Experienced Physical Education Teachers Adapting to a New Curriculum: Perceived Facilitators and Inhibitors

Physical education (PE) teachers are expected to learn throughout their careers in order to effectively educate their students. However, researchers have stated that the methods used to ensure continuous learning amongst PE teachers are inadequate because they do not meet the needs of experienced teachers. The present study was motivated by the need to better understand the adaptation process for experienced PE teachers and, as such, the purpose was to understand how experienced PE teachers perceived the process of adapting to a new curriculum. Using a phenomenological approach, this study examined the facilitators and inhibitors that affected the adaptation process for experienced PE teachers during the 1999 Ontario curriculum change. Data were collected from ten experienced PE teachers from high-schools in Ottawa, Ontario. Though many factors were found to affect the adaptation process, the relative experience of these teachers appeared to mainly affect their confidence, which facilitated the adaptation process.