Dr Kathleen M. Armour

Continuing Professional Development for Physical Education Teachers

In England and Wales currently, it appears to be the case that if there are any problems with education, then 'Continuing Professional Development' for teachers is offered as the solution. If recent government policy aspirations translate successfully into practice, then (funded) continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities will abound and teachers will be 'developed' in a logical and structured way from the moment they enter the profession until retirement. As a result (it is claimed) standards within education will rise. Yet, although some optimism may be warranted, there is also cause for some caution. The first part of this session draws upon extended interviews in which the CPD histories of experienced physical education teachers were explored. The data raise some important questions about the nature of provision within physical education (PE) (mainly one-shot, sport-specific update courses) and about our understanding of how/whether such provision impacts upon practice. Two key questions arise for the PE profession:

• How can we provide PE-related CPD that meets the needs of experienced teachers who are developing increasingly complex and connective pedagogies?
  
• 'Are we confident about the quality and applicability of our research, or could CPD be used as a mechanism for linking teachers and researchers in the quest to raise standards?' (Gitlin, 2000).

It is argued that debate on these issues ought to underpin any new CPD developments in physical education.

The second part of the session provides an example of CPD undertaken at Loughborough University as part of a Master's degree programme. It is based on a module entitled 'Continuing Professional Development and the Physical Education Teacher'. Students (all teachers) charted their professional development histories, and wrote critically reflective accounts about the ways in which those experiences had impacted upon their practice. Extracts from two student accounts are presented as illustrative examples, and two key issues are analysed. The first issue centres on the limitations imposed by 'workplace conditions' (Doutis & Ward, 1999) on professional development in physical education. The second issue arises from the use of autoethnography (Ellis & Bochner, 2000) in the module. The paper demonstrates ways in which autoethnography can provide an invaluable foundation for teachers' professional development, enabling them to make links between past experiences and current practice. A case is made for more experienced physical education teachers to have the opportunity to engage in autoethnography as part of their CPD activities.

A brief biography:

Dr. Armour is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management at Loughborough University. After completing her first degree at Nonington College of Physical Education, Kathy taught for 6 years in secondary and primary schools, in both the state and independent sectors and in 1985 she joined Brunel University (West London Institute). Between 1985 and 1995, Kathy completed a part-time Masters Degree in Curriculum Studies at London University, Institute of Education (1986), gained a PhD from Southampton University (1993), and had three children. She returned to full-time employment at Brunel in 1996, and joined Loughborough University in September 1999.

In both teaching and research, Kathy's main area of interest is pedagogy. She is Programme Leader for the M.Sc. Physical Education, where she is interested in designing accessible modes of part-time and distance study. Her earlier research into teachers' lives and careers has led to a focus on teachers' Continuing Professional Development (CPD), in particular, looking at physical education teachers' past experiences of CPD and analysing ways in which the impact of CPD can be seen in the quality of pupils' learning. She has recently gained an ESRC grant to fund a two- year study in this area. Her research uses mainly qualitative research methods, particularly ethnography and life-stories, and draws upon sociological and educational theory.

Part A

Section 1: Introduction

Three introductory points to be made about this part of the paper:

1. This is a plea for CPD for experienced physical education teachers that recognises and builds upon their qualifications and experience

2. It is based on a pilot study for a larger ESRC* project which suggests that we need to know a lot more about the CPD physical education teachers have undertaken in the past - what it was; what worked; why?

3. It explores the notion of developing Research Partnership Schools as a way of achieving two goals simultaneously: providing appropriate and challenging CPD and enhancing research capacity within the broad field of physical education.

Section 2: Revisiting Data

I conducted an ethnographic study of a physical education department in the late 1980s. I spent a year looking at 'the ecology' of the department and it formed the basis of a book: 'Physical Education Teachers' Lives and Careers' (Armour & Jones, 1998). However, like Delamont (1998), I have found it interesting to look back on those data from the vantage-point of a new context. Although the study was essentially about physical education teachers' lives and careers in a broad sense, CPD rarely featured as an issue. We were in the age of 'whole school curriculum development' and 'whole school policies' on everything from literacy to discipline. In-service training was mentioned, but usually in passing, or in a derogatory manner. One comment in particular, made by the head of department, Jane, came back to me as I wrote this paper. Jane was a highly committed physical education professional with a degree and many years of teaching experience. She cared deeply about her subject and about the quality of physical education provision for pupils. In discussing things that she perceived as 'the lows' of teaching, Jane made the following observation:

