All knowledge is socially constructed, including physical education teachers' knowledge of their subject. It is acquired from other people either formally and deliberately (e.g. by being taught) or informally and casually (e.g. by interacting with physical education teachers or playing in a sports team). The social aspects of learning appear to be particularly strong in physical education. This has implications for the development of knowledge for teaching, with trainee teachers focusing on the development of subject, and particularly content, knowledge. Focusing on subject knowledge reinforces a traditional view of physical education as it is, not as it might be to meet the needs of young people today. It is argued that attention needs to be given not only to the knowledge, skills and competencies that trainee teachers ought to develop but also to the social aspects of their learning and development and the context in which they learn. Attention also needs to be given to how the ability to think critically can be developed so that trainee teachers can become reflective practitioners able to challenge and, where appropriate, change the teaching of the subject. Only by doing this can the particularly strong socialisation which shapes the values and beliefs of physical education teachers begin to be challenged. However, as the process of developing knowledgeable teachers is ongoing it is also necessary to look beyond teacher training to continuing professional development.

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SUMMARY. This study investigated the relationship with stress and burnout of eight selected psychological, organisational and demographic variables in secondary school teachers. Teachers (N = 78) from four secondary schools completed self report measures of stress, burnout, role conflict, role ambiguity, locus of control, and organisational and demographic variables. Regression and follow-up canonical correlation analyses indicated that six of the eight selected variables were significantly related to stress, total burnout, frequency and intensity of burnout, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment subscales. Role ambiguity and locus of control explained most variance on stress and all burnout scales except burnout intensity and emotional exhaustion, which were best explained by number of years teaching experience. Overall, however, stress and burnout levels were found to be low. Theoretical implications of the study include identifying whether levels of stress and burnout increase during the course of the school year, and identifying variables which can be included in other studies. Practical implications of how to overcome factors leading to stress and burnout as identified in this study are also discussed.

Physical education (PE) in primary schools has traditionally been taught by qualified primary teachers. More recently, some teaching of PE in primary schools has been undertaken by coaches (mostly football coaches) (Sports coach UK, 2004, 2007a). These coaches hold national governing body awards, but do not hold teaching qualifications. Thus, coaches may not be adequately prepared to teach PE in curriculum time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of a group of community based football coaches working in primary schools of the impact of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme on their ability to undertake 'specified work' to cover PE in primary schools. The programme focused on four areas identified as important to enable coaches to cover specified work: short and medium term planning; pedagogy; knowledge of the curriculum; and reflection. Results showed that for the majority of coaches the CPD programme had made them more aware of the importance of these four areas and had helped to develop their knowledge and ability to put this into practice in covering planning, preparation and assessment time. However, further input is still required to develop coaches' knowledge and understanding in all four areas, but especially their curriculum knowledge, as well as their ability to put these into practice consistently. These findings are discussed in relation to the implications of employing coaches to cover the teaching of PE in primary schools and, if employed, what CPD coaches need to develop the necessary knowledge, skill and understanding for covering specified work in schools.

The purpose of this study was to look at the influence of and interrelationships between concerns and socialization on the development of student physical education (PE) teachers’ knowledge for teaching and their development as teachers. Six secondary student PE teachers completed a journal on a monthly basis throughout the course of a one-year initial teacher education course. These student teachers and their mentors were interviewed in school towards the end of their course in June. Responses were analysed inductively. A major factor influencing these student teachers’ development throughout the year was their concerns about themselves, their teaching and the material they were to teach over-ridden by concern to pass the course. This was influenced by the student teachers’ socialization prior to and during the course. In turn, this influenced their views of the importance and value of knowledge developed on different parts of the course. The results are discussed in relation to student teachers’ development as teachers