Primary teachers’ experience of a physical education professional development programme

Abstract

Professional development (PD) is essential for primary school teachers to meet the demands of the education system. Quality PD is aligned with classroom conditions, school contexts and teachers’ daily experiences. The purpose of the study was to explore primary teachers’ experiences of a 6-week physical education professional development programme (PE-PDP). A single school case study was employed (N=28 teachers, N=780 pupils) and all teachers and a sample of children participated in focus group interviews. Transcripts were categorised and themed using systematic content analysis. Results revealed that post the PE-PDP, teachers’ PE content knowledge had expanded and this encouraged them to use existing classroom paedagogical strategies in the PE context. This developed their confidence in teaching PE and a greater understanding of the PE curriculum and its purpose.

Keywords:

• professional development
• physical education
• outdoor and adventure activities
• teacher change
• qualitative methods