The factors influencing two primary teachers’ interpretation of games

Abstract

Research studies investigating the occupational socialization of primary teachers delivering physical education has been conspicuous by its absence (O'Leary, N. 2019. "Teacher socialization in physical education: new perspectives." Sport, Education and Society 24 (6): 668-671). Using Lawson's, H. (1986. "Occupational socialization and the design of teacher education programs." Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 5 (2): 107-116) theoretical framework, this study examined two primary teachers' interpretation of games and the socialising factors influencing their pedagogical games practices. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analysed inductively. Three themes appeared around both teachers' games perspectives: an emphasis on technical learning, a differing use in teaching styles and a contrasting focus on strategical and tactical understanding. A variety of factors influenced these beliefs: negative childhood experiences of physical education, an innovative higher education degree, a continuous professional development course, a physical education planning scheme and the needs of the pupils. It was recommended that practitioners could engage in continuous professional development that develops their strategical and tactical subject knowledge. Furthermore, to complement such courses, teachers could pursue informal learning and utilise communities of practices. Finally, teachers could undertake action research.

Factors influencing a primary school teacher’s delivery of athletics

“…The above research findings appear to be in direct contrast to the outcomes of the only other UK primary school-based PE study utilising the occupational socialization framework (Jayantilal and O'Leary 2020). The latter research was unable to support or refute Lawson's (1986) first, second or third assumption.…”

“…Examining the factors influencing two primary school teachers' interpretation of games, Jayantilal and O'Leary (2020) found that one of the teachers who had not studied PE or sport at university relied heavily on the advice and documentation from the school's PE coordinator.…”

“…Recognising that only two research studies have utilised the occupational socialization framework to ascertain the socialising influences on elementary/primary teachers' delivery of PE (Jayantilal and O'Leary 2020;Prior and Curtner-Smith 2020), the need for further exploratory research is palpable. Acknowledging that primary school teachers are likely to be best suited to teaching PE given their knowledge of their pupils and their considerable pedagogical abilities (Griggs, 2010); the importance of athletics in children's development, we wanted to add to the findings and respond to the future research recommendations presented in the only UK based occupational socialization primary school PE study (Jayantilal and O'Leary 2020). In examining how a primary school teacher delivered athletics and those factors influencing such pedagogical practices, this research, in contrast to Jayantilal and O'Leary's (2020) work, used a female participant and lesson observations were undertaken to identify how she actually taught.…”

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Addressing the research recommendations of the first UK primary school-based PE occupational socialization study (Jayantilal, K. and O'Leary, N. 2020. "The factors influencing two primary teachers' interpretation of Games."

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Promoting the future of innovative higher education through thousands of master's programmes

“…First, the way how rankings of "innovative universities" are calculated was considered. This question is especially important if an innovative process is applied not only in teaching, but also in research or work-based projects (Jayantilal -O'Leary 2020;Talbot et al 2019). According to the related rankings, the fundamental criterion is cited research by academia and private industry, primarily in the form of patent filings and research papers.…”