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

Children’s interviews.
Children were included to give voice to their own 
thoughts and interpretations of the programme than to rely solely on the responses of 
their teachers interpretations of their thoughts. Grouping children among friends 
according to Carlson and Hastie (1997) seems to foster comfort and a positive attitude 
towards interviews and the interview has the possibility of developing into an easy-
flowing conversation. The researcher needs to ‘sensitive to this power imbalance’ 
(Gubrium & Holstein, 2001). To this end, two children were chosen from each class 
giving a total of eight per year group in each interview group. The fact that the 
researcher was giving the children a chance to speak, and more importantly listening to 
them, encouraged them to take part in the interviews and reduced some elements of 
shyness.
The interview schedule for the children was piloted with nine children (four 
male, age range 5-12 years) of similar age to those being researched to ensure the 
language and style of interviewing was suitable. The most notable observation made 
during the pilot phase was that children tend to move off the point very easily and it 
would be important to ensure that they kept to the topic without feeling discouraged or 
think that what they were saying was neither important nor valued. Opening with 
general questions eased the children into the process before asking the ‘real’ research 
questions. 
The scheduling of the children’s interviews was carried out in agreement with 
the class teacher, as the children were taken from class during teaching time. This did 
not cause any problems and the interviews were carried out in the school library or a 
vacant classroom. All participants sat in a circle where no-one had an obvious place of 

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superiority (top of table etc). The children completed a name badge for ease of 
identification. The group setting made the children feel more comfortable being with 
their peers. Another method used to ensure the children were comfortable in the 
interview setting was to allow them to ask questions and to make comment freely, this 
empowers the children and can break down any perceived authority (Gubrium & 
Holstein, 2001). 
Phase 1 – Children’s focus groups (November 2006).
The initial children’s 
focus groups were general discussions to help the children feel comfortable and to elicit 
some general information about their practices and perspectives relating to school, 
physical education and physical activity. The following is a brief outline of the 
schedule topics; 
General background on school 
Physical activity at break-times 
Knowledge and understandings of physical education 
Physical education programme
Knowledge of O&AA (Appendix Hi) 
Phase 3 – Children’s focus groups (March 2007).
Focus group interviews were 
held with children, immediately following the first stage of the professional 
development programme (Appendix Hii). This was the children’s first experience of 
O&AA as part of their physical education programme and in most cases it was the 
researcher modelling the lessons for the class teacher. The schedule addressed the 
following areas; 
Learning throughout the unit of work 
Most/least enjoyable part of the unit of work 
Physical activity levels during the unit of work 
Knowledge of O&AA 
Should O&AA be part of a physical education programme? 
What other aspects of physical education should be covered as part of a 
physical education programme in your school? 
Phase 4 – Children’s focus groups (November 2007).
Focus group interviews 
were held with children, immediately following the second stage of the professional 

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development programme (Appendix Hiii). This was the children’s second time 
experiencing a unit of O&AA and in most cases it was the class teacher taking the 
lesson. Some topics were addressed again at this stage of the study to provide an 
opportunity to compare data over time. The schedule addressed the following areas; 
Knowledge and learning in O&AA 
Most/least enjoyable (part of) O&AA lessons 
Physical activity levels during the unit of work 
Should O&AA as part of a physical education programme? 
Perspectives on physical education