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

particular time, and their requirements. 
A facilitator on-site, providing a continuum of support, was the catalyst for 
change in this PDP. Nelson (2008) highlighted the importance of the role of this 
facilitator, 
targeted support is critical to move teachers past problematic areas; refining 
ambiguous inquiry questions, developing the trust need to share student work, 
making sense of that work in relation to their inquiry question and promoting a 
willingness to wonder and ask critical questions, classroom practices and student 
learning. (p. 579) 

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Providing an additional 10 hours professional development per teacher in the 
area of O&AA, in context and with feedback and resource development left the teachers 
in a much stronger position to implement change and continue to teach a quality 
programme of outdoor and adventure activities compared to the national in-service 
input alone, thus benefiting from external expertise (Cordingley et al., 2003). Only one 
of the teachers had tried to teach O&AA following national in-service in 2005, yet 
following completion of a 6-week unit of work in O&AA all but one of these teachers 
taught a minimum of four lessons at stage 2 of the PDP. Professional development in 
physical education in now seeing a shift in interest towards professional development 
that is aligned with classroom conditions, school contexts and teachers’ daily 
experiences (Armour & Duncombe, 2004; Armour & Yelling, 2004b; O' Sullivan & 
Deglau, 2006; Pope & O' Sullivan, 1998), this PDP provided such support moving 
towards this more holistic and real approach. 
Teachers’ willingness to change is a complex process and maybe not always a 
‘comfortable’ one (Day, 1999, p. 4). Bransford and colleagues (2005) point out that 
anyone learning something new for the first time goes through a period of ‘klutziness’ 
(p.58), as they attempt to acquire new skills and knowledge and whether they persist or 
bail out depends on their own sense of their abilities. A number of teachers, during this 
period of klutziness at the end of stage 1 and the beginning of stage 2, reported that if 
the facilitator had not been present they would not have continued to teach O&AA.
Although described as pressure from the facilitator to teach, it was seen as positive 
pressure balanced with support. According to Dewey (1997) it is this state of 
discomfort that is the hallmark of the educative experience. A balance between pressure 
and support as a characteristic of professional development was not mentioned by 
Guskey (2003) in his review of effective characteristics of professional development.
However, Guskey (2002b) and Fullan (2001), purport that pressure and support are 
necessary ingredients of PDP success, particularly among those who are less willing to 
change (Cordingley et al, 2003; Kabylov, 2006). This research has shown that effective 
PDP’s need to ensure that pressure and support are not only present but combine 
seamlessly to initiate change in practice.
Given the success of this initial collaboration between the researcher and the 
study school, the Department of Education and Skills (DES) should consider facilitating