Seeing is believing: Primary generalist pre-service teachers’ observations of physical education lessons in Ireland and Switzerland

Participants and context

The participants in this study were four Irish, final-year undergraduates undertaking a B.Ed. in Primary Teaching (three females and one male). The opportunity for four participants to take part in the PEERS project was offered to the 25 final year students undertaking the PE specialism and these four PSTs applied to take part. The specialism in primary PE involves five PE related modules (120 contact hours) for these 25 PSTs in addition to the two PE modules (48 contact hours) undertaken by all PSTs as part of their degree programme.

The Irish and Swiss PEITEs were responsible for the PEERS project programme and planning. As part of the project experience the two PEITEs arranged PE lessons with schools and teachers in their respective countries for the PSTs to observe. The teachers and the schools chosen were known to the PEITEs and contexts which the PEITEs felt the PSTs would learn from. Seven teachers were observed, five from primary schools and two from secondary schools (see Table 1). The secondary schools were chosen as two of the Swiss PSTs were studying to become PE specialists at both primary and post-primary levels. This gave the primary generalist PSTs from both Ireland and Switzerland an opportunity to observe PE specialists teach. To ensure the PSTs observed in a range of schools, one of the schools chosen was a Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) school. These designated schools are identified to help children and young people who are at risk of, or who are experiencing, educational disadvantage and they tend to have lower numbers of children in their classes and receive additional resources (Department of Education and Skills, 2017).

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Table 1

Summary of school context and lesson content.

Place	Context	Content of lesson	Class size
School A, Dublin, Ireland	Senior infants (boys and girls aged 5–6) Teacher A Lesson took place outdoors	Throwing and catching, four stations with different activities going on simultaneously	30
School A, Dublin, Ireland	Junior infants (boys and girls aged 4–5) Teacher A Lesson took place outdoors	Whole class throwing and catching activities Knock down and build up cone game Bowling to knock over cones	27
School A, Dublin, Ireland	Senior infants (boys and girls aged 5–6) Teacher A Lesson took place outdoors	Throwing and catching, four stations with different activities going on simultaneously	28
School B, Dublin, Ireland	First class (girls aged 6–7) Teacher B Lesson took place in school hall	Athletics (focus on the relay and baton changeover)	29
School C, Dublin, Ireland DEISa school	Second year (girls aged 14–15) Teacher C The introduction and closure of the lesson took place in the classroom and the main part of the lesson took place on the school yard	Rounders (a popular striking and fielding game in Ireland) Focus of the lesson was to promote positive attitudes towards physical activity and towards their classmates	14
School D, Lausanne, Switzerland	Second level (boys and girls aged 13–14 years) Teacher D Well-equipped gymnasium	Gymnastics with a focus on balance and co-ordination	13
School E, Lausanne, Switzerland	Year 5 (boys and girls aged 8 years) Teacher E School uses local community hall for physical education	Athletics with a focus on the high jump	17
School F, Lausanne, Switzerland	Years 1–2 (boys and girls aged 4–5 years) Teacher F Very well-equipped primary school with a swimming pool and lots of equipment	Gymnastics with a focus on jumping	20
School G, Lausanne, Switzerland	Special education class (boys and girls, 14–15 years) Teacher G Local ice-skating rink	Ice-skating skills and game (ice hockey) practice	9

^aDEIS: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools.

The PSTs observed three teachers in Ireland teach games skills, athletics and gymnastics (six lessons) during the first week. Four months later they observed four teachers in Switzerland teach gymnastics, athletics and ice hockey (four lessons) (see Table 1 for further details) during week two of the PEERS project. Each teacher provided the PSTs with an outline lesson plan prior to the lesson observation. They met with the PSTs prior to or after the lesson depending on which was most convenient for them to answer any questions the PSTs may have had. The teachers took this opportunity to explain their teaching philosophy and any contextual issues which they felt were important for the PSTs’ understanding of their teaching. The PEERS project, therefore, provided supervised field experiences which were authentic opportunities to think reflectively and critically (Yost and Sentner, 2000) about the teaching practices they observed. This study was awarded ethical approval by the faculty Research Ethics Committee of the university where the research was conducted.

Data collection

Data were collected at various points throughout the project and consisted of one planning discussion, two reflective discussions (post-Irish lesson observations and post-Swiss lesson observations involving the PEITEs and the PSTs) and 40 critical incident observations completed by the PSTs.

