Teachers' continuing professional development in primary physical education: lessons from present and past to inform the future

Abstract

There is a growing recognition that teachers' learning, and effective policies and structures to support it, should be at the heart of government polices to improve standards in education (Day, 1999). In England, the continuing professional development (CPD) landscape for teachers is changing; and professional development in physical education (PE-CPD) is at the forefront of the new developments. In October 2002, the government announced funding of £450 million to transform the quality of physical education in England, and a key element of the strategy is to fund a National PE and School Sport Professional Development Programme for teachers and other adults working in schools. This paper focuses on primary school PE-CPD within that framework. Vignettes of the PE-CPD experiences of practising primary school teachers and an historical analysis of earlier attempts to enhance teachers' learning indicate that a fresh approach to PE-CPD is indeed needed. However it is argued that more fundamental changes may be required if the national programme is to achieve its objectives and be held accountable for major advances in teachers' and pupils' learning in primary PE.

Keywords:

• Continuing Professional Development
• Primary PE
• Accountability

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to the teachers who participated in the case study research, the reviewer who provided valuable feedback on an earlier version of the paper, and the School of Sport & Exercise Sciences for funding the research.

Notes

The management of the programme has been awarded by the government Department for Education and Skills to consortium comprised of: The Youth Sport Trust, The British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in PE, the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom, and sports coach UK.

Teachers were paid according to the results they achieved with pupils. This important change in policy meant that teachers could be paid for teaching PE.

Schools can apply to be granted specialist status in a curriculum area. In 2003, there were 228 secondary schools designated as specialist sports colleges, with a target of 400 to be met by 2005 (Youth Sport Trust, 2003).