Irish primary school teachers' experiences with Sport Education

Abstract

Recent reviews illustrate the considerable literature on Sport Education. However, research on the experiences of non-specialist physical education teachers attempting Sport Education is limited. The focus of this research was to investigate non-specialist teachers’ views on Sport Education and identify what possibilities might exist regarding Sport Education in the context of primary schooling. Eight teachers (four males and four females) from four primary schools in Ireland volunteered to take part in this study. Following in-service in Sport Education, all teachers delivered a unit of work in their schools. Data were collected using individual teacher and focus-group interviews, and each was visited during implementation. Findings indicated Sport Education was an entirely new teaching and learning experience for these teachers which they found to be professionally rewarding and pedagogically refreshing. Teachers discussed high levels of enjoyment displayed by their pupils. An enthusiasm for exploring the integrative potential for Sport Education was evident, and many teachers wished for more examples of how the characteristics of Sport Education could be further integrated across the primary curriculum.

Keywords:

• Sport Education
• primary education
• physical education

Acknowledgements

This project was part funded by the ‘European Year of Education Through Sport’ and Limerick City Sports Partnership. Our thanks to Nicola Keeshan and Elaine O'Connor for their investment in and support of the project and to the eight teachers who took part in this study.