The planning discussion was to establish what critical incidents would be noted while observing the lessons and how these observations might be carried out. This discussion lasted approximately an hour and was recorded and transcribed. During initial preparation for the PEERs project, the PSTs studied research articles on critical incidents (Francis, 1997; Griffin, 2003; Placer and Dodds, 1988), which informed the development of the research project. The PSTs reflected on personal teaching practices which they felt they needed to improve, based on their previous school placement experiences and the feedback they had received. The PSTs were to complete their final school placement experience immediately after their lesson observations in Switzerland and therefore saw this as an opportunity to inform their imminent, as well as future, teaching. A critical incident observation template was created by the PSTs in consultation with their PEITE (see Figure 1), informed by the critical incident literature, to guide their observations. The PSTs agreed the critical incidents to be observed including: (a) questioning and demonstrating; (b) inclusion; (c) organisation and management; and (d) feedback. Forty observation templates completed by the PSTs were collected during the two weeks of observations. Each PST observed the lessons while making notes on all identified critical incidents. Although observing globally, each PST agreed to focus on one particular critical incident during the lesson observations to limit the possibility of any critical incident being missed.

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Figure 1

Critical incident observation template.

The reflective discussions, each lasting 40–45 minutes, took place at the host institute following each week’s observations and were recorded and transcribed for analysis. The reflective discussions were carried out to guide the PSTs to reflect on action and connect theory to practice as they described their observations of the critical incidents, reflected on them, came to new understandings in many cases and discussed how these might affect their actions in the classroom in the future (Griffin, 2003). The PSTs were prompted to consider: (a) their previous personal experiences; (b) the critical incidents they observed; (c) similarities and differences between countries, schools and teachers; and (d) teacher–student relationships. The final reflective discussion was designed to explore the PSTs’ perceptions of their learning throughout the project and to give them opportunities to reframe their new understandings of teaching.

Data analysis

A general inductive approach (Patton, 2002) to data analysis was adopted. Following familiarisation with all observational data by each PST and the PEITE separately, detailed analysis took place together using hard copy data. Coding involved looking for distinct concepts and categories within each of the data sets informed by the critical incident focus. Data from each PST were further analysed independently across observations by the PEITE. Through discussion, key messages developed from the data set were agreed. Next, the three reflective discussions were analysed by the PEITE in search of confirmation, explanation and additional insight on the key messages identified from the critical incident observations. To conclude, the PSTs examined the PEITE’s analysis and findings were agreed and finalised. The involvement of the PSTs and the PEITE in the analysis process and the triangulation of multiple data sources resulted in a detailed and thorough process of data examination that supported trustworthiness.

Questioning and demonstrating

Questioning in the lessons observed was noted by the PSTs to have a variety of purposes and the style of questioning was very different depending on the children and the context. This highlighted for the PSTs how purposeful questioning can be an integral part of PE for both young learners (infant classes) and also in older years by addressing children’s needs and developing questions to suit children’s ages and abilities. According to Hastie and Martin (2006: 91), ‘good high-level questioning strategies encourage students by fostering critical thinking skills, thereby encouraging interaction to create students’ own sense of understanding’. The lessons observed in School A:

primarily featured lower-order (closed) questioning in comparison to the pupils in School C whereby higher order (open) questioning was key to sustaining the pupils’ interests and motivating them to support one another and get involved within the lesson (RD1).

On many occasions the PSTs observed teachers use questioning to introduce and teach a skill rather than showing the children how to perform the skill straight away ‘she questions girls about position of the next runner/hand position – doesn’t tell them’ (CIOT, SB). This demonstrated for the PSTs the various uses of questioning and the variety of teaching strategies available to the teacher. It also allowed the PSTs to reframe their understanding of how a skill might be taught leading to a more social constructivist than behaviourist style of teaching. The following observation evidences how questioning has a variety of uses:

The teacher limited the amount of questions she asked at the beginning of the lesson to ensure that the children got started on the activities as soon as possible. In her instruction, the teacher went through each station quite quickly and the children began working on the stations, therefore there was not much time for questioning to check for understanding. During the main part of the lesson the teacher moved from group to group and it was at this stage that her questioning skills became evident. Different questioning types were used by the teacher while working with the groups. Firstly, she ensured that each group knew what they should be doing by asking them questions such as, “Which object have you not thrown yet?” “Have you bounced the ball off each of the islands?”. As the lesson moved on the questions required more higher-order thinking for example “Why was that object more difficult to throw?” and “How could you make the target throwing harder?” (CIOT, SA, L1).

