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

Teachers’ perceptions of teaching physical education.
Teachers’ 
perceptions will be discussed under the following headings: specialist versus generalist; 
time allocation; facilities and equipment; curriculum content; and teaching 
methodologies.
Specialist versus generalist.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) 
survey (1976) found that 64% (N =7,677) of the teachers sampled taught physical 
education and of these only 34% were satisfied with the way they taught it. In the same 
study, 56% of teachers felt there was inadequate in-service training in physical 
education and they indicated that any professional development should include subject 
matter content (55%) and opportunities for demonstration and discussion (88%). The 
report on the National Education Convention (Clancy, Coolahan, Drudy, Hannan, 
Kellaghan, Ní Mhaicín et al., 1994) and the INTO survey (1976) found that in general 
teachers were enthusiastic about the subject but were reluctant to teach it due to feelings 
of incompetence, insufficient pre-service training and on age grounds. Although there 
are many arguments to support the employment of a specialist, a teacher educated to 
teach primary physical education, these teachers do not exist, as yet in Ireland. Any 
specialist teachers employed by primary schools to teach physical education are 
teachers educated to teach second level physical education. It is suggested that the best 
teacher of physical education for the primary school is one who is trained as a general 
class teacher with a physical education specialisation (Carney & Howells, 2008; 
Coulter, Marron, Murphy, Cosgrave, Sweeney & Dawson, 2009; Government of 
Ireland, 1999c; Irish National Teachers' Organisation, 2007; Roche, uí Dhrisceoil & 
Weed, 2009). The Council of Europe (1985) stated that ‘the quality of physical 
education in primary schools depends upon the quality of the class teacher’ (p. 5). The 
Council goes on to note that the first and most important essential is a competent and 
imaginative teacher. A good teacher can go a long way to overcome the provision of 
poor facilities, whereas the provision of the best of facilities and equipment will not 
compensate for a poor teacher (Talbot, 2008). Wright (2002) questions whether 
physical education is more difficult to teach than any other aspect of the curriculum. He 
argues that if given sufficient training and time similar to other subject areas, class 
teachers should be able to teach physical education themselves. Hardman and Marshall 
(2009) and Talbot (2008) support this idea pointing out that if pre-service and in-service 
programmes in physical education for primary school teachers were given more time, 
funding and recognition then the need for specialist physical education teachers in 

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primary schools may not be an issue. According to the Primary School Sports Initiative 
(Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science, 2005) it is 
important at all times that class teachers’ fears are allayed about teaching physical 
education and they should be educated that large parts of the curriculum are ‘doable’ 
which do not require specialist knowledge. As government policy, and school finances, 
will not allow for specialist teachers to be employed in primary schools, it is imperative 
that professional development opportunities are available to generalist primary teachers 
so that they are equipped with the content and pedagogical content knowledge to teach 
physical education effectively.