The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same: Factors Influencing Teachers' Interpretations and Delivery of National Curriculum Physical Education

ABSTRACT

A small number of studies have previously indicated that National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE) policy texts have been adapted and recreated by teachers (Evans & Penney, 1993a; Laws & Aldridge, 1995). The purposes of this study were to describe teachers' differing interpretations of NCPE and to identify factors which influenced these interpretations. Two theoretical perspectives guided data collection and analysis. These were occupational socialization theory (Lawson, 1983a, b) and the technological, ecological, and cultural perspectives on curriculum change identified by Sparkes (1991a). Participants were 23 teachers working in eight secondary schools in three towns located in the south of England. Data collection techniques employed were passive participant observation, formal and informal interviews, and document analysis. Data were analysed using constant comparison and analytic induction. In addition, hypotheses were developed that were grounded in the data and which appeared to explain how and why this sample of teachers interpreted NCPE as they did. Results indicated that teachers' interpretations of NCPE were either conservative, innovative, or eclectic. Factors which influenced teachers' interpretations of NCPE were (a) their perceptions of the physical education working group's and government's interpretations of the new curriculum, (b) experience, (c) gender, (d) participation in sport and physical activity, (e) experiences during physical education and school sport, (f) initial teacher education, (g) other teachers, and (h) situational constraints