Book review: Thesis survivor stories: Practical advice on getting through your PhD or Masters thesis

This article reviews the book "Thesis survivor stories: Practical advice on getting through your PhD or Masters thesis" complied by M. Waring & K. Kearins

Book review: Oloketa tingting fo apem education long Solomon Islands: Issues in Solomon Islands Education.

Book review: Oloketa tingting fo apem education long Solomon Islands: Issues in Solomon Islands Education

Coming unstuck as an interviewer.

As a novice researcher, interviewing seemed relatively unproblematic. What an epiphany it was when I realised just how many flaws there were in both my interviewing technique and my development of an interview schedule. This paper highlights the issues that arose in the process of using semi-structured interviews during a small research project that focused on primary teacher education students' understanding of physical education. The issues discussed focus on my interview schedule, my ability to listen and probe, and the conflict of attempting to be both empathetic and neutral when I wanted to challenge points, and in my desire to get 'good' data. This paper outlines the literature that I drew on in developing my understanding of the semi-structured interview and offers a story from the field that illuminates the challenges inherent in the actual interview process

Physical education in primary schools: holding on to the past or heading for a different future?

This paper reports on research undertaken by Pétrie, jones, and McKlm (2007)' during 2006, as part of a Ministry of Education funded evaluation ofthe Impacts of professional learning on currlcular and co-currlcular physical activity. While the evaluative research explored physical activity In the broadest sense, this paper concentrates specifically on the aspect ofthe research that focussed on physical education [PEj as a curriculum subject. The paper provides a snapshot of how PE ¡s understood and practised by generallst teachers In ten primary schools. It then identifies some of the factors that contribute to interpretations and delivery of PE, and Issues that need to be addressed If PE is to move beyond the past and towards an alternative future

Stepping out of the "ivory tower": an initial teacher educator's experience of returning to the classroom.

In this article I want to discuss my attempts to make sense of my role and practice as a teacher educator who helps student teachers implement the curriculum in schools and my experiences of engaging in a process of personal professional development. I will demonstrate how a six week experience as a teacher in a primary school challenged my understandings and practices of the what it means to be a teacher in this context, and what the learning experience meant for me as a teacher educator. It is work that explores what it takes to be a teacher of teaching for students who are working towards teaching in primary schools. I report that linking teacher education curriculum with the realities of primary schools has particular challenges

The importance of conference!

The author discusses the benefits of attending conferences for physical education teachers. It is noted that within and outside of the teaching profession physical educators are sometimes not viewed as teachers and the author believes that creating professional development opportunities will change that

Making sense of health education in the Solomon Islands.

This article explores both the process and outcomes of a working Partnership between Solomon Islands College for Higher Education and the University of Waikato that explored the development of the initial teacher education health education courses. Through a process of co-construction and inquiry, teacher educators from the Solomon Islands and New Zealand developed a metaphorical context-specific model to represent understandings of health education in the Solomon Islands. The model and what this has meant for teaching and learning in health education at both SOE and in schools is examined

Teacher Professional Development: Who is the learner?

One of the challenges in in-service teacher education is how teachers can be given professional development (PD) that enables them to respond to national curriculum and policy change. In recent years primary teachers in New Zealand have been inundated with Ministry of Education-funded professional development programmes to help them implement a plethora of curriculum policy and reform initiatives. This paper explores how the design and delivery of one PD programme, the Physical Activity Initiative (PAI), positioned and supported teachers as learners. An evaluation of the programme sought data from 25 teachers and 14 advisers to schools. The focus was the impact of the PD on how and what teachers learnt about teaching physical education and how their learning impacted upon their classroom practices. The data highlight the difficulty of accommodating the teacher as a learner, within a “one size fits all” PD model. Little attention was paid to the learning differences among the teachers. It is argued that providers of PD need to understand the unique complex web of contextual factors that impacted upon each teacher, and that each teacher’s learning needs and learning approaches vary and this needs to be accounted for in the design and the delivery of PD

Re-visioning what it means to be active

The importance of being active for one’s ‘health’ is a constant mantra in today’s society yet we know precious little about what physical activity means and looks like for primary school aged children. Are narrow perceptions of physical activity as running and/or exercising shaping how children can see themselves as active and engaged in movement related experiences? In this interview we profile the work of one primary teacher who has been exploring ways of supporting his students to think about activity and movement in diverse ways

Teaching Physical Education: Primary School Teachers as Learners

This research focused on physical education (PE) teaching and learning in New Zealand primary school settings. The project had two key aims: first, to develop an understanding of the knowledges primary teachers use to teach PE, prior to a one-year professional development (PD) programme; and second, to evaluate the impacts of a PD programme on knowledges associated with teaching PE, and the complexity of subject specific knowledge development for generalist teachers. Specifically, the impact of the Physical Activity Initiative professional development (PD) programme (Ministry of Education, 2005a) on primary classroom teacher's knowledge and practice was investigated. The project was interpretive in orientation and used qualitative methods such as teacher interviews, lesson observations, questionnaires and document analysis to gather data related to teachers' understanding of their pre and post PD programme experience. Twenty-five teachers from ten schools involved in the Physical Activity Initiative PD programme participated in the study. Theories of teacher knowledge and understandings of effective PD provided a framework for data analysis. In contrast to most previous studies that have involved the researcher as both instigator and deliverer of physical education professional development (PE-PD), this research involved the researcher as the outsider, seeking an outside-in and inside-out perspective. The research findings indicated that promoting teacher learning through PD is complex. The sample of primary school teachers gained benefit from PD opportunities that allowed for the transfer of pedagogical strategies and skills from the classroom to the PE context. However, there was evidence that these learning opportunities needed to be balanced with opportunities to develop PE content knowledge. Consequently, it was theorised that PE-PD for primary teachers needs to consist of connected and explicit knowledge building experiences associated with PE: its nature, purpose, curriculum, content, and pedagogical strategies. It was further hypothesised that effective PE-PD design would support teachers to blend these knowledges in ways that allow them to develop appropriate learning experiences for their particular students. The findings also signalled that PD resources provided teachers with examples of practice and, as such, they had the potential to enhance quality PE learning and teaching. The study drew attention to the role resources played in standardising PE in primary schools, thus advancing PE teaching yet restricting teachers' broader knowledges and limiting their range of practices in PE. The findings of this study challenge PD providers (pre- and in-service) to consider the educative role of resources and the ways resources can be used to support teachers to become independent practitioners who utilise outside 'experts' without becoming totally reliant on them. Finally this study illustrates the importance of recognising the teacher as both learner and teacher. It is imperative that teacher learning sits alongside student learning as a central aim for PD programmes, since teacher learning is the foundation for changes in learning outcomes for students