Ross Brooker

Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment: Three message systems of schooling and dimensions of quality physical education

This paper identifies ‘quality’ as an internationally relevant concept to be problematised in contemporary debates about physical education (PE). Drawing on the conceptualisation of curriculum by B. Bernstein in 1977, pedagogy and assessment as three inter-related message systems of schooling, the paper presents and explores curriculum, pedagogy and assessment as three fundamental dimensions of ‘quality PE’. Discussion addresses what quality in each dimension may mean in PE, and demand in practice. Contemporary initiatives in Australia and New Zealand provide a reference point for exploring the prospective application of quality conceptualised in terms of the three inter-related dimensions. Attention is drawn to frameworks in mainstream education that may be utilised in endeavours to critically review current practices, and inform developments directed towards achieving quality in PE. It is argued that achieving quality in PE requires that quality is pursued and demonstrated within and across curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, and that meanings of quality always need to be contextualised in cultural, social and institutional terms.

Implementing a Game Sense Approach to Teaching Junior High School Basketball in a Naturalistic Setting

Traditional approaches to teaching and learning in physical education classes have concentrated on the development of so-called ‘fundamental sport skills’ rather than account for the contextual nature of games in which those skills are to be employed. In an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional approach, Bunker and Thorpe have proposed a way of teaching games which focuses on the development of game sense through the early immersion of students into modified game situations. Such an approach attempts to integrate the cognitive and contextual dimensions of learning in the physical domain. This paper reports on a study that investigated, using a qualitative research process, the implementation of a game sense conceptualization for teaching games into the naturalistic setting of a junior high school physical education programme. The study found that there were a number of issues in a school context which influence the degree of success of implementing a game sense approach and these are discussed in the paper.

Case study in the contemporary world of research: Using notions of purpose, place, process and product to develop some principles for practice

In the contemporary research context policy makers tend to value the generalizable outcomes associated with numerical data and quantitative techniques. Case study research, using the qualitative techniques of interpretive social science and critical social theory, does not seem to enjoy the same acceptance. This article argues that case study research is capable of creating thick descriptions and rich understandings of social contexts that have relevance and resonance across social sites. Furthermore, in its critical mode, as expressed in action research, it leads research participants to take a pro-active role in shaping the policies that affect their social environments and to determine the norms and values that direct their social practices. To demonstrate this approach to case study research the article uses notions of purpose, place, process and product; and sets them to work in an empirical case study. It is argued, therefore, that qualitative case study approaches offer valuable research strategies and insights for public policy makers. The article concludes with a set of principles for the practice of case study research.

The learning context within the workplace: as perceived by apprentices and their workplace trainers

In the last decade in Australia there has been a significant emphasis placed on vocational education and training. More recently within this context there has been renewed interest in apprenticeship training which has both formal learning (in a technical and further education college), and informal learning (in the workplace) components. This article, which draws on the perspectives of both apprentices and their workplace trainers from six industrial sites, is focused on the extent to which apprentices and their workplace trainers perceived the workplace to be a learning context. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed. The findings of the study indicated that, in a context where production is valued over learning, a number of effective learning processes are underdeveloped and undervalued.

Communicating the processes and outcomes of practitioner research: an opportunity for self-indulgence or a serious professional responsibility?

While there is a growing body of research literature focused on practitioner research, the reporting of the processes and outcomes of some of that research appears to be little more than picturesque journeys of self-indulgence. Located within action research, practitioner research has been associated with notions of promoting empowerment, transformation, advocacy and action within practitioners professional work contexts. If, however, such outcomes are to result from practitioner research, then practitioner researchers must be clear in terms of purpose, modes of research investigation, ways of documenting research strategies and outcomes, ways of interpreting these outcomes, and drawing implications for further action and investigation. Drawing on our experience in practitioner research projects and using one such project as an example, this article seeks to theorise about what it might mean to communicate the processes and outcomes of practitioner research, especially if the research is positioned within...

Improving the Assessment of Practice Teaching: a criteria and standards framework

ABSTRACT The assessment of practice teaching is a problematic activity in teacher education. Those charged with the responsibility of making such assessments have had to address issues of what to assess, at what level is the student performing, and how to communicate such assessments to the student teacher in a developmental context. This paper reports on a two‐stage development process of a criteria and standards framework for assessing final year practice teaching. Initially, a framework which identified criteria and standards of performance was developed and trialled with 20 supervising teachers who were interviewed after the practice teaching period. Following further development, the framework was again trialled with 24 teachers who were also subsequently interviewed. The teachers reported that the framework was a useful instrument both for assessing students’ practice teaching performance and for providing more specific feedback to students about their current level of performance and the targets fo...

The Impact of Students’ Approaches to Essay Writing on the Quality of their Essays

ABSTRACT This paper presents a detailed analysis of the essay writing processes of three third year Bachelor of Education students. The case studies, which were drawn from a larger research project, indicate that students writing essays of differing levels of conceptual structure approach the essay writing task very differently at every stage of the process, and these differences appear to emerge from how students conceptualise the task—whether the intention is to reproduce an ordered sequence of information on the topic, or to construct an argument and develop a coherent thesis. The results suggest that attempts to improve students’ essay writing abilities need to shift from a focus on discrete skills to an emphasis on the relationship between students’ understanding of the content and their ability to write about it.

Mapping Physical Education in the Reform Agenda for Australian Education: Tensions and Contradictions:

The nature and place of physical education (PE) in the Australian education context is being redefined. While there is considerable rhetoric supporting the inclusion of some form of PE in the school curriculum, the reality suggests that PE is being reshaped in the context of corporate federalist policies which pervade educational theory and practice at both national and state levels. These policies have given rise to a number of competing discourses for PE, some of which are not new but have become (re)popularised to meet current utilitarian economic and educa-

Constructing a Territory for Professional Practice Research: Some Introductory Considerations

This article seeks to define professional practice research by juxtaposing an overview of a selection of our own experiences with a commentary on some of the ideas in the literature in such areas as action research, practitioner research and teacher research, all of which focus significantly on what it means to engage in research efforts in creating and extending professional knowledge, in illuminating and improving practice and in influencing policies in an informed way. In these terms, research will support and sustain an inquiry-based approach to professional work and practice in a range of social endeavours. The article concludes with a set of ideas for advocating the worthwhile nature of professional practice research.

The learning context within technical and further education colleges as perceived by apprentices and their workplace supervisors

Technical and Further Education Colleges are the main providers of formal vocational education in Australia. This article investigates the perceived contribution of these Colleges to the development of skilled trade-persons. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from apprentice trade-persons and their workplace supervisors. The study shows that these Colleges do provide an important context that promotes vocational learning for apprentice trades-persons. The major strength of TAFE is the opportunity to practice with teacher feedback, without the press of production. In this context their skills improved and they learnt aspects of their trade that were not learnt in the workplace. The significance of these results is that TAFE colleges are perceived to provide ‘workplace learning’ that is not available to apprentices in particular workplaces.