'I mean the last training day we had…I, er, just found the whole thing not terribly relevant…and I could have definitely spent the whole day working on my G.C.S.E work. I could have definitely spent one day, if not six days, working it out and I will do this summer, you know, like a lot of the theory and things…And the next thing we did [on the training day] after we'd had a huge lecture…was to go and divide into groups and the first task was to go into pairs - one of you draw a house and the other one criticise it, or something like that. It was so totally irrelevant and it was just to prove that everybody has got their own ideas and I mean that's just an example of the kinds of things we do in training days. Mostly in training days I've found it to be a lot of playing at games and who is gaining by that, I'm personally not, I just switch off. At the last one somebody asked me if I was feeling all right, 'cos I obviously wasn't my usual cheerful self, or I wasn't looking very happy. But that makes me fed up…'

This professional development insulted this teacher… and I kept teachers like Jane in mind as I wrote this paper.

Section 3: The New Context

How things change. CPD has now firmly entered the discourse of education and it is inconceivable that a similar study could be done today with the same findings. The definition of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) used in this paper is a broad one, encompassing 'all types of professional learning undertaken by teachers beyond the initial point of training' (Craft, 1996: 6). However, the capacity for developing challenging CPD within physical education is the key focus.

(i) Government Policy

The policy context for this paper is based on recent government initiatives in England and Wales that explicitly identify 'school improvement' and 'school effectiveness' as foundational aspects of education policy. Within that framework, the role of teachers and the need to focus on their continuing professional development (CPD) have been identified as central concerns. Both nationally and internationally, teacher development has been recognised as a key factor in the drive to raise educational standards (Reynolds and Teddlie, 2000). To this end, a government consultation document on professional development for teachers in England and Wales was issued in February 2000, and 'raising standards in the classroom' is identified as one of the principles upon which CPD should be designed and developed (DfEE, 2000: 3). In addition, the document identifies a need to establish a framework of standards within professional development activities, and proposes a code of practice for potential providers.

Linked to these CPD proposals is the government's commissioning of extensive research into 'teacher effectiveness' by Hay McBer, a group of 'Human Resource Consultants'. Hay McBer's (2000) report (available on the Web: http://www.dfee.gov.uk.teachingreforms/mcber/) is presented as a blueprint for teachers' professional development. Their findings suggest that 'there are three main factors within teachers' control that significantly influence pupil progress: teaching skills, professional characteristics and classroom climate' (1.1.1). The report provides a series of definitions of its key terms and a more detailed 'dictionary' of one of the three factors; 'professional characteristics'. These characteristics are defined as 'deep-seated patterns of behaviour', and are linked to values and 'at the deepest level, the motivation that drives performance' (1.3.1). From existing research in physical education, it is already clear that these characteristics will be important in the case of physical education teachers (see later section).

In the summary to the report, and emphasising again the link between the professional development of teachers and school effectiveness, Hay McBer (2000) conclude that government policy on CPD should be informed by their findings because 'it gives to the teaching profession a framework for professional development that will make a difference. Above all, it re-emphasises how important and influential the teacher is in raising standards in schools, whatever the existing situations' (1.5.5). The current policy context for CPD is, therefore, one of a strong focus on the role of the teacher in improving the standard of pupils' learning (Craft, 1996). Recent policy documents are characterised by a tone of optimism and possibility, and the belief that a formula (such as that provided by Hay McBer, 2000) can inform the design of effective CPD. Moreover, changes to reward structures provide added impetus to CPD initiatives because teachers will be required to compile and maintain professional development portfolios throughout their careers (DfEE, 2000).

(ii) Teachers' Professional Development

Research on teacher development and its impact upon practice is not extensive however, there are some areas of agreement in what does exist. Day (1999) in a review of the literature on effective professional development, highlights the research by Harland and Kinder (1997) on in-service training (INSET). In its conclusions, the researchers suggest that if the principles underpinning an INSET activity closely match the values held by participating teachers, then impact upon the teachers' thinking and practice is more likely. Day agrees that this work provides 'a useful embryonic elaboration of a range of outcomes' but stresses that it also points to an imperative to focus on individual needs rather than 'global prescriptions' (p. 142). Day (1999: 47) argues strongly that, based on existing knowledge, it is important to understand that reflection upon teaching 'is not simply a cognitive process…it demands emotional commitment. It will involve the head and the heart'. Given the policy focus on teacher development to enhance pupil learning in the classroom, it is likely that reflection upon teaching will form an important element of many professional development activities. However, Day urges caution about the design of such activities where they are 'not based upon an understanding of the complexities of teachers' lives and conditions of work nor upon an understanding of how teachers learn and why they change..' (p.204). These comments resonate strongly with the growing body of research on the ways in which teachers' biographies, practices and careers are interwoven (for example, Erben, 1998, Fernandez-Balboa, 1998; Hargreaves and Fullan, 1992). Moreover, such research seems to have some interesting parallels with the findings of the study into teacher effectiveness by Hay McBer (cited earlier); in particular, the key findings about the complexity of a teacher's 'professional characteristics' and their relevance to effective teaching.

