Perspectives and reflections on assessment in physical education: A narrative inquiry of a pre-service, in-service and physical education teacher educator

Abstract

As a subject discipline frequently marginalized within the school system, enduring approaches to assessment do little advance the status of physical education. Current assessment practices in physical education are often disconnected from curricular outcomes, subjective in nature, and focused on assessment of learning rather than assessment for or as learning. Although assessment practices in physical education are routinely criticised for being poor, there is a paucity in assessment-focused physical education research. While physical education teacher education makes claims about a focus on student-centered formative assessment, the ongoing practice of ‘assessment of learning’ continues to be the prevailing model in schools. Completing a self-study using narrative inquiry, three physical educators at different stages of their career investigated their experiences with assessment in physical education. This research team came together hoping to improve their assessment practice and perhaps influence other physical educators. The educator’s stories, along with emails, documents, transcribed notes from meetings, and field notes from the lead researcher, became the data. Our findings suggest the need for ongoing physical education assessment-focused professional development. Equally significant, there is a need to establish communities of practice focused on supporting physical educators who often work in isolation or feel marginalized within the system.