Högskolan Dalarnas logga och länk till högskolans webbplats

Teaching outdoors is an obligatory part of physical education (PE) in most countries; therefore, PE holds great potential to contribute to learning about nature, the environment and environmental sustainability (ES). This paper reports the investigation of whether Swedish PE teachers perceive ES as part of their subject, and if so, how do they implement it? Drawing on 60 PE teachers' answers to five opened questions (53 written answers and 7 oral interviews), and using British sociologist Basil Bernstein's concepts of classification and codes, this study have asked the following research questions: 1. What influences the position and legitimisation of ES in PE? 2. How does the subject culture of Swedish PE influence the introduction of ES? The result from the study shows a complexity regarding the strength of the boundaries that surround ES in PE and what this complexity might offer in terms of enablers and constraints. The result also displays a strong connection between outdoor education and its potential for teaching ES. Various options are discussed with regard to where (in what content areas in PE) and how to implement ES.

An ongoing discussion is a debate about the benefits of outdoor activities for health, where a narrowness regarding the benefits as a matter of curing or preventing disease has been questioned. Hence, there is an urgent need to theorize further the relationship between outdoor activities and health with robust theoretical frameworks that can guide research and practice, taking different aspects of human-nature relations into account. In the paper, a critique of pathogenic perspectives of health is forwarded, as well as a critique of an anthropocentric human centeredness of health. Instead, a salutogenic model and the metaphor of the swimmer in the river is used to discuss the relation without being restricted to health as the absence of disease or to human health and wellbeing. In the paper, seven different relations, or salutogenic questions, are provided, moving from the swimmer in the foreground, to swimmers in the river to finally foregrounding the river.

As part of a longitudinal research project on the transition from physical education teacher education (PETE) to school physical education (PE) in Sweden and exploring whether and how PETE matters, this article uses narrative inquiry to ‘represent’ a PE teacher’s professional journey from PETE to the induction phase of PE teaching. The study focuses on his use of, and reflections on, ‘assessment for learning’ (AfL) at different stages of his teaching experience. The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge about how positive experiences of AfL during PETE can enable the use of AfL in school PE for a newly qualified teacher. This is done by analysing one male PETE student’s reflections on AfL in the context of a campus-based course on PE assessment, his use of and reflections on AfL during his practicum, and in school PE as a newly qualified teacher. The data generation consisted of recordings of a PETE seminar, a stimulated recall interview with the participant during his final school placement, and two interviews with him in his role as a newly qualified PE teacher at two different schools. Through the PE teacher’s tale, we show how the campus-based course on PE assessment in PETE and the student teacher’s positive experience of using AfL during his practicum seem to have inspired him in his later positions. The results are discussed in relation to the perspective of occupational socialisation theory. This narrative inquiry suggests that PETE can make a difference for student teachers who are prepared to face the challenges of the induction phase of PE teaching and are able to navigate between the barriers that get in their way. We conclude the paper with some considerations regarding the study’s potential strength (trustworthiness), sharing (transferability) and service (usefulness).

It is well established that students in higher education need to develop evaluative skills in order to become effective learners (Guest & Riegler 2022). Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a model for assessment that strengthens learning in schools as well as in higher education (Black et al 2002). This is also the case in physical education teacher education (PETE) (Eather et al 2017, Macken et al 2020) and in school physical education (Leirhaug 2016). One of the key learning strategies in AfL is to activate peers as resources for learning, often operationalised as peer assessment. In PETE, peer assessment (or peer-assisted learning in a broader meaning) has proven to strengthen learning for both the observer and the observed (Lamb et al 2012). 

One dimension of peer assessment, that has only scarcely been covered in the PETE context (Macken et al 2020) but that is more highlighted in research of peer assessment in general teacher education (see e.g. Kilic 2016, Tait-McCutcheon & Bernadette Knewstubb 2018), is the tensions inherent in giving feedback to peers on their work, peers who might also often be friends. According to Kilic (2016, 137) preservice teachers “do not feel comfortable when critiquing another student” and Tait-McCutcheon and Knewstubb (2018, 773) argues that “peer assessment could reflect friendships more than learning outcomes”. 

Research demonstrates a complexity with regards to the potential for peer assessment in PETE. On the one hand, preservice teachers have expressed that giving feedback to peers creates a positive, safe, equal and relaxed learning environment (Lamb et al., 2012) and peer assessment has been reported to improve competence, confidence and self-efficacy among preservice teachers (Eather et al., 2017). On the other hand, a study by Macken et al. (2020) reported that preservice teachers believe their students would be mean to each other if implementing peer assessment during their school placement practice in PETE.

In this paper, we aim to further explore the complexity involved in peer assessment in PETE to get a deepened and more differentiated picture of this phenomenon. Our overall aim is to contribute to more knowledge about how to involve  preservice teachers in PETE and students in school physical education as resources for learning without risking to cause harm. Drawing on the call from Scanlon et al. (2022) for more studies on how assessment is taught in PETE, our specific aim in this paper is to investigate preservice teachers’ views on what as well as how peer assessment is taught in PETE, to be used in school physical education. We will use Pierre Bourdieu’s (1990) concept of capital, as well as the work of Hay and Penney (2013) on how accountability mechanisms functions in assessment, in order to analyse what is assigned value in peer assessment. The two questions that will guide our analysis in this paper reads: What mechanisms are assigned value in peer assessment according to preservice teachers in PETE? And: How do the mechanisms that are assigned value in peer assessment in PETE function according to preservice teachers? More knowledge about the what and the how in teaching of assessment practices in PETE can improve these practices within school physical education.

Methodology

The study presented in this paper is conducted as part of a greater project with the aim of exploring how PETE matters for school physical education. In the overall project we have recruited preservice teachers, with physical education as one of their subjects, during their last year in teacher education. During this last year, one campus-placed course in assessment and one school placement course, constituted the contexts from which we collected empirical material to this study (Authors 2021).  

The participants in this study were 21 preservice teachers from two different PETE institutions in Sweden (10 from uni A and 11 from uni B). The empirical material analysed in this study compriced of: 

1.      Three audio-recorded seminars (90-120 min each) from the campus-based assessment courses (one seminar from uni A and two from uni B) conducted before the preservice teachers’ school placement studies. 

2.      Seven individual semi-structured interviews (40-70 min each) (Kvale 1996) conducted during visits at the preservice teachers’ school placement studies (all from uni A). 

3.      Five individual Stimulated Recall (SR)-interviews conducted during visits at the preservice teachers’ school placement studies (one from A, four from B). 

4.      Two audio-recorded and semi-structured group interviews (40-60 min each) (Kvale 1996) from the campus-based assessment courses (both from A) conducted after the school placement studies. 

After having had the empirical material transcribed by an external part, a thematic content analysis was initiated by a process of familiarisation in which all four researchers were engaged (Braun et al 2017). Inspired by an abductive approach (Alvesson & Sköldberg 2017), we allowed ourselves to be open to alternative theories that could help explain the empirical material. The choice of research object was initiated by the impression from the interviews that giving feedback to peers is surrounded by a complexity, both in PETE and in school physical education. The identification of social relationships and certain types of bodies and movements as assigned with value when giving feedback to peers guided our attention towards Bourdieu-inspired interpretations of the social capital (Beames & Atencio 2008) and the physical capital (Redelius & Hay 2010).   