The PSTs, when focusing their observations on demonstrations, noted that these were used primarily when the skill being taught was technical and visual support was required. However, they also observed that teachers in many instances could have ‘used the children more to demonstrate’ (RD2). In this particular critical incident, PSTs saw children take responsibility for demonstrating themselves when necessary:

The children were working on an individual activity of knocking down cones by throwing a ball and although they were working alone, they paid close attention to what other children around them were doing. One child took it upon himself to demonstrate his strategy for a friend saying, “look Alex do it like this” (CIOT, SA, L2).

The lessons observed in a different language while in Switzerland gave the PSTs another perspective on teaching and learning, and gave further value to the importance of demonstrations:

When you take the language out of the class, when you are sitting and watching and not understanding anything that’s been said you notice everything else and this was very interesting. You notice body language and how things are demonstrated – recognised how it might be for EAL [English as an Additional Language] children in your class – and how the teacher explained things and used pictures and symbols therefore even though [student] didn’t understand the words, she inferred what was happening from the body language, pictures, tone, etc. (RD2).

Inclusion of all children

Although teachers (Avramidis and Norwich, 2002), PSTs (Cardona, 2009), and more specifically PE teachers (Hodge et al., 2004) have positive attitudes towards the idea of inclusion, they also report feeling unprepared to implement inclusive practices. Prior to the lesson observations the PSTs had particular views of what they saw as ‘inclusion’. The PSTs wanted to observe when and how teachers included children with special educational needs (SEN) and those with lower ability levels. However, the observations led the PSTs to re-think their understanding of what inclusion meant for them. They observed that focusing on the learning needs of children with SEN, although important, should not be to the detriment of other children’s learning in the class. What PSTs observed reflected the theory studied in their university programme whereby inclusion is designed, according to Hastie and Martin (2006: 28), ‘to ensure that all students are able to successfully participate in an activity, develop new skills, and experience a sense of belonging in the classroom’.

The PSTs noted that teachers used differentiation to include all children in lesson activities; ‘differentiation occurred for both those who struggled to complete activities but also for those who found activities too simple and therefore were not engaged with purposeful learning’ (R2). Differentiation, observed in School A, was self-regulated:

The pupils were given a task and in turn they adjusted the complexity in accordance with their competency and abilities. The children in the senior infant class exhibited initiative and a sense of independence in developing their own strategies to complete the activity and make it more achievable, they moved the throwing targets closer to them to make the activity simpler and further away in order to increase complexity. This made the activity inclusive as pupils of all abilities could accomplish the task but with a differentiated goal in mind (CIOT, SA, L2).

Exclusion was also observed in lessons. One PST noted a critical incident where a child was misbehaving and the teacher, following a warning, ‘asked him to stand out for a few moments before allowing the child to return to activities but not before apologising for his unacceptable behaviour’ (CIOT, SE). This critical incident demonstrated that inclusion requires adherence to basic ‘rules of engagement’. Others reported this critical incident as concerning classroom management. The next sub-section will examine the observations of critical incidents regarding class management further.

Management and organisation

It has been well documented in the literature that teaching is a more complex and demanding task than ever before and requires much preparation and organisation from the teacher (Gore, 2001; Lampert, 2010). According to Merrett and Wheldall’s (1993) research, teachers believe that classroom management skills are of major importance to them professionally and they were dissatisfied with the preparation in this area of professional skills provided by their initial training courses. Similar to the research of Tsangaridou and Polemitou (2015) the PSTs in this study chose to focus on pedagogical issues including managerial aspects and believed these to be a prerequisite for effective teaching and a productive learning environment. A PE class requires a degree of structure, predictability and security for both teachers and pupils. According to Locke and Lambdin (2003: 23), ‘one key element in the transition from novice teacher to expert practitioner is the acquisition of a repertoire of methods for preventing disruptions and dealing with students who persist in misbehaving’.

