Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Discussions
4.6 Theme 4: Content
The participant’s responses base on the content have highlighted that the teachers do not often visit their policy document. The policy document incorporates physical education content with different activities, including activities for locomotor, perceptual, fine motor, and other skills to be used per term. Problematically, the activities are not detailed or there are not put step by step on how to teach them. As a result teachers need to go all out (research) to find out on how to practice these activities. The content is the most important part of the curriculum implementation
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because without content there is no subject and teachers may teach what they feel is correct resulting in a lack of uniformity in the educational system. CAPS requires that teachers be familiar with the content because CAPS is a content driven (performance) curriculum.
Participant 1 clearly stated that ‘we do not have any prescribed books for physical education we only have a life skills learners work books and it does not have physical education in it’.
Teachers rely more on the learners workbooks as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) emphasise that the learners workbooks should be utilised at all costs. In the life skills workbooks there are some activities where it is stated “let’s move”. Those activities in the life skills learners’ work books are for physical education. The only element that is not in the LWB has been indicated by Participant 3: ‘we do not do the theoretical part of physical education where we will teach the learners about the importance of it’. The LWB only gives the content for physical education as stated in the curriculum policy document. Participant 1 further indicated that ‘even the movements stated in that life skills workbooks are for indoors activities not for outdoors’. Some of the physical education activities can be done indoors. Participants have indicated that the playgrounds they have in their school does not allow the learners to do some of the physical education activities. Details about the place or location will be discussed later on.
4.6.1 Discussion theme 4: Content
One distinction of a career is its renowned body of knowledge (content knowledge) (Capel, 2007). Without content knowledge, one can argue that there is no high level of quality teaching that can take place. Currently in South Africa, the official curriculum (CAPS) (performance or vertical curriculum) is driven by content which therefore implies that teachers need to know their subjects’ content in order to ensure that there is high quality teaching and that the intended curriculum is achieved. Similarly, Ally (2004, p. 3) opine that “teaching and learning is influenced more by the content and teaching approaches in the learning resources than by the type of technology employed to deliver instruction”. Teachers have indicated that they do not have the necessary knowledge for effective physical education. Thus, there is an indication that there is a need for teaching training in order to ensure that teachers gain knowledge for physical
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education because teachers are expected to be teaching physical education day in and day out.
Teachers are teaching physical education without the knowledge of it. Capel (2007, p. 498), notes that “…physical education teachers are likely to teach this content the way they were taught themselves”.
The theory is greatly needed by physical education teachers as they have indicated that they do not know anything about the theory behind physical education. There is a theory behind all content being taught. Ally (2004, p. 7), states that:
…the three schools of thought can in fact be used as classification for teaching and learning. Behaviorists’ strategies can be used to teach the “what” (facts), cognitive strategies can be used to teach the “how” (processes and principles), and constructivist strategies can be used to teach the “why” (higher level thinking that promotes personal meaning and situated and contextual learning).
Anderson (2004), argue that teachers need theories of physical education in their teaching and learning in order to help them to wisely spend their time and limited resources. Without these theories, Capel (2007) believes that traditional methods to educating physical education should be emphasised because teachers implement the curriculum without understanding how or why physical education is being imparted. Moreover, understanding physical education content and its theory will ensure that teachers are “clear about why physical education is taught in schools, the aims and purposes of the physical education and be able to plan their content and teaching methods to enable them to work towards achieving those aims” (Capel, 2007, p. 501). Children should have the opportunity to learn significant content with the correct teaching methods during their physical education classes (Gross & Buchanan, 2014). However, Goudas et al. (2006) cautions that teachers should take into consideration the reasons they are teaching a particular content compared to the methods they employ to teach it. Understanding the content will ensure that teachers teach learners the relevant content using the correct teaching methods. As a result teachers may like physical education because according to the look of things currently, teachers do not teach physical education because they do not understand it. The lack of understanding of
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physical education by the teachers drives them to end up teaching sports instead of physical education activities and this suggests that they are now teaching irrelevant activities.
Berkvens et al. (2014) argue that if the subject is to be considered as relevant it should cover all the essential basic features of what is worth learning. This suggests that if teachers would say they are teaching physical education that is relevant to the needs of the learners, it should cover the full content and teachers should understand the theory for physical education. For consistency, teachers should ensure that the content they teach is in line with the vision, aims and objectives set for physical education. Teachers should ensure that all the above mentioned aspects are covered in their teaching and learning, which will see physical education become sustainable for a longer period.