Mary O’Sullivan

Where We Go from Here: Developing Pedagogies for PETE and the Use of Self-Study in Physical Education and Teacher Education

The physical education teacher education (PETE) research field is in trouble. The research base of PETE has not grown much in recent years and this is not a healthy sign for the field. I hope this text can bring greater focus to how we think about and facilitate more research on teacher education, and how teacher educators can better support those learning to teach. Many physical education and sport pedagogy researchers are currently more focused on building research careers around how pedagogies of the body and pedagogies of new media impact on young people’s understandings of and engagement with sport and physical activity. There is a primary interest for a cohort or early career academics. There is also a small cadre of academics interested in professional development of physical education teachers (Armour and Yelling 2004; Parker et al. 2012) but this research is not a focus of this commentary. I am delimiting my documents to teacher education as in initial teacher education. This focus does not suggest the research topics alluded to above are not important for physical education. They are.

Pedagogical Principles of Learning to Teach Meaningful Physical Education.

ABSTRACT Background: Concerns that current forms of physical education teacher education (PETE) are not adequately providing teachers with the tools necessary for working with the realities and challenges of teaching physical education in contemporary schools has led some scholars to advocate for an approach that prioritises meaningfulness in physical education. There is, however, little empirical evidence of how future teachers might be taught to facilitate meaningful physical education experiences. Purpose: This paper describes a pedagogical approach to PETE to support pre-service teachers (PSTs) in learning how to facilitate meaningful experiences in physical education. We aim to contribute new understanding through sharing pedagogical principles that support PSTs’ ‘Learning About Meaningful Physical Education’ (LAMPE). Participants and setting: The research team consisted of three physical education teacher educators: Tim and Déirdre who implemented LAMPE pedagogies and Mary who acted as meta-critical friend (pseudonyms used for the review process). Results from the LAMPE innovation reported here are taken from implementation across four semesters of two academic years 2013–2015. Déirdre implemented LAMPE in an introduction to teaching physical education course for pre-service generalist elementary teachers. Tim implemented the approach in an undergraduate developmental games course for future physical education teachers. A total of 106 PSTs participated in the research. Data collection and analysis: Data included teacher educator reflections and non-participant observer data from 33 individual lessons, over 7 hours of transcribed teacher educator Skype conversations, 8 ‘turning point’ documents, 15 sets of PST work samples, and transcripts of individual (n = 10) and 9 focus group interviews (n = 18 participants) with PSTs. Data were analysed inductively. Triangulation of multiple data sources and an expert member check supported trustworthiness of the LAMPE approach and data analysis. Findings: We share five pedagogical principles that reflect how PSTs were supported to learn how to facilitate meaningful physical education experiences. Pedagogies included planning for, experiencing, teaching, analysing, and reflecting on meaningful participation. Implementing pedagogies aligned with these five pedagogical principles helped participants learn why meaningful participation should be prioritised as well as how to facilitate meaningful physical education experiences. Conclusions: Pedagogical principles of LAMPE have been constructed from empirical evidence of both teacher educator and PST experiences that supported learning how to promote meaningful physical education. This research contributes new understanding of how to support PSTs in learning to teach with an emphasis on facilitating meaningful physical education experiences.

‘The Trouble with Normal’: (re)imagining sexuality education with young people

Abstract What do young people believe sexuality education ought to be about? It is within the absence of a sustained and critical consideration of the possibilities and politics of engaging in research with rather than for young people in the reimagining of sexuality education that this paper is positioned. Data were generated as part of an 18-month Youth Participatory Action Research study in one co-educational secondary school with 43 student co-researchers (15–17 years). The findings presented are not intended to provide conclusive statements about future directions for sexuality education, but rather provide a platform on which to discuss how young people’s ideas align with or diverge from current practice and debates surrounding what sexuality education should, could or ought to be about.

Physical education teacher education in a global policy space

This Special Issue sought to focus attention on physical education teacher education (PETE) by building the knowledge base and broadening the geographical, theoretical, and innovative writing about PETE, physical education teacher educators, as well as those who shape (policy-makers/higher education leadership) and those who experience PETE. We had a huge response to the call for papers (37 abstracts) suggesting a significant global interest in the field. We shortlisted 10 articles for phase two and publish six here. The remaining authors could not meet our ambitious deadline, but we anticipate their research will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal.

‘Drawing’ conclusions: Irish primary school children’s understanding of physical education and physical activity opportunities outside of school

This study explores the relationship between primary school physical education and physical activity as sites for the practice of physical activity of Irish primary school children. Understanding how children make connections between physical activity sites is important in shaping physical education experiences that promote lifelong participation. Children’s (aged 8–11) awareness, knowledge, and understanding of physical activity and physical education were examined using participatory methods of ‘draw and write’ (n = 135) and focus group interviews (n = 34). In Phase 1, data collection focused on physical activity, while Phase 2 focused on physical education and connections between physical activity and physical education. Data were analysed using a general inductive approach. Data analysis resulted in four themes: gendered patterns of participation; connections between physical education and physical activity; the nature and choice of participation in activities; and perceptions of ability. Children had varying understandings of the connections between their participation in physical education and physical activity. These findings highlight the importance of supporting all children to make explicit connections between their learning in physical education and their wider physical activity participation. An implication of the findings is that children need to be explicitly prompted to engage in physical activity. Without such encouragement, children are unlikely to draw linkages between physical activity and physical education.