Physical Education, teachers and training: understanding the voice of teachers and their training needs for engaging in truly nonlinear teaching practice
Background The potential gap between the academically considered notion of Physical Education and Physical Education in practice has implications across the entire education spectrum but it is arguably compounded at primary age where teachers are prepared more generally across the whole curriculum for teaching rather than specialising. Non-traditional methods can provide students with a holistic education, encompassing social, physical and cognitive learning outcomes (Dyson et al., 2004) but limitations have been placed on Physical Education through the inability to break away from physical training separated from cognition (Pill, 2014). Pedagogic knowledge and skills are vital for a primary teacher (Smith, 2007) but despite their understood requirement, teachers are often not prepared by the education they receive prior to teaching, leading to the teacher resorting back to traditional approaches. Methodology The thesis took an interpretivist, qualitative approach to the research using semi-structured interviews to collect the data. There were 15 participants who had completed their primary education training in the last 10 years, including those currently studying. The transcripts were analysed using inductive content analysis, coded through an unconstrained matrix and categorised into Low and High-order themes from the derived data. Results The six High-order themes were Teachers’ Philosophy, Apprenticeship, Confidence, Student Experience, Physical Education Context and Bridging the Gap. Conclusion There is a requirement for a newly qualified teacher to establish and understand a chosen philosophy to make choices towards developing their teaching style and maintaining their beliefs throughout their teaching journey throughout the challenges faced. Although there is a recognised move toward non-traditional methods and a greater acceptance of Whitehead’s (2013a; p26) definition of physical literacy academically, the gap between academic literature and Physical Education in practice is evident. The lack of applicable practical knowledge for teachers demonstrated in academic literature, in addition to the range of terminology and complex approaches has led towards a lack of clarity in both discourse and the application of non-traditional approaches in Physical Education.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations