Professionalism and the primary physical education specialist teacher in Queensland state primary schools

Abstract

What is meant by professionalism, and specifically what is meant by teacher professionalism has generated numerous studies, but research into the role and actions of primary Physical Education (PE) specialist teachers has, so far, been limited. To address these limitations, this research study adopted a phenomenological approach to investigate how five primary PE specialist teachers in Queensland state schools – at different teacher career stages – defined, perceived, and enacted professionalism. The discourses of managerial and democratic teacher professionalism (Sachs, 2003) were examined, and provided a reference point for discussion. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a research methodology that is concerned with exploring lived experiences, was used to address the research questions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the five participants and analysed. As IPA is informed by hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, the researcher interrogated and interpreted the data that resulted from the interviews. Through the analysis two super-ordinate themes: Professionalism as a personal responsibility and Physical Education as the other were identified. Supporting these two super-ordinate themes were subordinate themes which were interrelated. The super-ordinate and subordinate themes indicated that the professionalism defined, perceived and enacted by primary PE specialist teachers was managerial in nature. The research found that a more aspirational enactment of professionalism requires making opportunities available for primary PE specialist teachers to meet, discuss different types of professionalism, and collaborate to create and share knowledge.