Sport Education for Teachers: Professional Development When Introducing a Novel Curriculum Model

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide a description of an on-site professional development program for Russian teachers as they learned to teach Sport Education. A concurrent objective was to investigate the effectiveness of this professional development opportunity. Participants were two physical education teachers (one with 27 and one with 3 years of experience) who taught separate sixth grade physical education classes in a school in the Central Chernozem Region of Russia. The data sources included the researcher's log, informal discussions, briefing/debriefing sessions and semi-structured interviews. The following four themes were generated: (a) the need for sample lesson observance in the training phase, (b) teaching-to-model congruency validation, (c) difficulties of 'letting go of the control', and (d) cooperative learning. The findings of the study are discussed using the theoretical framework on factors influencing professional development (Birman et al., 2000) and the model of teacher change (Guskey, 1986;.

Models-based practice: great white hope or white elephant?

“…While this need for 'hard evidence' was only specifically mentioned in four of the studies in primary/elementary schools (Dyson and Rubin 2003;Kinchin, MacPhail, and Chroinin 2009;Sinelnikov 2009;Walsh, Ozaeta, and Wright 2010) the fact that these projects occurred in three countries (USA, Ireland and Russia) and across three models (Cooperative Learning, Sport Education and Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility) increases the significance of this finding. Furthermore, when this desire for evidence is viewed in light of concerns that primary school teachers received too few hours during their training in physical education and that MBP is still considered as innovative practice, it suggests that that this topic warrants further discussion.…”

“…However, the evidence of their own eyes and experiences was enough to leave them delighted with both the outcome and its appropriateness as a conclusion to their endeavours. In his work with Russian teachers through Sport Education Sinelnikov (2009) found that pedagogical and curricular change was further facilitated by an evidence-based showing the successes of other practitioners and that teachers needed to see the results of their peers efforts to believe in the potency of the model. Walsh et al (2010) reported that despite the transfer of learning that occurred across contexts by using the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model, teachers in the USA were reluctant to attribute the success to the model.…”

“…The sustainability of this CPD allows teachers to transfer their general understanding of the model -as gained through their initial CPD -beyond the initial point of implementation, and maintain fidelity over the longer term (Ko et al 2006). This degree of CPD is seen as greatly enhancing teachers' normal experiences of professional learning in physical education (MacPhail, Gorely et al 2008) as it requires a significant investment of time and energy to learn how to use MBP (Sinelnikov 2009). …”

“…Despite the mixed contextual success of MBP a number of authors acknowledged that teachers needed to be involved in enhanced and ongoing continued professional development (CPD) when they seek to change practice (Ko, Wallhead, and Ward 2006;MacPhail, Gorely, Kirk, and Kinchin 2008;Sinelnikov 2009). The sustainability of this CPD allows teachers to transfer their general understanding of the model -as gained through their initial CPD -beyond the initial point of implementation, and maintain fidelity over the longer term (Ko et al 2006).…”

Influencia del modelo de Educación Deportiva en las necesidades psicológicas básicas

“…En este sentido, se desarrolló un seminario de 12 sesiones de una hora en el cual se abordaron aspectos teóricos y prácticos del modelo de Educación Deportiva. Un investigador externo evaluó la correcta aplicación del programa en el grupo experimental, siguiendo para ello la hoja de registro observacional de Ko, Wallhead, y Ward (2006), utilizada en anteriores investigaciones (García-López y Sinelnikov, 2009). El profesor que llevó a cabo la intervención cumplió todos los indicadores de la hoja de registro.…”