Donetta J. Cothran

Physical education teachers' self-reported use and perceptions of various teaching styles

Abstract Increasing recognition of the constructivist nature of learning as well as the diversity of student learning styles highlights the need for teachers to use different teaching styles. Unfortunately, little is known about teachers’ use and perception of various teaching styles. The purpose of this study was to explore physical education teachers’ self-reported use and perceptions of various teaching styles. Participants were 212 physical education teachers representing a variety of elementary and secondary school settings. Teachers had significantly different experiences in the use and perceptions of the different teaching styles. Their perceptions also differed according to self-rated teaching ability related to using the styles.

What makes teacher professional development work? The influence of instructional resources on change in physical education

The purpose of this study was to understand factors that make teacher professional development successful and what success might mean in terms of teachers’ instructional practices and feelings about change. Specifically, this study focused on the impact of instructional resources on the large‐scale curricular reform of 30 urban physical education teachers. Data were collected through interviews and class observations. Data were analyzed using inductive analysis, member checks, a research team and triangulation. Analysis of these teachers’ use of and perspectives toward the instructional resources provided in the professional development process suggested that they experienced significant instructional and emotional outcomes. First, the resources enabled them to improve their instruction by: teaching more content, maximizing student learning opportunities, teaching diverse learners, teaching to development, and increasing classroom safety. Second, they also reported strong positive and negative emotions from the new resources that influenced how they viewed change. On the one hand, the resources were inspirational in helping teachers to: meet students’ needs, overcome unsupportive administrators, impress parents, and preserve salaries. On the other hand, resources also led to anxiety and concerns about utilization, storage, maintenance, and preserving relationships. Implications centre on better understanding professional development for teachers.

Top‐down public health curricular change: the experience of physical education teachers in the United States

Schools are frequently seen as the solution to social problems, and recent public health issues such as the near epidemic rates of obesity and diabetes are some of the newest pressures facing schools. This investigation is an exploration of physical education teachers’ reactions to one school district’s attempts to mandate a public health driven curricular change. Forty‐six elementary physical education teachers reported via interviews their perceptions of the change process. Data were analysed via a constant comparison process. Two key areas of implementation challenges were identified; including teachers’ need for new knowledge and the mismatch between the curriculum and teachers’ understanding of physical education and their context.

A qualitative analysis of individual interest in middle school physical education: perspectives of early-adolescents

Background: Past research has revealed the positive impact that interest development can have on achievement outcomes with early-adolescents in physical education (PE). Interest is considered a psychological state of engaging and willingness to reengage in specific content that develops over time; however, little work to date has examined interest development over time using methods that obtain in-depth perspectives of students and intimate knowledge of the context. Purpose: To examine the factors early-adolescent students report to have an impact on the development of individual interest in PE and explore how students view the relationship between individual interest and learning in PE. Participants: A total of eight students from one middle school class in the Midwestern United States were purposefully sampled based on their different levels of individual interest toward PE. There was an even split between males (n = 4) and females (n = 4) and students were mostly Caucasian. The setting consisted of a traditional multi-activity curriculum that stressed large-sided team sports and recreational games. Data collection: Formal and informal interviews, field note observations, and survey data were collected over an 18-week period. Data analysis: Data were analyzed from a naturalistic perspective using inductive analysis and constant comparison. Multiple procedures were used to establish trustworthiness of the data including triangulation, peer debriefing, searches for disconfirming evidence, and an extended period of time in the context as a non-participant observer. Findings: Opportunities to practice and perceived competence were the main factors that students deemed as important ingredients to developing individual interest. Students viewed learning as an integral component for developing individual interest, but suggested that meaningful learning did not often take place during the semester. Characteristics of the curriculum and pedagogy were central to the students’ reports and are discussed further in relation to individual interest. Conclusions: Results from this study build on past interest motivation research in many ways. First, while past studies have identified actual skill as an important component for building individual interest, the students of this study reported that perceived competence is also essential. Furthermore, findings revealed how traditional multi-activity curriculum can create barriers to creating individual interest. Finally, students discussed learning as a crucial element in developing individual interest, but did not view their PE class as an environment where meaningful learning occurred. Moving toward longer and more meaningful curricular units of instruction such as Sport Education could enhance the development of individual interest with early adolescents.

The impact of a social cognitive theory‐based intervention on physical education teacher self‐efficacy

Adolescents are physically inactive and non‐Caucasian adolescents achieve the least amount of physical activity. Hence, supporting teachers’ efforts to increase their students’ physical activity during physical education is important. We examined the influence of a social cognitive theory‐based intervention on teachers’ efficacy to teach physically active physical education lessons (i.e. Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum [EPEC] efficacy) and efficacy to overcome common barriers (i.e. barrier efficacy) to teaching physically active lessons. Forty‐seven elementary physical education teachers from a large inner‐city school district in the USA participated. We paired experienced teachers (n = 15) with novice 1 teachers (n = 15) while learning how to teach a physical activity curriculum and compared them with a group of teachers (n = 17) who received no intervention. We hypothesized that the intervention teachers, relative to the comparison group, would improve in their efficacy to teach the EPEC and overcome barriers. All 47 teachers completed EPEC and barrier efficacy scales pre and post intervention. Analyses indicated a variety of significant main and interaction effects with mean scores in the expected directions. Both groups of intervention teachers improved their efficacy to teach the EPEC and their efficacy to overcome barriers. The comparison teachers’ efficacy remained stable or decreased. In general the significant results, combined with meaningful effect sizes, supported the effectiveness of our intervention and the importance of professional development training in a physical activity curriculum on teacher’s efficacy.

Well Researched, Yet Little Understood: Young Adults and Physical Activity.

Abstract What do young adults think and feel about their physical activity experiences?