Educational challenges following when ‘the what’ is reflected in ‘the how’

The findings indicate that when the what-aspect of ‘social relationships’ is to be implemented into an how-aspect, the preservice teachers calls for continuous interaction ‘over time’ in order to build a safe and an allowing climate for learning. While this interaction can be implemented in PETE and in school physical education, allowing for school children to build social capital (Beames & Atencio 2008), a result from this study that calls for further discussion is how PETE can make continuous interaction between preservice teachers and school students possible during school placement studies. 

When the what-aspect of ‘articulating what to learn’ is mirrored in relation to the how-aspect of giving ‘correct feedback’ in peer assessment, this displays that physical capital in school physical education is strongly connected to standards of excellence and norms of right and wrong movement technique (Redelius & Hay 2010). These golden norms seem to be upheld by the displayed lack a common language for learning (Larsson & Redelius 2008). A question following from this study is what resources preservice teachers are offered within PETE to embody a language for learning in school physical education? 

This study also made visible that ‘the emphasis of certain forms of knowledge ’ is highly valued when preservice teachers are to give feedback to their peers, to their students (during school placement) or when they engage students to give feedback to each other.  The preservice teachers claim to handle this ‘what-aspect’ of peer assessment by focus their attention on ‘managing the sensitivity’ arising when themselves or their students are to comment on each others’ bodies in movements. 

In conclusion, the combination of social and physical capital decides what is possible to say to whom when preservice teachers and students are to give feedback to peers in PETE and in school physical education.

References

Alvesson M and Sköldberg K (2017) Tolkning och Reflektion. Vetenskapsfilosofi och Kvalitativ Metod [Interpretation and Reflection. Philosophy of Science and Qualitative Method]. Lund: Studentlitteratur. [In Swedish.]

Beames, Simon and Atencio, Matthew (2008)'Building social capital through outdoor education', Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning,8:2,99 — 112

Black, P., C. Harrison, C. Lee, B. Marshall, and D. Wiliam. 2002. Working Inside the Black Box. Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. London: GL Assessment

Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. (Richard Nice, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.

Eather, N., Riley, N., Miller, D., Jones, B. (2017) Evaluating the Effectiveness of Using Peer-Dialogue Assessment for Improving Pre-Service Teachers' Perceived Confidence and Competence to Teach Physical Education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 

Guest J & Riegler R (2022) Knowing HE standards: how good are students at evaluating academic work?, Higher Education Research & Development, 41:3, 714-728

Hay, P. J., and D. Penney. 2013. Assessment in Physical Education. A Sociocultural Perspective. London: Routledge.

Kilic, D. (2016) An Examination of Using Self-, Peer-, and Teacher-Assessment in Higher Education: A Case Study in Teacher Education, Higher Education Studies, 6(1), 136-144. 

Kvale, Steinar (1996). Interviews. An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. California: Sage Publications.

Lamb P Lane K & Aldous D (2012) Enhancing the spaces of reflection: A buddy peer-review process within physical education initial teacher education, European Physical Education Review 19(1) 21–38

Larsson H & Redelius K (2008) Swedish physical education research questioned—current situation and future directions, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 13:4, 381-398, DOI: 10.1080/17408980802353354

Leirhaug 2016 Exploring the relationship between student grades and assessment for learning in Norwegian physical education, European Physical Education Review, 22(3) 298–314

Macken S, MacPhail, A & Calderon, A (2020) Exploring primary pre-service teachers’ use of ‘assessment for learning’ while teaching primary physical education during school placement, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 25:5, 539-554

Redelius, K. & Hay, P. (2010) Defining, acquiring and transacting cultural capital through assessment in physical education, European Physical Education Review, 5(3):275–294:

Scanlon D, MacPhail, A Walsh C & Tannehill D (2022): Embedding assessment in learning experiences: enacting the principles of instructional alignment in physical education teacher education, Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, epub ahead of print

Tait-McCutcheon S & Knewstubb, B. (2018) Evaluating the alignment of self, peer and lecture assessment in an Aotearoa New Zealand pre-service teacher education course, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43:5, 772-785

In the Swedish educational system, there has been a recent push for digital technology in different school subjects. This paper investigates what regulates Swedish physical education teachers’ perceptions of digital technology in outdoor education. The results is reflected in a number of rules that govern Swedish physical education teachers’ perceptions and use of digital technology in outdoor education. Findings suggest that teachers’ views on the relevance of digital technology in outdoor education depends partly on curriculum formulations, but of significant importance are also other factors such as: the addressed knowledge area, grade level, choice of digital device, needs of students, and teachers’ ideological beliefs. These rules are discussed in relation to the construction of outdoor education as knowledge area within physical education and in relation to the ways in which Swedish physical education teachers relate to curriculum changes. 

Friluftslivets rolle som historisk kulturbærer og identitetsmarkør i Norge har bidratt til at friluftsliv i dag har en sterk posisjon i det norske utdanningssystemet. I høyere utdanning kommer dette til uttrykk ikke bare i (kroppsøvings)lærerutdanningen, men også i bachelor utdanninger i idrett og friluftsliv, i naturguideutdanninger og i veglednings og eventyrspedagogikk. Ulike idéer og teorier om pedagogikk, lederskap og gruppedynamikk har blitt utviklet innenfor høyere utdanning i friluftsliv i Norge. En del av disse ideene har også handlet om hvorvidt relasjonen mellom mennesker og natur er økologisk bærekraftig. Per i dag savnes det, etter vår kjennskap, en oversikt over forskning på friluftsliv innen høyere utdanning. Hovedmålet med studien er derfor å kartlegge hvilke tema forskningslitteraturen på/om friluftsliv for/i høyere utdanning i Norge belyser.

Vi finner det hensiktsmessig å kombinere en scoping review gjennom elektronisk søking i databaser med en manuell søking av kurslitteratur og pensum i emner og kurs i friluftsliv på norske universitet og høyskoler.  Temaene og søkeordene som inngår i studien er friluftsliv (OR Outdoor education OR Outdoor* OR Adventure* OR Wilderness*) AND høyere utdanning (OR Higher Education OR Universit* OR Høyskole OR Høgskole OR Høgskule OR College OR School (folkehøgskole) OR Physical Education Teacher Education OR Teacher training*) AND Norge (OR Norwegian OR Norway). Den elektroniske søkingen kommer til å gjennomføres i databasene EBSCO(ERIC), Google Scholar, BASE, Norart og Idunn. Den manuelle søkingen kommer til å gjennomføres på x norske læresteder der litteraturlister for kurs med ordet friluftsliv i tittelen inkluderes. Målet med det manuelle søket er å inkludere vitenskapelige bokkapittel (antologier) og annen litteratur som er basert på forskning, men som ikke finnes tilgjengelig elektronisk.  

Ettersom studien nylig er påbegynt, har vi per i dag ingen resultater å legge frem. Preliminære funn vil bli presentert på konferansen. 

Vi vil ha søkelys på den historiske utviklingen, endringer og diskurser i friluftslivsundervisningen i høyere utdanning, samt diskutere danningspotensialer og tema som ikke blir belyst i forskningen.

