"Learning to trust our peers has been so cool and important to me": The development of learning communities in a Sport Education season

Background and purpose: Several studies demonstrate that Sport Education (SE) supports the development of an authentic experience of sport (Hastie, Ojeda, & Luquin, 2011; Hastie, 2011; Wallhead & O’Sullivan, 2005). However,... [ view full abstract ]

Background and purpose: Several studies demonstrate that Sport Education (SE) supports the development of an authentic experience of sport (Hastie, Ojeda, & Luquin, 2011; Hastie, 2011; Wallhead & O’Sullivan, 2005). However, the ‘messiness’ attached to the reality of effectively enacting SE is less prominent in the literature. The aim of this study is therefore to capture the complexity, tensions and struggles (for both lecturers and pre-service physical education teachers (PSTs) of delivering and experiencing an authentic SE season.

Method: Participatory action research framed this 12-week study. Participants included 33 PST, four lecturers (one familiar with SE and three familiar with Artistic Gymnastics) at a university in Brazil and a European critical friend who was contacted regularly throughout the Sport Education season for advice on how best to progress the ongoing SE season. Throughout a four-month period, data was collected weekly and included: (a) weekly collaborative teacher group meetings after each class, (b) student reflective diaries, (c) lead teacher weekly observations noted as field notes, (d) student generated artefacts, and (e) student focus groups. Data analysis involved inductive, constant comparison and member-checking methods.

Results: Results conveyed, a) the relationship of trust and interdependence between the lecturers who implemented SE, b) how PSTs created a safe environment that allowed them to overcome fear, and c) how lecturers and PSTs negotiated the different levels of PSTs’ engagement during the season and the associated feeling of frustration.

Conclusions and implications: Lecturers and PSTs developed into two separate communities of learners. Based on the limited amount of research on communities of learners in SE, future studies should continue to examine the effectiveness of a community of learners within the SE context and specifically encourage lecturers and PSTs to work together as one learning community, learning from, and with, each other.