This study has shown that there are more similarities than differences between teaching PE in Ireland and teaching PE in Switzerland. All PSTs observed that the main difference in management and organisation between the countries occurred when managing children’s behaviour during PE lessons. They came to the conclusion that behaviour management was related to class size. Research on class size in PE lessons has been somewhat limited (see Bevans et al., 2010; McKenzie et al., 2000; Taras, 2005). With PE being a mainly practical subject area, many of these studies mentioned that management took up an inordinate amount of time when there were large classes. More skill practice time, more activity time and more on task activity were the outcomes of small classes. Small classes would appear to provide opportunities for an improved teaching environment. The Swiss classes on average were a lot smaller in comparison to Ireland (see Table 1). Smaller classes according to the PSTs helped personalise the teacher–student relationship and, as a result, the teachers’ efforts were more effective which concurs with the findings by Barroso et al. (2005). More time could be devoted to skill development, because the one-on-one personal contact had improved. The PSTs began to understand that if teaching in large classes they would need to find a balance between time spent on class management and child learning, ensuring that child learning was the priority. They noted in the smaller Swiss classes, ‘the teacher expected attention and concentration during lessons’ (RD2). However, in Ireland the PSTs felt that teachers’ expectations were not as high, or perhaps teachers expected a certain level of distraction and/or noise during the lesson due to class size. In School A, ‘even if there was not complete silence she would continue on giving her instructions if she felt they were still listening. She wanted to keep them active for as long as possible and didn’t spend too long giving out instructions’ (RD1). It was noted that the teacher, ‘gained complete silence when it was necessary when she was giving new instructions’ (CIOT SA, L1). To ensure the children were on task in the lessons, the PSTs noted how efficiently teachers managed the children’s behaviour. This was carried out without detracting from the lesson, wasting time or personalising the behaviour, when a ‘child bouncing ball while she is talking [the teacher] instructs class to hold the ball on their belly’ (CIOT, SA, L2). The success of any method for managing disruptive behaviour, the PSTs noted, was dependant on the context in which it was used. Reflecting on observations and prior experiences, they observed many factors which were determinants of success such as age, class size, subject matter, teacher experience or school atmosphere. As pointed out by Locke and Lambdin (2003: 26), ‘no single method works everywhere, for everyone, all of the time’.

Organisational strategies were also recorded by the PSTs as opportunities to manage behaviour, increase participation, save time and in turn increase learning time:

Children walked out to the yard and are given the instruction to stand on a square, this eliminates any time wasting, confusion, need for unnecessary decisions or confusion regarding what one should do next and omits opportunity for messing. There was swift progression between each activity to keep the children’s attention and to engage them at all times. The same equipment was used throughout, i.e. the squares remained in place which prevented the need to waste time tidying up between activities (CIOT, SA, L2).

Feedback to children

Feedback is considered to be an integral variable in learning and skill acquisition and is often prescribed as a part of education and evaluation (Rink, 2013; Spittle, 2013). Feedback is often used in PE, not only in the development of physical skills (Fredenburg et al., 2001), but also as a tool to increase time spent in activity, motivation and student participation (Lee et al., 1993). The PSTs wanted to observe critical incidents involving expert teachers to provide a more complete picture of how feedback influences student outcomes in PE (Shulman, 1987). The PSTs understood how effective feedback was a result of teachers’ skilled observation of children and professional knowledge of the content, but they needed to see how teachers carried out the process. The most effective example of feedback described by one PST was where pupils were practising the high jump and many of them were leading with the wrong foot:

The teacher picked up on this mistake and stopped the children for a minute to watch a demonstration. Not only did the teacher perform the jump correctly he also demonstrated how some of the children were jumping, leading with the wrong foot. He then asked the children which way is the correct way and why that is the correct way. The children could clearly distinguish between the two jumps and were able to explain why it is better to lead with the correct foot. I took note of how many children led with the wrong foot after the first explanation of the jump and out of a class of 17, 14 of the children led with the wrong foot. After [the teacher] stopped the lesson and carried out the demonstration, only one of the children led with the wrong foot. This demonstration clearly showed the children not only how to correct their mistake but why this physical and verbal feedback was needed (CIOT, SE).

There were times during the lessons where the teacher gave specific feedback and linked with the learning outcomes and success criteria. In these cases, the PSTs outlined how this feedback supported the children’s learning and encouraged higher order thinking. There were other times where they felt that verbal feedback could have been improved by including a demonstration. The use of praise also formed an important source of feedback for the pupils in the PE lessons. Praise was considered most effective when it was specific and credible. The teachers used praise that was specific to the skill/task rather than generic praise. In School A, the teacher’s praise had an important function – offering the other children in the group feedback on their performance. In the lesson, the teacher praised one pair for correctly catching and throwing because they were both keeping their eyes on the ball and as a result the other children in the group began to do this. Whenever the teacher praised the children, she often prompted the children to focus on an aspect for improvement in her feedback, for example ‘good throw, try a bit more gently the next time’ (CIOT, SA, L3).