Peer assessment has been proven to improve learning for both theobserver and the observed. One dimension of peer assessment thathas been given little attention in the context of physical educationteacher education (PETE) is the tension that exists when peers givefeedback on each other’s work. In this paper, we report on Swedishpreservice teachers’ (PST) views on peer assessment used in PETEschool placements. Our findings reveal four mechanisms of peerassessment assigned value in PETE: (i) building social relations, (ii)making ‘what to learn’ visible, (iii) giving correct feedback, and(iv) handling sensitive and gendered comments. Inspired byBourdieu, we discuss learning potentials and complex challengeswith peer assessment, where the combination of social capitaland physical capital decides what is possible to say and to whomwhen peer assessment is used in the PETE school placement andin school physical education (PE).

Environmental sustainability in sport is an increasingly important issue. In this paper, we want to highlight a specific phenomenon, namely artificially constructed landscapes and the outdoor sport activities that take place therein. More specifically, we are interested in the logics that govern peoples’ practice of sport in such artificial landscapes and what challenges with regards to environmental sustainability that follow from these logics. The purpose of this paper is to identify what individual athletes perceive as meaningful logics when practicing sport in artificial landscapes and to analyse and discuss potential environmental consequences of these logics. The sports we focus on are cross-country skiing and canoe slalom, two sports that historically have been dependent on specific geographies and contexts. We build on two research questions: What logics of practice govern individual athletes’ practice of sport in artificial landscapes? And what environmental challenges are potential consequences of the logics that are expressed by the athletes? Our findings indicate that the logic of performance is dominant for the sport practitioners who train in artificial landscapes, at the expense of perspectives such as nature experience and environmental sustainability. If performance is key, then the role of the training landscape is also first and foremost to present the best possible conditions for performance. But if the athlete/exerciser see their training as a means of experiencing nature, then other values than performance and comparability can become more important. When the environmental impact of individual athletes and of the artificial landscapes in which they do their training come under increased scrutiny, the role of logics of practice in the sport and movement culture needs further attention. Being aware of nature and the environment is also a logic that could be found meaningful in the process of making sports more sustainable.

It is well established that Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a model for assessment that strengthens young peoples’ learning in schools as well as in higher education. This is also the case in school physical education and in physical education teacher education (PETE). One of the key learning strategies in AfL is to activate peers as resources for learning, often operationalized as peer assessment. In physical education, peer assessment has proven to strengthen learning for both the observer and the observed.

One dimension of peer assessment, that has only scarcely been covered in the physical education context, but that is more highlighted in research of peer assessment in general teacher education, is the tensions inherent in giving feedback to peers, and perhaps friends, on their work. It has been argued that teacher students do not feel comfortable when critiquing other teacher students, and that peer assessment could reflect friendships more than learning outcomes.

In the physical education context, studies have shown that peer assessment is one area that physical education teachers are sceptical about. Further, it has been argued that pupils can be mean to each other if implementing peer assessment during physical education teaching. In this paper we aim to dig deeper into this problematic aspect of peer assessment in physical education.

More specifically, drawing on the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital and using qualitative methodology, the question that will guide our analysis reads:

What capabilities and behaviours among students are by PETE students and physical education teachers acknowledged as legitimate and valuable when peer assessment is implemented in physical education teaching?  

Preliminary results show that in order for peer assessment to be successful in physical education teaching questions regarding who gives feedback on what needs to be considered.  

This paper is a comment to Ward et al. (2020) on the irresponse to a previous paper in which we elaborate on a phronetic perspective on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physical education. In our previous paper, we point to what we see as limitations in PCK-work in physical education. In their response, Ward et al. (2022) argue that we have misrepresented their research as well as the behaviorist epistemology. In this comment, we acknowledge distinctions in PCK-research that were not captured in our original paper. We also argue for why our understanding of the PCK-research was based on interpretations rather than a case of misrepresentation. Further, we argue for the constant acknowledgment of ideology in research. Finally, we discuss the need for clarity regarding the meaning of perfor-mance when viewed as content knowledge.

In many countries, assessment for learning (AfL) is recommended in both policy and research as a concept that should be integrated into the teaching of physical education (PE) in schools. AfL is also part of physical education teacher education (PETE) programs in several countries and, consequently, something future PE teachers are expected to practice in their teaching. In a previous study ( Tolgfors et al., 2021), we showed how AfL was transmitted and transformed between a university course and a school placement course within Swedish PETE. In the current study, we have more closely followed three of the preservice teachers who took part in our initial study into their first year of PE teaching. The purpose of this follow-up study is thus to explore how AfL is enacted in the induction phase of PE teaching. The more specific research question is: how is AfL enacted in beginning teachers’ PE practices under the contextual conditions provided at the schools where they are employed? The data were generated through Stimulated Recall interviews and follow-up interviews via the online meeting software Zoom. The analysis was based on Braun et al.’s (2011) contextual dimensions of policy enactment and Bernstein’s (1996) pedagogic device. Our findings illustrate how AfL is generally enacted through (1) progression and (2) “rich tasks.” However, the contextual dimensions of each school provide different conditions that either support or hinder the use of AfL in PE. AfL is accordingly enacted in different ways in the induction phase of PE teaching.

Background: Scholars have suggested that students’ views of what is important for them to know as Physical Education (PE) teachers are a result of what is assessed in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE). Thus, there is a risk that students will reproduce content areas such as sports and assess sport-techniques without much critical consideration. In this study, however, the risk of reproducing what is prioritised in PETE is seen as an opportunity regarding the potential reproduction of other content areas than sports. Based on the regulative principles of PE and PETE that privilege sport skills and hinder creative movement learning, we focus on a content area in PETE that provides opportunities for students to engage in creative collaboration and examine how this content area is realised in school PE. Hence, we have chosen to explore ‘Movement Composition’, a content area which has a long tradition at one of the PETE universities in Sweden. Based on an overarching interest in whether and how PETE matters, this exploratory study focuses on the potential transferability of Movement Composition as a particular content area in the transition from PETE to PE.

Purpose and research question: The purpose of this study is to explore Movement Composition as a content area undergoing the transition from PETE to school PE. The research question is: How is the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition constructed, recontextualised and realised in the transition from PETE to school PE?

Methods: Data was generated through an interview with one of the initiators of Movement Composition. Stimulated Recall interviews and Zoom interviews were also conducted with a group of five PETE students and three experienced PE teachers. In addition, documents such as the study guide, course literature, and written assignments associated with Movement Composition in the PETE programme were included in the empirical material. In the analysis, the combination of Bernstein’s pedagogic device and the Swedish didactics of PE research tradition was used to identify the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition in the transition from PETE to school PE.

Findings: The findings show how the pedagogic discourse of Movement Composition as a content area is constructed, recontextualised and realised in the transition from PETE to school PE. The construction of Movement Composition as a pedagogic discourse in PETE is about how the content area (the what) is selected and organised for pedagogical purposes. The recontextualisation of Movement Composition is about how the pedagogic discourse is interpreted and translated in relation to the PE syllabus. The realisation of Movement Composition involves how the content area in PETE is implemented in PE practice. 

Conclusions: This exploratory study has shown that what is articulated as a relevant content area and the way it is taught, learned, and assessed in PETE in many regards survives the transition to school PE. The transition from PETE to school PE does not only involve reproduction of sports and sport-techniques from one context to another. PETE also contributes to the use of creative, collaborative, and student-centred learning tasks in school PE. 

