Continuing professional development for experienced physical education teachers: towards effective provision

Abstract

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now a cornerstone of education policy in the UK and elsewhere. If policy aspirations translate successfully into practice, then (funded) CPD opportunities will abound and teachers will be ‘developed’ in a logical and structured way from the moment they enter the profession until retirement. As a result (it is claimed) teacher retention will be improved, pupils' learning will be enhanced and standards within education will rise. Yet, although there is a growing consensus in the research literature about the kind of CPD that could be effective in supporting teacher and pupil learning, there is little evidence that such CPD exists in physical education. This paper summarises current CPD theory and research, considers existing evidence on the nature and quality of PE‐CPD in the UK, and explores three interlinked proposals for developing a more effective model of PE‐CPD provision. The case is made that radical changes to the structure and content of PE‐CPD are required if it is to impact upon the quality of teacher and pupil learning.

Notes

A Specialist Sports College is a maintained secondary school in England which receives additional funding from the Department for Education and Skills to raise standards in physical education and sport within its own school, within a local family of schools and in the wider community. See http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pess/contentDrill.cfm?sectionId=68 and also Youth Sport Trust (2002).

ESRC Project Number R000239437, Continuing Professional Development: Provision for Physical Education Teachers. A two year project running from December 2001 to December 2003. The aim of the project is to draw upon data from interviews, questionnaires and case studies with experienced physical education teachers to address two related questions. First, what are the issues that physical education teachers have faced in their careers when trying to access and engage in existing CPD opportunities? Second, when CPD is undertaken, what factors determine whether it has an impact upon teachers' practice and can enhance pupils' learning in physical education? The support of the ESRC is greatly appreciated.

This paper has been developed from papers presented at the BERA conference 2001 (Armour: ‘Connective pedagogies: continuing professional development for physical education teachers’), the BERA conference 2002 (Armour & Yelling: ‘Looking with fresh eyes: ways forward for CPD in physical education’) and the AERA conference 2003 (Armour & Yelling: ‘Looking with fresh eyes: CPD for experienced physical education teachers’). The authors are grateful for comments received at these presentations and also for comments by an anonymous referee on an earlier version of this paper that challenged us to develop our ideas further.