The feedback in the younger classes consisted of teacher praise which motivated children to participate in order to receive more positive feedback such as, ‘you’re great, you did that perfectly’ and ‘well done’ (CIOT, SA). This feedback was given during the lesson so as not to disrupt children and to motivate continued participation. The PSTs noted in some instances that feedback took other forms such as clapping and tapping on the shoulder. This feedback was in the main positive and reinforced children’s confidence to complete activities. According to Koka and Hein (2003) non-skill related feedback should be used by teachers in PE classes to keep students on task and enhance motivation. By doing this, time spent in activity will be greater, thereby increasing skill practice opportunities.

Whole class feedback was observed as being more prevalent than individual feedback to children in all schools in both countries. It addressed children’s learning and their progress throughout the lesson. The feedback was reinforced by questioning and demonstration, where the children gave correct answers and good demonstrations of the skill learned.

Peer feedback was observed by the PSTs as having a positive effect on learning:

The children responded very well to their peers’ advice and support during the lessons. In L1 I observed numerous instances of peer feedback. At the throwing and catching station one child encouraged their partner saying, “good catch!”. In a similar way, at the target station one child said to another “Yeah you made it!”. The teacher was modelling this type of motivational feedback and the children were following her example (CIOT, SA, L1).

Another PST noted, ‘I also observed one child offer encouragement to a peer saying, “so close, try again!”’ (CIOT, SA, L2). In School C the peer feedback was more specific:

As this class was older, they had been explicitly told the importance of encouraging and supporting their team mates. The girls helped each other in their skill development by telling members of their team to “go easy”, “take a step in” and “move in closer before you throw” (CIOT, SC).

The PSTs’ evolving understanding of feedback was that in order for feedback to have value, it needed to be specific, to help the learner understand what was good or bad about their skill performance in order to help facilitate learning. They also spoke of a balance being created between the provision of non-skill related feedback to keep students motivated and engaged with the task and specific feedback that can help with skill learning (RD2) which aligns with the findings of Spittle (2013). The PSTs discussed the influence that social background, age and gender had on the feedback provided (RD2). They observed that the teacher in the DEIS school’s biggest challenge was how to motivate her pupils. The PSTs felt she achieved this through supportive feedback during critical incidents, encouraging them to remain engaged in the lesson. In contrast, in the other lessons in both countries, this did not seem to be an issue and therefore the teachers could concentrate on specific feedback and focusing on developing the skills and objectives in their lessons. This was achieved by using a range of neutral, positive and even negative feedback to provide pupils with the necessary information to achieve the lesson objectives (RD2).

Based on all her observations one PST felt that ‘the contrasting difference in providing feedback to children is based on their age’ (RD2). In both countries the class teacher tended to provide more general feedback to children of younger ages compared to much more specific feedback when working with older children. Class size was discussed again following all lesson observations in relation to quality and frequency of feedback. In Switzerland, where the classes were considerably smaller, the PSTs observed, ‘the teacher provided more meaningful individual feedback’ (RD2).

The PSTs began to make links between the learning intentions and assessment strategies provided in the teachers’ lesson plans, supporting Patton and Griffin’s (2008) research where they found that use of assessment strategies promoted an alignment between planning, instruction and assessment. Providing feedback to the learner to enhance learning is a key aspect of formative assessment strategies (Conner, 1999; Cousins et al., 2004; Elwood, 2006; Rink and Hall, 2008; Siedentop and Tannehill, 2000) and the PSTs recorded that, as the lessons progressed, each teacher’s feedback gradually became more specific and targeted certain aspects of the children’s learning more explicitly. PSTs’ understandings of feedback changed dramatically as the value of assessment, through provision of feedback, in enhancing the learning process was recognised. As these PSTs were to complete their final school placement following the observations in Switzerland they were concerned with their own learning and how this experience might prepare them. They felt that ‘more attention is needed to determine the type of feedback appropriate for simple and difficult tasks’ (RD2).

Finally, when discussing what they had learned in relation to their critical incident observations one PST summed up:

Respect for others, views and different ways of teaching. You see others teach and you may learn things and be open to changing how you do things or how you perceive things should be done. You can adapt as you observe what others do. You become more adventurous. Become a more rounded teacher because you are seeing other ways of doing things and maybe bringing together good practice from two countries and improving your teaching. Not stick to the one way of doing things (RD2).