The purpose of this study is to explore the recontextualisation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) as a particular content area in the transition between a university course and a school placement course within Swedish physical education teacher education (PETE). By combining Basil Bernstein’s pedagogic device and Stephen Ball’s performativity perspective, we alternately ask how AfL is constructed as a pedagogic discourse and what AfL becomes in different contexts within PETE. Nine students attending a Swedish PETE programme participated in the study. The empirical material was collected through one seminar and two group interviews at the university, as well as through nine individual interviews based on lesson observations at different school placements. Our findings highlight five recontextualising rules, which indicate that: (1) the task of integrating assessment into teaching enables the use of AfL; (2) an exclusive focus on summative assessment and grading constrains the use of AfL; (3) a lack of critical engagement with physical education teaching traditions constrains the use of AfL; (4) knowing the pupils is crucial for the use of AfL; and (5) the framing of the school placements determines how AfL can be used. As a consequence of these rules, AfL was transformed into three different fabrications: (1) AfL as ideal teaching; (2) AfL as correction of shortcomings; and (3) AfL as ‘what works’. One conclusion from this study is that increased collaboration between teacher educators and cooperating teachers in schools can help strengthen PETE’s influence on school physical education

In this paper, we will address the question of how physical education teacher education (PETE) matters and suggest one way to explore the potential impact of PETE. A distinguishing feature of the studies of PETE's impact on physical education is that they either include perspectives from preservice teachers involved in PETE courses or perspectives from physical education teachers in schools looking back at their education. Longitudinal attempts to follow preservice teachers’ journey from education to workplace, in order to grasp how they perceive the relation between teacher education and teaching practice in schools, and the transition between these contexts, are few and far between. This gap of knowledge is a missing piece of the puzzle to further develop PETE, and to inform life-long professional development for teachers. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we develop and present a methodological approach for investigating the transition of content areas from courses in PETE into teaching practice in school physical education. Second, we will illustrate the potential utility of this methodological approach in longitudinal studies by showing how one particular content area, Assessment for Learning (AfL), was investigated through the use of methods and theories described in the first part of this paper. The suggested longitudinal approach involves Stimulated Recall (SR) interviews with pre- and postservice teachers, observations and communication with groups of students and teachers through social media. The construction, recontextualisation and realisation of pedagogic discourses regarding content areas are suggested to be analysed through a combination of Bernstein's concept of the pedagogic device and Ball's concept of fabrication. The longitudinal design and the suggested methodology can provide answers to how content areas are transformed in and between PETE and school physical education. A combination of the theoretical perspectives of Bernstein and Ball enables us to say something not only about how pedagogic discourses regarding content areas are constructed, recontextualised and realised in PETE and school physical education, but also about what content areas become in terms of fabrications in the transition between these contexts. To conclude, we argue that the methodological research design can be used to explore different content areas in PETE and that this methodology can contribute to knowledge about how PETE matters for school physical education.

The purpose of this study is to explore the recontextualisation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) asa particular content area in the transition between a university course and a school placementcourse within Swedish physical education teacher education (PETE). By combining Basil Bernstein’spedagogic device and Stephen Ball’s performativity perspective, we alternately ask how AfL isconstructed as a pedagogic discourse and what AfL becomes in different contexts within PETE.Nine students attending a Swedish PETE programme participated in the study. The empiricalmaterial was collected through one seminar and two group interviews at the university, as well asthrough nine individual interviews based on lesson observations at different school placements.Our findings highlight five recontextualising rules, which indicate that: (1) the task of integratingassessment into teaching enables the use of AfL; (2) an exclusive focus on summative assessmentand grading constrains the use of AfL; (3) a lack of critical engagement with physical educationteaching traditions constrains the use of AfL; (4) knowing the pupils is crucial for the use of AfL; and(5) the framing of the school placements determines how AfL can be used. As a consequence ofthese rules, AfL was transformed into three different fabrications: (1) AfL as ideal teaching; (2) AfLas correction of shortcomings; and (3) AfL as ‘what works’. One conclusion from this study is thatincreased collaboration between teacher educators and cooperating teachers in schools can helpstrengthen PETE’s influence on school physical education.

As a part of the discussion about how movement knowledge is valued in physical education teacher education (PETE), issues of assessment have been brought to the fore. Studies have shown that how and when movement knowledge is assessed is strongly culturally dependent and based different epistemological orientations. The aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss how preservice teachers in Sweden perceive assessment in an invasion games course according to the games performance assessment instrument (GPAI). The empirical material presented in this study is based on a web-survey carried out at the end of the invasion games course where the participants were asked to write comments of how the experienced GPAI and its relevance in school physical education. The findings suggest that the preservice teacher experience prediction and measurement of appropriate and non-appropriate behaviours in GPAI as problematic from a didactic perspective. The ideas of “correctness” and “appropriateness”, which are fundamental in GPAI, is discussed in the relation to the socially critical constructivist epistemology that underpins Swedish PETE.

Scholars argue that movement content knowledge in physical education teacher education (PETE) needs to be revisited and problematised. In this paper we develop the concept of movement capability representing a widened view of movement content knowledge. If teacher educators want to teach movement capability as an intrinsic educational goal in PETE there is an apparent need to consider what to teach, how it is taught and also how movement capability is understood by the learners. The aim of this paper is to analyse how PETE students experience the meaning of movement capability through the teaching in aquatics, dance and ice-skating. This study takes its departure from a number of previous empirical studies investigating the meaning of movement capability. Interviews with seven PETE students, divided into two focus groups, were conducted on three occasions. A phenomenographic analysis shows four qualitatively different ways of experiencing the meaning of movement capability. Major differences that can be seen when comparing the results of a previous study on physical education teachers and students in PETE are the aspect of subjective experiences and the aspect of the observer. In the main, the students do not seem to take into account an observer’s point of view to the same extent as the group of teachers. The results will hopefully contribute to a deeper and more complex understanding of what can be seen as movement capability in PETE and physical education, and thereby enhance development of the teaching and learning of this capability.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss physical education teacher education (PETE) students’ conceptions of teaching and assessment of movement capability as a part of content knowledge in aquatics, dance and ice-skating at a university in Sweden. The theoretical perspective involves Shulman’s concept of content knowledge, the further elaboration of content knowledge into common content knowledge, and the theoretical perspective underpinning movement capability. The sample consists of two groups with a total of seven PETE students who volunteered to take part in group interviews. Semi-structured interviews with the two groups were conducted on three occasions. Findings display that the students’ conceptions of movement capability seem to be focused around performance of movements. Further, the participants felt the messages to be unclear in terms of what they are to know regarding movement capability before entering PETE. There was also a contradiction in that the PETE students felt it to be obvious that they would ‘know’ certain movements, and at the same time they requested clear and distinct criteria when it came to the performance of movements. This study shows that expectations in terms of PETEstudents’ levels of movement content knowledge need to be further investigated and discussed.

This study also highlights the importance of conceptualising what PETE students need to learn if they are to see the need to develop their movement capability on their own. Assessments of students’ reflections on what it means to master movements are discussed as an alternative to assessment of performance of movements.

