Teachers’ Experiences of Implementing a Pedagogical Approach for Meaningful Physical Education

Abstract

Dominant forms of physical education (PE) have been criticized for their inability to promote lifelong movement, with many scholars arguing in favour of an approach oriented toward meaningful experiences in PE. The Meaningful PE approach has been designed in response to this but has yet to be tested extensively in practice. The purpose of this dissertation has been to study teachers’ experiences of learning about and implementing the Meaningful PE approach. Five teachers based in Ireland and 12 teachers based in Canada participated in two separate studies lasting eight weeks and across two school years, respectively. Qualitative data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, community of practice (CoP) meeting transcripts, and reflections. Results of this dissertation are presented in four articles. Article One highlights the experiences of Irish primary classroom teachers, demonstrating preliminary support for the approach from classroom teachers with little background in PE. Article Two focuses on Canadian elementary teachers’ experiences of implementing the Meaningful PE approach with their students and on the factors that influenced their implementation decisions. Primary factors influencing implementation included teachers’ prior experiences and beliefs, students’ responses to the implementation process, and external organizational pressures. Article Three focuses on Canadian teachers’ experiences of learning about Meaningful PE through a professional (PD) initiative designed around characteristics of effective PD outlined in the literature. Teachers were most supportive of the use of a CoP and modelling of the approach to foster their learning about Meaningful PE, while also highlighting several tensions between ideal and practical forms of PD, taking personal and organizational barriers into account. Article Four focuses on my experience of becoming a facilitator of teachers’ PD through facilitating a CoP for teachers. This article highlights the important role of identity in the process of learning to become a facilitator and navigating the tensions associated with that process. Collectively, this dissertation makes a significant contribution to the literature by a) informing the refinement of the Meaningful PE approach, b) offering insights into educational implementation research, and c) adding to the literature on teachers’ professional learning when being introduced to innovations.