Teaching outdoor and adventure activities: an investigation of a primary school physical education professional development p

 
The teaching environment.
The school’s outdoor facilities were adequate for 
most physical education lessons. The indoor facility was extremely small, sometimes 
with excess furniture, such as a piano, keyboard, benches, tables and chairs stored 
around the sides of the hall. The teachers had seen the facilities as a minor barrier, but 
the design of the PDP ensured that the best use was made of the facilities to allow the 
teachers and children experience quality programme of O&AA. The second class 
teachers admitted prior to the PDP (Understanding the Case) the school facilities were 
inadequate however, following the PDP these teachers had re-evaluated their physical 
environment and even changed their minds regarding the facilities available; 
‘We were 
shown how to use what we had in the school’
(1 FGT Nicole 2).
‘For outdoor and 
adventure sure it [the school] is pretty good really’
(1 FGT Eileen 2). Teachers did 
recognise that most activities were better positioned outside where children would be 
more active and have more room for activities. Even the infant teachers who preferred 
to have their lesson indoors expressed that the hall was not suitable for O&AA; 
‘the hall 
isn’t big enough’
(1 FGT Kate JI)…
‘the hall isn’t suitable’ 
(1 FGT Mary JI
). 
 
Timetabling.
Due to the nature of the school it was not possible to leave 
equipment or controls for orienteering out for the duration of the school day, or longer. 
Yards and free play space were used by the children during break and lunch times, 
therefore equipment (even orienteering controls) could not be organised in advance. At 
stage 1, it was only the first classes that were scheduled together, and these teachers 
commented on how helpful this was;
Amy - 
well I think it [timetable] works quite well for us because you are not under 
pressure to put it [equipment] back because we know well one of the others is going to 
come after you at worst…
Moira - 
...the only thing is we worked together...
Amy - …
yes ours worked fine…
Moira - …
for so long now that...
Amanda - 
yes...
Moira - 
...she gets it automatically after me and then I get it or whatever. So...
Amy - 
...it works fine for us...and like that should really work…should be possible for 
everyone...
(1 FGT 1).
Timetabling did not allow for other year groups to be scheduled together to ease 
the problem of collecting, laying out and replacing equipment. This was an outcome of 

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the findings at stage 1, to be addressed as an organisational change to be implemented at 
stage 2. This would help enable not just the teaching of O&AA, but all physical 
education lessons. This organisational change was to enable teachers in the 
organisation of equipment and resources for the O&AA lessons. Teachers within the 
class groups had agreed to rotate so that each of them took turns in collecting, setting up 
and returning equipment; 
The teacher bringing it [equipment] out is obviously doing a very, very good 
job. It’s the teacher putting it back in, needs to make sure it goes back in the 
right place, and that properly if any other teacher needs to use it.
(FN 10.10.07) 
It took a month from the start of term to finalise the timetable as teachers tried to 
ensure that the learning support
6
timetable and the physical education timetable did not 
overlap, so that children would not miss physical education lessons. This also meant 
that it was not possible to block every class level together but it was facilitated as best 
as possible (Appendix P). 
Another necessary organisational change which was found at stage 1 and was 
addressed with the Principal was the lack of appropriate access to outdoor facilities 
between 1.30pm and 2.00pm. Teachers who had their physical education classes 
scheduled at that time expressed concern at the lack of respect shown to them, their 
teaching and their classes by adults walking through the school yards to collect their 
children
7
. These adults, usually parents, did not think anything of walking through a 
lesson in progress and the teacher commented that 
‘every week he has that problem that 
the parents just walk through the middle of their class.’
(FN 05.02.07) This activity 
constrained these teachers’ and children’s lessons each week and was a health and 
safety concern. The school’s environmental context was proving to be a barrier in 
providing quality physical education lessons. One resource which is key to O&AA 
lessons is the school grounds and I observed that many of the lessons continued to be 
disrupted (LO Amanda 1, Seán 6, Claire 6, Eve 3) by parents collecting their children 
from junior and senior infants at 1.30pm at stage 2. This not only disrupted teachers, 
but some accompanying young children played with equipment and/or removed 
equipment making life difficult for the physical education classes operating at these 
time. Unfortunately this remained a barrier throughout the PDP, for the teachers 
6
The learning support timetable is where children are scheduled for extra help or support in certain subject areas 
with the school’s resource teachers. Children normally leave their own class for this extra tuition. 
7
Infant classes finished at 1.30 in the study school. The study school yards were also used to access a neighbouring 
school which finished at 2pm. The study school finished at 2.30pm 

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timetabled at that time, as the Principal was unable to find a solution, due to the layout 
of the school.
During the PDP at stage 2, basketball and Gaelic football coaching was provided 
by external coaches for some of the classes during school hours. These coaching 
sessions fitted in with the external coaches’ timetable and not the class’s physical 
education timetable. Therefore on two occasions, there were basketball, Gaelic football 
and two overlapping O&AA lessons happening in the school yards. This caused 
problems for the class teachers teaching O&AA as they assumed as it was their physical 
education time that they would have access to the facilities but this wasn’t what 
happened;
She [teacher] was quite annoyed about the confusion of, space allocation each 
week, because it seems to impinge on her quite a lot. And she didn’t know what 
space she would or wouldn’t have each week in order to plan.
(FN 09.10.07) 
Throughout the day going on through all the lessons, there were basketball and 
gaelic football coaches in. So some teachers were quite limited with, with what 
they could do, in that they were very limited with the yard space they had. They 
also had to take care with children running around madly, orienteering as there 
was maybe three other lessons going on … around the school at the time.
(FN 
19.10.07) 
Therefore a barrier to be addressed, following stage 2, in school policy and 
practice was the prioritisation of facilities for teachers teaching curriculum physical 
education and any external providers would have to avail of whatever space was left 
available to them. The outcomes of the implementation of one organisational change 
(timetabling) and the lack of implementation of another (protection of external teaching 
space at child collection times), demonstrate the importance of providing the correct 
environment in enabling effective teaching of physical education.