Introduktion/Introduction

En tilltagande akademisering av lärarutbildning under de senaste decennierna har inneburit att kurser innehållande olika former av rörelse inom idrottslärarutbildning har reducerats. I diskussionen om hur olika former av ämneskunskap för blivande idrottslärare ska värderas, så har frågor om bedömning av rörelseförmåga lyfts fram. Inom tex mål- och nätspel, ett populärt innehåll i skolämnet idrott och hälsa i Sverige, har bedömningsmodeller utvecklats och undersökts. En av de mer etablerade är Games Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI).

Syfte och teoretisk ram/Aim and theoretical framework

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera och diskutera idrottslärarstudenters syn på undervisning och bedömning av GPAI i en målspelskurs på ett lärosäte i Sverige. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten tas i Shulmans perspektiv på ämneskunskap (CK) och ämnesdidaktisk kunskap (PCK).

Metod/Method

Målspelskursen som ingår i denna studie omfattar tre högskolepoäng och involverar sex lektioner (90 min) vardera av målspelen fotboll, handboll och basket, dvs. totalt 18 lektioner. Kursen ägde rum under studenternas första termin på ämneslärarprogrammet. Vid en av lektionerna i respektive målspel fokuserades GPAI specifikt. Under kursens två avslutande pass skedde bedömning och utvärdering av GPAI. Det empiriska materialet i studien består av en web-baserad utvärdering av de deltagande studenternas (n=95 studenter) syn på GPAI. Studenterna har fått skriva kommentarer om hur de upplevde att bli bedömda enligt GPAI och hur de ser på att använda GPAI i skolämnet idrott och hälsa. 85 kommentarer samlades in och analyserades. Studien genomfördes under september till december 2016.

Resultat/Results

Resultaten visar att många studenter ser en potential i GPAI för att utveckla förmågan att analysera målspel. Flera studenter uttrycker dock också kritik mot GPAI avseende: relevansen för betygsättning i skolan, en upplevelse av orättvisa och utsatthet i bedömningen samt svårigheten i att observera och dokumentera ”in action”. De hävdade förtjänsterna med GPAI tycks främst relatera till lärande av ämnesdidaktisk kunskap medan kritiken tycks mer relaterad till betygsättning av ämneskunskap i målspel.

Diskussion och slutsatser/Discussion and conclusions

Studenternas olika uttryck för potentialen med GPAI kan relateras dels till ett dynamiskt och situerat perspektiv på ämnesdidaktik (ett fokus på kontextuella skillnader och individuella erfarenheter), dels till en behaviouristiskt och statiskt perspektiv på ämneskunskap och ämnesdidaktik (fokus på tester och mätning). Vi menar att dessa olika perspektiv på lärarkunskap måste ses i relation till de epistemologiska perspektiv som dominerar den kontext där studien genomförs. En viktig slutsats är att även om de epistemologiska perspektiv som genomsyrar den ursprungliga konstruktionen och syftet med GPAI inte matchar den socialt kritiska och konstruktivistiska kunskapssyn som genomsyrar svensk idrottslärarutbildning, så har ändå vissa element i GPAI visat sig vara av värde för att utveckla ämnesdidaktisk kunskap i målspel.

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyse and discuss the  statements made by Australian physical education teacher educators (PETE) in terms of how they perceive and value movement content knowledge (CK) in their assessment of  movement courses. Drawing on Shulman’s perspective of CK, this paper builds on qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with nine teacher educators from a total of seven PETE universities in New South Wales as well as written unit outlines including  assignments from these PETE universities. The main results from the study show that among the participants, movement CK is conceptualised as physical movement performance. This conceptualisation limits the value placed on movement CK in the assessment of PETE students. Further, movement courses are  often assessed using written assignments rather than practice oriented  assignments. The findings have been analysed and  discussed in relation to Shulman-inspired concepts of CK and  pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), as well as in relation to  epistemological perspectives in PETE.

Research display mixed results regarding the impact that teacher education have on teaching practices in schools. While some studies indicate weak influence of teacher education, others display that some content and perspectives in teacher education seem to find their expressions in school practice. Despite the lack of research about the impact of physical education teacher education (PETE), a few existing studies display the same twofold result as for teacher education in general. In this study, we have chosen a certain content, assessment of learning (AFL) in order to investigate the influence that PETE can have for newly qualified teachers (NQT) in physical education (PE). The aim of the project is twofold. Firstly, inspired by Bernstein’s theory of the pedagogic device, the aim is to investigate how AFL is constructed in university courses, re-contextualised in practicum courses, and realised in teaching practice in school PE. Secondly, and inspired by Ball’s theory of performativity, the aim is to analyse fabrications of AFL in the transitions from PETE to PE teaching practice. The design of the project is to follow a total of 10 PETE students recruited from two different PETE universities in Sweden to study how their understanding and teaching practice of AFL is transformed from PETE to PE. Empirical material will be gathered from recordings of seminars, observations for teaching, stimulated-recall-interviews, and participation in social media.

The general knowledge base of Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (HPETE) is growing stronger. As a part of that knowledge base there is an ongoing discussion of the meaning of HPETE students’ movement capabilities (Brown 2013, Capel et al 2011, Johnson 2013, Siedentop 2009, Tinning 2010). Lee Shulman’s (1987) framework of Content Knowledge (CK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) have been used by scholars to examine how students’ ability to move and their ability to teach are valued in HPETE (Backman & Pearson 2016, Herold & Waring 2016, Ward et al 2015). However, the students’ own voices about these issues have rarely been acknowledged. The aim with this paper is therefore to examine how HPETE students at one university in Sweden experience the assessment of movement knowledge in and about aquatics, dance and ice-skating. Semi-structured interviews with two groups including a total of seven students were performed by the one researcher at three different occasions. The interviewing researcher’s regularly work is not at the same university as the participating students. The interviews focused specifically on the teaching and assessment of aquatics, dance and skating within the first semester of HPETE. The transcription of the six interviews was performed by external assistance and the students were all anonymized in the transcribed material. The following analysis, performed by two researchers stationed at the same university as the participating students, focused on how the transcribed material related to the aim and the concepts of Shulman. Preliminary results show several expressions of that the students in our study were not sure of what kinds or what level of movement knowledge were expected of them as they entered HPETE. Further, several students expressed limited possibilities to develop movement ability merely through HPETE teaching but at the same time, practicing unfamiliar movements outside HPETE teacher-led teaching was rare. Although assessment of movement knowledge were most commonly expressed as a qualitative process, some students mentioned that they occasionally experienced assessment of movement knowledge as “a-tick-in-a-box”. Interestingly, the cognitive aspects of movement knowledge (i.e. describe, observe, analyse, discuss, etc.) were on the one hand expressed as vital, but on the other as less characterized by learning compared to the practice of movement skills. The results will be analysed and discussed in relation to research within the field and in relation to Lee Shulman’s framework of CK and PCK. Although making no claims to generalize the results in this study based on the limited number of participants, they might contribute to the discussion of what forms of knowledge to prioritise in HPETE, and thereby also help develop HPE on a school level.

References

Backman, E. & Pearson, P. 2016. “We should assess the students in more authentic situations”. Swedish PE teacher educators’ views of the meaning of movement skills for future PE teachers. European Physical Education Review. 22(1): 47-64.

