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

Generalisability.
To be able to generalise from this research was not an 
objective of the study. A case study approach was taken as the purpose was to carry out 
a PDP using a whole school approach, and as this had not been done previously to the 
knowledge of the author, it was a unique study in its own right. The intention was to 
understand the case in its complexity and its entirety, as well as in its context (Punch, 
2005). Every case is unique, as was the school in this study, and although it may be 
difficult to generalise from the research findings, it is valuable to be able to inform 
concepts that can be tested further by research. In support of this Stake (2000) writes, 
‘The purpose of the case study is not to represent the world but to represent the case’ (p. 
448). Although all the teachers in the study are unique, they also share many 
characteristics with other generalist primary school teachers to ensure that we can learn 
from them. In this respect, every case is important in its own right. In other words, the 
findings from the propositional statements can be put forward as potentially applicable 
to other schools or generalisability can be suggested for testing in further research. 
Ethical considerations.
The researcher was informed by core ethical principles 
and was guided by the ethical professional code as outlined by Dublin City University.
Ethical protocol for this study was approved by the Dublin City University Research 
Ethics Committee DCU REC/ 2006/027 (Appendix Li). Safeguards were put in place 
as far as was possible, however the dynamic nature of qualitative research means that it 
may not be possible to anticipate all ethical dilemmas and in such cases personal 
judgement and moral values were used (see Appendix Lii and Liii for full details of 
ethics proposal). 
The school has an existing partnership with the college of education in which the 
researcher is employed, in that it hosts many of the college’s students on teaching 
practice at various times throughout the year. The researcher would also be known in 
her capacity as a lecturer in education to many of the more recently qualified teachers in 
the school. The researcher was approached by the school Principal if ascertain if it 
would be possible to provide the school staff with professional development in physical 
education as the school was in the process of planning for, and implementing the 
Physical Education Curriculum (Government of Ireland, 1999b). As a staff they 
recognised they were in need of professional development and advice in this subject 

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area. These were the foundations on which the partnership between school and 
researcher were to be expanded to allow a research study be conducted alongside the 
professional development provision. 
First permission was sought from the school’s Board of Management to 
undertake the study. The design of the study was outlined including a brief description 
of the methods of data collection to be used including their purpose. Permission was 
granted by the Board of Management with no restrictions. The school community (both 
teachers and children) were invited to participate. Nespor (2000) contends that 
anonymity may never be fully achieved because research is visible and anyone 
connected with the research is likely to be able to identify the setting and the people 
within it. According to Duncombe (2005) if one aim of qualitative research is to 
describe in detail settings and contexts, then keeping such settings anonymous could be 
construed as withholding important information.
In the case of any adult (Principal and Teachers) involved in the study informed 
consent (Appendix Mi) was sought and in all cases was given. All children 
participating in the study, due to their age, had to complete both informed consent 
(Appendix Mii) and informed assent forms (Appendix Miii). All participants were 
reminded that participation was voluntary and that they could withdraw from the study 
at any stage. Participants were given assurances that all data collected with be treated 
confidentially. All questionnaires were completed anonymously and in the case of 
interview and other data, pseudonyms were used to protect the identity of the 
participant. (See Appendix Ni-iii for plain language statements which accompanied the 
informed consent/assent forms).