Exploring the phenomenological meanings of assessment in physical education through primary teachers’ lived experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Although assessment in physical education (PE) is a complex pedagogical work that is strongly influenced by primary teachers, few studies have focused on their lived experiences in the continuum between past instances of receiving assessments as PE students and current instances of conducting assessments as primary PE teachers. Purpose This study explored the phenomenological meanings of assessment in PE based on primary teachers’ lived experiences of being assessed as PE students in the past and those of assessing as primary PE teachers in the present. The specific research questions included: ‘What is it like to be assessed as PE students’ and ‘What is it like to assess as primary PE teachers?’ Methods ‘Phenomenology of practice’ (van Manen 2016b. Phenomenology of Practice: Meaning-Giving Methods in Phenomenological Research and Writing: Developing Qualitative Inquiry. Abingdon: Routledge) was applied to capture the primary teachers’ lived experiences, with a focus on their histories and current experiences of receiving and conducting PE assessments. Participants included a total of five primary teachers (two males and three females). Relevant information was collected through two semi-structured interviews and lived experiential writings. All obtained data were analysed and coded through a two-step process, including (a) an elucidation of life-world existentials (i.e. lived body, lived space, lived time, and lived relation) and (b) a thematic analysis that was conducted with the NVivo 12 software. Findings Based on participant responses, past lived experiences of being assessed as PE students were categorised into the following components: (a) trembling body, (b) stage forcing bodily monologue, (c) in the twinkling of an eye, and (d) Big Brother is watching me. On the other hand, current lived experiences of assessing as primary PE teachers were categorised into the following components: (a) cloning past PE teacher’s body, (b) shift from joyful playground to rigid court, (c) incompatible time like oil and water, and (d) compassionate encounters. Discussion We found that the phenomenological meaning behind primary teachers’ lived experiences of being assessed as PE students in the past was ‘side-lining their own bodies and learning’, while the meaning of assessing as primary PE teachers in the present was ‘groping in the dark while flashing back to the past’. Although assessment illiteracy persisted from the past to present, primary teachers constantly revised and modified their current PE assessment practices in consideration of individual student attributes and needs. Conclusions From a phenomenological perspective, PE assessments were nuanced and complex practices, in which primary teachers worked as agents for advancing PE assessments from a dialectical standpoint. This involved two continua, including the past–present and theory–practice.