Brown, T.D. 2013. “A vision lost? (Re)articulating an Arnoldian conception of education ‘in’ movement in physical education.” Sport, Education and Society 18 (1): 21-37.

Capel, S., Hayes, S., Katene, W. and P. Velija. 2011. “The interaction of factors which influence secondary student physical education teachers’ knowledge and development as teachers.” European Physical Education Review, 17 (2): 183–201.

Herold, F. and M. Waring. 2016. “Is practical subject matter knowledge still important? Examining the Siedentopian perspective on the role of content knowledge in physical education teacher education.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17408989.2016.1192592

Johnson, T.G. 2013. “The value of performance in Physical Education teacher education.” Quest 65 (4): 485-497.

Shulman, L.S. 1987. “Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform.” Harvard Educational Review 57 (1): 1-21.

Siedentop, D. 2009. “Content Knowledge for Physical Education. In The Routledge Physical Education Reader, edited by R. Bailey and D. Kirk, 243-253. Abingdon: Routledge

Tinning, R. 2010. Pedagogy and human movement: theory, practice, research. Abingdon: Routledge.

Ward, P., Kim, I., Ko, B. and W. Li. 2015. “Effects of Improving Teachers’ Content Knowledge on Teaching and Student Learning in Physical Education.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 86 (2): 130–139.

Inom idrottslärarutbildning har detutbildningsinnehåll som handlar om att utveckla studenters ämneskunskaper iidrott kraftigt reducerats under de senaste decennierna. Inte minst har den delav ämneskunskapen som handlar om studenters förmåga att delta i och undervisaom idrottsliga praktiker drabbats (Kirk 2010). När utrymmet för ett ämnesområdebegränsas aktualiseras frågor om innehåll och bedömning. Alltmedan de flestainom fältet är eniga om betydelsen för studenter att få erfarenheter av rörelseoch idrott under sin utbildning finns olika uppfattningar om huruvida man skabedöma studenters förmåga att praktiskt utöva idrott. Hur man förhåller sigdenna fråga har i hög grad visat sig vara kulturellt betingat (Backman &Pearson submitted, Herold & Waring 2009, Siedentop 2009, Tinning 2010). Isvensk idrottslärarutbildning har just den idrottsliga bedömningens vara ellerinte vara visat på en komplexitet och ambivalens (Backman & Pearson 2016).I en tid av alltmer begränsade resurser har problematiken delvis handlat omhuruvida man ska bedöma (och därigenom värdera) studentens förmåga att delta iidrott som ett mål i sig eller om man ska bedöma studentens förmåga attundervisa i och om idrott (Backman & Larsson 2016, Maivorsdotter et al2014). I de studier som belyst den idrottsliga färdighetens position ochbetydelse inom idrottslärarutbildning har studenters röst varit sparsamtförekommande. I denna studie vill vi därför, genom en implementering av eninternationellt etablerad modell för studentmedbedömning i bollspel (GamesPerformance Assessment Instrument, GPAI) (Oslin et al 1998) i kurser förblivande idrottslärare, ge röst åt studenters syn på studentbedömning avförmågan att spela bollspel. I studien har 140 studenter (N=140) pålärarprogrammet vid

Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan i Stockholm deltagit. Studien är genomförd inom ramen för en ordinarie bollspelskurs om 3 hp som motsvarar 18 lektionstillfällen med 90 minuters undervisning vid varje tillfälle. Till detta lades två extra lektioner om 90 min för att genomföra studien/datainsamlingen. Studenterna har under och efter kursen bidragit till datainsamlingen i kursen genom ifyllande av etablerade bedömningsformulär där de analyserat varandras spelförmåga. Vidare har studenterna svarat på en utvärdering av hur GPAI implementerats i kursen med hjälp av ett enkätverktyg. Syftet med kursen som studenterna deltagit i är att studenterna ska utveckla sin spelförmåga, leda målspel i skolan samt didaktiska aspekter på målspel i skolan. Studien har omfattat studentmedbedömning i spelen handboll, basket och fotboll som inte enbart ska ses som en utbildning i dessa spel utan som representation för bollspel i allmänhet. Deltagarna i studien representerar alla studenter som hösten 2016 läste den beskrivna kursen. Alla studenter fick information om att deltagandet var frivilligt och att de kunde avbryta när som helst utan att det skulle på verka deras betyg eller vara negativt för dem på något annat sätt. Alla studenter ville vara med i studien. I vår preliminära analys har vi funnit att studenternas observationer av varandra visade på stor variation avseende spelförmåga. I utvärderingen av GPAI-projektet har studenterna uttryckt att de visserligen förstod syftet med GPAI-projektet, och att de förstod hur de skulle bidra till datainsamlingen genom att analysera varandras spelförmåga, men att de var tveksamma till relevansen av GPAI i en bedömningskontext i skolan. Resultaten kommer att analyseras vidare och diskuteras i relation till Shulmans begrepp ämneskunskap (Content Knowledge) och ämnesdidaktisk kunskap (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) samt i relation till teorier om bedömning. I en diskussion där perspektiven ofta begränsas till forskarens och/eller idrottslärarutbildarens kan studenter bidra med viktig kunskap om vad de ser som relevant kunskap för sin kommande yrkesroll.

Referenser

Backman, E & Pearson, P (submitted) Is movement knowledge common, specialized or pedagogic? Voices of teacher educators on assessment of movement and sport courses in the preparation of Australian HPE teachers. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. 

Backman, E & Pearson, P (2016) “We should assess the students in more authentic situations”. Swedish PE teacher educators’ views of the meaning of movement skills for future PE teachers. European Physical Education Review. 22(1), 47-64.

Backman, E & Larsson, H (2016) What should a Physical Education teacher know? An analysis of learning outcomes for future Physical Education teachers in Sweden. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. 21(2), 185-200.

Herold F and Waring M (2009) Pre-service physical education teachers’ perceptions of subject knowledge: Augmenting learning to teach. European Physical Education Review 15(3): 337–364.

Kirk D (2010) Physical Education Futures. Abingdon: Routledge.

Oslin, J.L., S.A. Mitchell, & L.L. Griffin. (1998). The Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI): Development and preliminary validation. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 17(2) p. 231–243.

Siedentop D (2009) Content Knowledge for Physical Education. In: Bailey R and Kirk D (eds) The Routledge Physical Education Reader. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 243-253.

Tinning R (2010) Pedagogy and human movement: theory,practice, research. Abingdon: Routledge.

The general knowledge base of Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (HPETE) is growing stronger. As a part of that knowledge base there is an ongoing discussion of the meaning of HPETE students’ movement capabilities. Lee Shulman’s framework of Content Knowledge (CK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) have been used by scholars to examine how students’ ability to move and their ability to teach are valued in HPETE. However, the students’ own voices about these issues have rarely been acknowledged. The aim with this paper is therefore to examine how HPETE students at one university in Sweden experience how movement knowledge in certain movement activities are valued in the assessment. Semi-structured interviews with two groups (3-4 students in each) with a total of seven students was performed at three different occasions focusing specifically on how aquatics, dance and skating was taught and assessed within the first semester of HPETE. Preliminary results of our first analysis of the students’ expressions of their education in aquatics show that the students experience qualitative dimension in the assessment of their performances in aquatics as well as a quantitative measurement. They also expressed a lack of teacher-led occasions for learning in and about aquatics before they assessed. Students were also uncertain of how their own practical performance was acknowledged in the assessment of aquatics in relation to their ability to observe and give feedback on their peers’ performance. The results will be analysed and discussed using Lee Shulman’s framework of CK and PCK. By extension, these results might contribute to the discussion of what forms of knowledge to prioritise in HPETE, and thereby also help develop HPE on a school level.

