1995) states that the change process for teachers is a cyclical one 
(Figure 2.3), changes in beliefs lead to changes in practice that brings changes on 
student learning that brings further changes in practice that result in additional changes 
in beliefs and so on. Already we are seeing that disagreement exists about the order in 
which the change sequence occurs. Change in a cyclical process indicates that change 
can occur at any point in the change process and assumes that change is not just 
influenced by professional development but also by ‘structural, cultural and political 
aspects of a teacher’s experiential context’ (Opfer et al., 2011, p. 446). 
Professional 
development 
Change in 
teachers’ 
classroom 
practices 
Change in 
student 
learning 
outcomes 
Change in 
teachers’ 
beliefs and 
attitudes 

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Figure 2.3 Huberman’s model of teacher change (Huberman, 1995) 
Desimone (2009) proposed a theory of change that articulated the process of 
change as interactive, nonrecursive relationships between the core features of 
professional development, teacher knowledge and beliefs, classroom practice and 
student outcomes. She goes further in outlining professional development to include 
key features and believes that change in attitude occurs prior to a change in teaching 
practices to foster increased student learning (Fig 2.4). This model can allow testing of 
both the theory of change (can professional development change teachers’ beliefs and 
attitudes?) and the theory of instruction (can changed practice influence student 
learning?) according to Desimone (2009). She points out that although her model is a 
basic one it is one which can become a foundation on which to build a knowledge base 
about what makes professional development effective. 
Figure 2.4 Desimone’s model to test a theory of teacher change (Desimone, 2009) 
In reviewing the literature on teacher change, it became evident that teacher 
change cannot take place unless professional development takes place, carried out in a 
supportive environment. Therefore a key feature of the professional development needs 
Changes in 
belief 
Changes in 
practice 
Changes in 
student 
learning 
Core features 
of 
professional 
development 
Increased 
teacher 
knowledge 
and skills; 
change in 
attitudes and 
beliefs 
Change in 
instruction 
Improved 
student 
learning 

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69 
to be collective participation (Bryk and Schneider, 2002; Cordingley et al, 2003; 
Darling-Hammond & McLoughlin 2011; Guskey, 2003; Hipp et al 2008; Maldonado, 
2002). Teachers need to be motivated to adopt the change process, in this case the 
facilitator was to provide the motivation through the professional development 
programme initially and for it to be effective the teachers must begin to diffuse the 
programme. The professional development programme content and facilitation 
(instructional strategies) should also be related as closely as possible to the teachers 
practice and context and show change in pupil learning, for change to be adopted. The 
importance of introducing content knowledge, as outlined in the previous section, that is 
congruent with teachers existing practice, ensuring active learning and coherence 
(Armour & Duncombe, 2004; Armour & Yelling, 2004b; O' Sullivan & Deglau, 2006; 
Pope & O' Sullivan, 1998; Timperley, 2008), while at the same allowing teachers to 
adapt and change will be considered in the design of the professional development 
programme. Therefore while each of the models above refer to change in practice, 
change in beliefs and change in student learning there is little consensus as to the order 
in which these changes occur or if order does in fact matter once the professional 
development programme has been effective in achieving change. The extent to which 
these changes happen are also not clear with Wayne and colleagues (2008) pointing to 
duration of the professional development programme as being a factor. In this study the 
professional development programme in its design and instructional strategies may 
bring about change and how this change occurs will be reviewed on completion of the 
professional development.