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

Sustained Support.
The data show that professional development needs to be 
sustained over a period of time to consolidate learning. One teacher pointed out that 
further support was necessary prior to teaching orienteering as they saw it as specialist 
and requiring knowledge not just of technical language (content knowledge); 
‘…but 
even the terminology things, all these words like control and things like that. I wasn’t 
sure what a control or control card was. There was a bit of a deluge of information at 
the start…’
(1 FGT Cathal 3) but also the capacity to explain clearly to children the task 
at hand (pedagogical content knowledge);
Orienteering is one I would be seriously worried about as I don’t have the 
specialist knowledge about how to set up something like that and I still don’t 
think I would have the specialist knowledge to set that up the way you did.
(1 
FGT Sophie 6) 
‘I know orienteering….and I am not great at anything like that’
(1 FGT Amy 1).
Amy didn’t feel competent herself in map reading so therefore she felt even less 
competent trying to teach a child how to map read. At stage 2, in the context of the 
focus group interview the teachers began to realise that they could come together, talk 
and work together and support each other; 
‘And you can speak with someone who had it 
the previous year and go through it that way’
(2 FGT Amanda 1). By stage 2, teachers 
recognised that they had become familiar with process and concepts but they were 
anxious that in future years if they were to change class level they would not have the 
necessary content knowledge and this aspect of a future professional development 
programme in a primary school would need to be addressed; 
I suppose if we were up to fifth class or sixth class next year I know, like, a lot of 
the processes would be the same but would be on a higher level. But you’d 
probably, you know, a few of the fears might come back a little bit. You know, 
that kind of way do you know, you’re very comfortable in your class level, and 
maybe, say, the one under you and above you, but if you walked into, like a 
higher level at the same time you might…
(2 FGT Amanda 1) 
As the PDP programme was introducing O&AA to the teachers and the children 
for the first time, activities were included according to the curriculum, which were 
school-site based. Cycling and camping appear in the Physical Education Curriculum 

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(Government of Ireland 1999a) and they were not included as part of this PDP. There 
was reluctance by teachers to move offsite and the organisation and planning that it 
would involve. These activities could be included now that the children and the 
teachers had experienced the other strand units of O&AA which could be carried out 
onsite. The next stage, if continuing with the PDP would be to support teachers in the 
provision of offsite activities, to increase both their and the children’s learning 
opportunities and where they might avail of a larger and more specialised range of 
facilities and resources. In terms of the types of support provided, teachers requested 
more resources especially in the form of warm up activities and challenges.