In the context of physical education teacher education (PETE), content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) are constructions of different forms of teacher knowledge that have been used to address knowledge of a subject and knowledge of teaching a subject to young people (Herold & Waring 2009, Siedentop 2009, Tinning 2010). This paper addresses how these two forms of teacher knowledge are valued through a study of learning outcomes (LOs) in syllabus documents at a sample of PETE universities in New South Wales, Australia. The US educationalist Lee Shulman (1987) originally defined CK as “the accumulation of literature and studies in content areas, and the historical and philosophical scholarship on the nature of knowledge in those fields of study” (p. 8-9). In the PETE context, CK is constructed by various sub-disciplines (Tinning 2010). According to Siedentop (2009), one of the most fundamental as well as the most marginalized of these sub-disciplines, is PE teacher students’ knowledge of movement. In this study, specific interest is devoted to how CK and PCK are expressed in documents regulating sport and movement courses within PETE. Regarding PCK, Shulman (1987) suggests it to be “that special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding” (p. 8. Globally, there seems to be an agreement for the importance of future PE teachers to experience movement and sport practices during their education. However, there also seems to be different ideas about whether CK or PCK should by prioritized in the teaching and assessment of movement and sport practices during PETE (Backman & Pearson 2016, Capel, et al 2011, Herold & Waring 2009, Johnson 2013, Tinning 2010). The study of how LOs are expressed in an educational context can inform us not only of what forms of knowledge are most valued. It might also say something about PE teacher educators’ abilities to formulate his/her expectations of the student’s performance. For this instance, the discussion of learning objectives as formulated in university courses has lately been intensified. In Europe, this discussion has been strongly related to the intentions in the Bologna-declaration (Adam 2008, Brooks et al 2014, Hussey & Smith 2008). Some of the issues raised in the literature have concerned ways of formulating verbs in learning outcomes, student activity built into learning outcomes, and level of difficulty in learning outcomes (Adam 2008, Biggs & Tang 2007). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse LOs formulated in syllabus document for sport courses at a sample of Australian PETE institutions. Further, the aim is to discuss these LOs through a framework regarding teacher knowledge originating from Lee Shulman (1987). Although PETE, like university programs in other subjects, are historical and cultural constructions, research from European countries such as UK, France, Sweden (Backman &Pearson 2016, Capel, et al 2011, Loquet & Ranganathan 2010) display similarities with the Australian PETE context. One characteristic feature of PETE in all these countries is the relative emphasis on constructivist epistemology and critical pedagogy, although this feature appears to be somewhat stronger in Australia compared to Europe and US. In times where the content in PETE is crowded and the time for teaching is short, a study of what forms of PE teacher knowledge are valued in some Australian PETE institutions, a context where the production of PETE research has been significant during the last decades (see e.g. Forrest 2015, Garrett & Wrench 2012, MacDonald et al 2002, Tinning 2010), can therefore serve as a valuable contrast for the discussion of knowledge forms in European PETE contexts.    

Methods/methodology (up to 400 words) 

By the end of 2014, there were 24 universities across Australia offering PETE, eight in New South Wales (NSW). These eight universities in NSW makes the total sample (N=8) in the study reported in this paper. To the collection of the empirical material in form of written documents, five PETE-universities (n=5) of the total sample have contributed. Each university was asked to contribute with two unit outlines for courses in sport and movement for PETE students. A unit outline is a written document intended to give the student more specific information compared to what a curriculum document for a course will provide (e.g. regarding examination, schedule, expectations, etc). Further, a unit is generally only a part of a whole course. The collected unit outlines contained a the total number of 73 LOs. The sample of unit outlines can be described as a strategic and purposeful sample (Patton, 2002). The empirical collection from the participating universities was carried out during November and December 2014. After information about the study through e-mail and phone, a total number of 10 unit outlines were sent to the author by e-mail. In the analysis Alvesson and Sköldberg (1994) description of analytical induction or abduction has served as an inspiration. This means trying to let, on one hand, the empirical material inform the choice of theoretical perspective while on the other hand, acknowledging that some specific theoretical perspectives, in this case Shulman’s (1987) forms of teacher knowledge, have been viewed as more relevant than others before conducting the study. The primary analysis has been divided into two steps. In the first step, when reading through the collected and transcribed material questions such as: ‘What movement and sport practices do students meet during PETE in NSW?’ and ‘How are movement and sport practices expressed through the LOs in the unit outlines?’ has been asked. Asking these questions to the material has involved a process of clustering described by Patton (2002) as convergence which has been followed up by a process of divergence, that is, an exclusion of formulations and quotes that do not fit into the identified pattern. In the second stage of the analysis, the choice of Shulman’s (1987) concepts for forms of teacher knowledge was confirmed and strengthened as we discovered that the different views of assessment of movement and sport practices were clearly related to our chosen definitions of CK and PCK.

Expected outcomes/results (up to 300 words) 

The preliminary analysis of the LOs shows that the knowledge in sport and movement courses at the investigated PETE institutions is sometimes formulated as CK and sometimes as PCK (Shulman 1987). Within these two main categories there were also sub-categories related to abilities expressed through different verbs. With regards to PCK one such main sub-category addressed the students’ ability to “plan, arrange, carry out and assess different forms of teaching situations”. Further, another ability expressed within the PCK category was the ability to “observe, analyse and critically reflect over educational practices”. These two PCK sub-categories clearly reflect research emphasizing critical pedagogy in Australian PETE (Garrett & Wrench 2012, MacDonald et al 2002, Tinning 2010). Further, two other forms of sub-categories, expressed both as CK and as PCK, was firstly, the ability to “perform movements” and secondly, the ability to “demonstrate an understanding” of different forms of movement and sport practices. Findings will be discussed in relation to research criticizing the decrease of sport performances in PETE (Herold & Waring 2009, Siedentop 2009) as well as work emphasizing the importance to teach and assess movement practices to PETE students in contextualized situations (Backman & Pearson 2016). The concept of “understanding” was found to be very commonly used in LOs both when expressed as CK and as PCK. Generally, students were encouraged to “demonstrate an understanding” of different forms of knowledge. In literature of how to formulate knowledge in higher education, the concept of understanding has been discussed, sometimes criticized as lacking precision (Adam 2008, Biggs & Tang 2007), sometimes claimed to be under-contextualised (Hussey & Smith 2008). Part of the discussion will focus on various meanings of understanding in sport courses at some Australian PETE-institutions and how these meanings can differ depending on whether CK or PCK is addressed.

Intent of publication:  

References (400 words)

Adam, S. (2008). Learning Outcomes Current Developments in Europe: Update on the Issues and Applications of Learning Outcomes Associated with the Bologna Process. Retrieved 12 May 2015, from http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/BolognaSeminars/documents/Edinburgh/Edinburgh_Feb08_Adams.pdf

Alvesson, M. & Sköldberg, K. (1994). Tolkning och Reflektion. Vetenskapsfilosofi och Kvalitativ Metod. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Backman, E. & Pearson, P. (2016) ‘We should assess the students in more authentic situations’: Swedish PE teacher educators’ views of the meaning of movement skills for future PE teachers. European Physical Education Review, 22, 47–64.

