Thesis-2005-Duncombe.pdf (18.61 MB)
Effective teacher learning in primary school physical education: an analysis of school-based collaborative professional learning as a strategy for teacher professional development
thesis
posted on 2011-01-13, 10:27 authored by Rebecca DuncombeThis thesis analyses the use of Collaborative Professional Learning (CPL) as a learning strategy for teachers' Continuing Professional Development (CPD) within
primary Physical Education (PE) in England. Underpinning this research are the
researcher's own experiences of teaching PE in a primary school and the problems
faced as a result of inadequate initial teacher training and professional development in PE. The review of literature provides an overview of CPD and PE-CPD, examines both historical and current models of provision, and considers national and
international criteria for effective and ineffective CPD. CPL has been identified as a
key feature of effective CPD provision, thus the fieldwork phase of this research
aimed to establish whether and how CPL could be used to enhance teachers' professional learning in primary PE. The fieldwork was divided into two phases. In the first phase, observations, interviews and questionnaires were employed to identify how primary teachers in two case study schools teach and learn within PE. In the second phase, knowledge gained from the earlier fieldwork and also the literature review was used to design two `models' of PE-CPD, based around athletics, to be delivered in the two schools over the course of a school term (3 months). Both models included the provision of resources, an athletics scheme of work with accompanying lesson plans and weekly sessions where the teachers were shown the
skills necessary to teach athletics (throwing, jumping, running). Sessions within each
model of provision were designed to reflect the principles of constructivist learning
theory and employed school-based CPL as a tool for learning. The impact of each
model upon the teachers' learning was evaluated through interviews, questionnaires
and, in one school, observation of subsequent athletics lessons. The data from both
phases of the research were analysed using a constructivist version of grounded theory
(Charmaz, 2000).
Whilst the two models of CPD were rated as effective and changed the ways in which
PE was taught in the two schools, the teachers struggled to learn collaboratively.
Three potential reasons for this are identified: teachers did not have the necessary PE
subject knowledge about athletics to share with their colleagues; Communities of
Practice (Wenger, 1998) within which the teachers could collaborate did not exist for
primary PE in these two schools; the researcher didn't actively attempt to cultivate a Community of Practice and for CPD providers, this may be an essential step in
maximising collaborative learning in PE-CPD. In addition, Wenger's (1998) social
theory of learning is used as an analytical tool to further illustrate the personal,
structural and practical barriers to CPL that existed in the two case study schools.
Three tentative recommendations are made that would act as useful starting points for
future research: in order to embed teachers' learning within the school context,
teachers' `free' time should be restructured to facilitate CPL within Communities of
Practice; timetables could be restructured to encourage team teaching; and lesson
planning or planning schemes of work needs to be recognised as an opportunity for
collaboration. Finally, in considering these findings in the context of the aims and
structure of the new National PE-CPD Programme for England, it is-suggested that if
the programme is to deliver its ambitious aims, it may need to be more radical than is
currently the case.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Publisher
© Rebecca DuncombePublication date
2005Notes
Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.419785Language
- en