Responsibility-based continuing professional development for in-service physical educators

Michael A Hemphill, Purdue University

Abstract

Since 2004, the National Standards for Physical Education have endorsed the notion that physical educators should teach personal and social responsibility. Continuing professional development (CPD) programs, based on teaching personal and social responsibility, are needed to support teacher's adherence to the national standards. The purpose of this study was to provide eight teachers, from two schools, with a novel CPD protocol that introduces teachers to nine discrete responsibility-based teaching strategies. The Tools for Assessing Responsibility-based Education (TARE) were employed to conduct systematic observations of physical education lessons and to train the teachers to implement responsibility-based teaching strategies. Over four months, the CPD protocol included periodic visits by the investigator, teachers' observations of their peers, guided reflections, and videotaped observations. Findings demonstrated contrasting results. At Southside Middle School, the teachers' employed responsibility-based teaching strategies extensively. In contrast, the teachers at Tuscola Junior High School opted out of much of the CPD protocol due to some differences between their values for physical education and the values of the CPD. The findings from this study suggest that systematic observations can support teachers CPD. However, CPD is a complex process and the results in one setting are not necessarily transferrable to other settings. Implications for future research are discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Templin, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Physical education|Teacher education

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