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Third edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Brooks, S., Dobbins, K., Scott, J. J., Rawlinson, M., & Norman, R. I. (2014). Learning about Learning Outcomes: The Student Perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 19, 721-733.

Capel, S., Hayes, S., Katene, W. and Velija, P. (2011). The interaction of factors which influence secondary student physical education teachers’ knowledge and development as teachers. European Physical Education Review, 17, 183–201.

Forrest, G. (2015). Systematic assessment of game-centred approach practices – the game-centred approach Assessment Scaffold. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20, 144-158.

Garrett, R. & Wrench, A. (2012). ‘Society has taught us to judge’: cultures of the body in teacher education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40, 111–126.

Herold, F. & Waring, M. (2009). Pre-service physical education teachers’ perceptions of subject knowledge: Augmenting learning to teach. European Physical Education Review, 15, 337–364.

Hussey, T., & Smith, P. (2008). Learning Outcomes: A Conceptual Analysis. Teaching in Higher Education, 13 (1), 107-115.

Johnson, T.G. (2013). The value of performance in Physical Education teacher education. Quest, 65, 485-497.

Loquet, M. & Ranganathan, M. (2010). Content knowledge in teaching, an investigation into an adequate ‘milieu’ for teaching dance: The case of Indian dance in France. European Physical Education Review, 16, 65–79.

MacDonald, D., Hunter, L., Carlson, T. & Penney, D. (2002). Teacher Knowledge and the Disjunction between School Curricula and Teacher Education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 30, 259-275.

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. London: Sage Publications.

Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-21.

Siedentop, D. (2009). Content Knowledge for Physical Education. In R. Bailey & D. Kirk (Eds.), The Routledge Physical Education Reader (pp. 243-253). Abingdon: Routledge

The purpose of this article is to explore and problematise teachers’ talk about outdoor education in New Zealand. The focus is on what can be said, how it is said and the discursive effects of such ways of speaking. The inquiry draws on Foucauldian theoretical insights to analyse interview transcripts derived from semi-structured interviews with eight outdoor education teachers who work at secondary schools in New Zealand. Findings suggest that different discourses co-exist and are intertwined in the participants’ talk. Associated with a dominating discourse of adventure are subdiscourses of risk and safety, pursuit-based activities, skill and assessment. Connected to a discourse of learning are subdiscourses of environment, sustainability and social critique. Resistance towards a dominating discourse of adventure with pursuit-based activities can be traced in a discourse of learning in the form of a more place responsive pedagogy.

In Sweden, as in many European countries, Outdoor Education (OE, or its Scandinavian equivalent as friluftsliv) is in the formal school setting positioned within the subject Health and Physical Education (HPE). In the curriculum for compulsory school, implemented in 2011, OE is organized as one of three areas of knowledge along with Health and Lifestyle, and Movement. In order to meet the increasing call for a more equal assessment and grading in Swedish Schools, the Swedish National Agency of Education (SNAE) completed the curriculum in HPE with a material (text and film) named Support For Assessment (SFA) in 2012. As responsible for the construction of OE in SFA the author followed up the implementation of the SFA with several presentations and workshops for teachers in HPE during 2013 and 2014. The purpose of this presentation is to describe how OE was constructed in the SFA in Swedish HPE for compulsory school and further to analyse and discuss reactions from Swedish HPE teachers expressed in evaluations after the mentioned presentations and workshops. The results suggest that while a part of the HPE teachers found the SFA useful and effective, another part called for more concrete advices on what to assess in OE and how to assess it. Drawing on Basil Bernstein’s theories of how pedagogical messages are communicated and evaluated in school systems, the results will be discussed in relation to the classification of OE within Swedish HPE.

The question of what knowledge a student of Physical Education (PE) needs to develop during PE teacher education (PETE) was recently discussed. One form of knowledge is the movement practices that students must meet during their education. Given the limited time, a delicate matter is whether to prioritize movement knowledge and consider it as subject matter knowledge (e.g. performance of the freestyle stroke) or as pedagogical content knowledge (e.g. teaching how to perform the freestyle stroke). The aim is to investigate Swedish PE teacher educators’ views on the meaning of movement skills for future PE teachers and to analyse the learning cultures made visible in the ways the meaning of movement is expressed. We conducted interviews with 12 teachereducators and collected documents with tasks for assessment from five PETE universities in Sweden. Inspired by Bourdieu’s field metaphor, and particularly its use by Hodkinson et al. on learning cultures, we then analysed the collected material. In the results, different views on the meaning of movement skills are made visible. The PE teacher can be seen as an instructor, as well as a facilitator of movements. Movement skills can be seen as essential for a teacher in PE, as well as valuable but not essential. Movement quality can also be viewed as universal, as well as contextual. Swedish teacher educators in PE appear to ascribe value to all the positions made visible in this study. These results are discussed from the perspectives of epistemology, assessment and learning cultures.

Research indicates that Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) has only limited impact on how physical education (PE) is taught in schools. This paper offers possible explanations for the difficulties of influencing subject traditions in PE through analysing PETE curriculum documents. The purpose is show how knowledge is expressed through learning outcomes in local curriculum documents at six PETE institutions in Sweden. Inspired by Fenstermacher’s ideas about teacher knowledge, our ambition is to discuss the potential educational consequences of the epistemological assumptions underlying specific learning outcomes. From the total number of 224 learning outcomes described in the curriculum documents, different types of knowledge were identified and clustered together into the following themes: Teaching PE, Interpreting curriculum documents, Physical movement skills, Science, Social health, Pedagogy, Critical inquiry, and Research methods. In most of the identified themes, learning outcomes are formulated with an integrated perspective on so called performance knowledge and propositional knowledge. However, particularly in the themes Science and Physical movement skills, two very influential themes, the concept of knowledge is limited and unilateral in relation to ideas of different forms of teacher knowledge. Drawing on the work of Tinning, we offer an explanation as to how teacher knowledge in the themes Science and Physical movement skills, emanating from behaviouristic and craft knowledge orientations, is formulated.

The discussion of what constitute subject matter knowledge in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) has been intense and ongoing, particularly in the US and in Australia. One central part of this discussion have concerned the movement and sporting practices that students meet during their education. While most PETE scholars agree on the value for PETE students to experience movement and sport practices during their education, there are different ideas about the extent and in what form these should be taught and as to whether, and in what form, these should be assessed. In Australia, the discussion of movement and sport practices in PETE has very much been focused on various adaptations of the Sport Education model, the Game Centered Approach and Teaching Games for Understanding. However, given the limitations of time and resources, the issue of whether to prioritize movement and sport practices seen as a form of knowledge in itself or as means for teaching pupils in, through and about movement, has only been slightly dealt with in research of Australian PETE. Inspired by Shulman’s division of different forms of teacher knowledge, and in particular subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, we want to address gaps in the Australian research on movement and sport practices in PETE. Illuminating the local construction of dominant as well as marginalized research discourses might help identify issues in need of research.