Taken together, these studies indicate a level of complexity and depth in teaching, and thus teacher development, that may go some way towards explaining why it has been difficult to measure the impact of professional development (Law, 1995). However, there is broad agreement on one key issue about CPD. What seems to be almost undisputed in the literature is the belief that 'one-shot' professional development activities undertaken away from the classroom, without specific follow-up activities, are unlikely to have lasting impact upon teachers' practice (Connelly and James, 1998). Interestingly, that is precisely the kind of activity that has characterised much of the professional development available within physical education to-date.

(iii) Physical Education Teachers' Lives and Careers

The government recognises that its changes to school leadership, reward and support structures, and its emphasis upon CPD, represent a significant change for the teaching profession (DfEE, 1999). However, at the school subject level, it can be argued that the changes proposed may be more dramatic for some teachers than for others. Traditionally, physical education teachers have engaged in comparatively little CPD. Physical education, in both national and international contexts, is a low-status subject (Armour and Jones, 1998; Moreira, Sparkes and Fox, 1995; Dowling Naess, 1996). This may indicate that funding and time for development have both been difficult to secure. Certainly there is some evidence to suggest that the physical education profession has generated few radical changes to its curriculum over the years (Penney and Waring, 2000) and that a form of professional isolation among physical education teachers is not uncommon (Ward and O'Sullivan, 1998). In the US, Ward (1999) argues that 'the curriculum of secondary physical education has remained remarkably similar over the years and, as a result, 'our profession has lost status and has become increasingly marginalized' (p. 379). Similarly, in England and Wales, the fundamental structure of the physical education curriculum has altered little, despite the advent of the national curriculum (Penney, 1999). More importantly perhaps, we have surprisingly little research-based knowledge about the impact upon pupils' learning of either the curriculum or teachers' practices (Capel, 2000; Armour and Jones, 1998). Questions about teacher development, therefore, seem to hinge upon some key issues about teachers' intentions (Hay McBer, 2000) and the ways in which they might seek to link professional development to curriculum design, planning and practice.

Section 4: CPD Providers

One tangible outcome of recent government policy on CPD has been the request to establish a Professional Development Board for Physical Education (PDB-PE). The Board has now been established, and has recently issued application forms for PD activities to be 'kitemarked' and for Providers who wish to be 'licensed'. These forms were not easy to complete. For example, the second question on the kitemarking form is:

What are the intended learning outcomes [of the PD activity]? How will this activity help teachers to raise standards for pupils and contribute to school improvement?

The Licensing form asks for the following information:

Mechanisms used to provide evidence that Development Activities enhance pupil learning and raise standards?

I would argue that we are some way from being able to answer these questions with any confidence. Indeed, I have yet to find a group of professionals within physical education who can agree an answer to the question:

'A raised standard of learning in physical education means that more pupils can....'

Some attempts have been made to address these issues. For example, last year, the QCA began a three-year investigation into the 'effectiveness' of PE and school sport. They asked schools to describe:

• what special projects and approaches they used to promote and develop high levels of participation, achievement and attainment in PE and school sport;
  
• why they had chosen the project or approach;
  
• what difference it had made to the young people in their school;
  
• what they planned to do next to improve levels of participation, achievement and attainment (QCA website).

They present their key findings as follows:

QCA's initial investigation indicates that regular and frequent participation in purposeful physical activity enables young people to improve significantly their:

• physical competence, confidence and levels of attainment;
  
• health, fitness and well-being;
  
• self-esteem and motivation;
  
• attitudes to and engagement in learning;
  
• personal and social development;
  
• effectiveness as citizens within their school and wider community;
  
• attendance and behaviour.

Moreover, they provide information on case-studies and present 'cameos' depicting effective practice. However, I would argue that this we are still some way from understanding how and why specific CPD activities translate into effective learning for pupils.

Section Five: The Pilot Study

In order to establish some broad criteria within which to define CPD research questions, a pilot study (funded by Loughborough University) was undertaken to identify some current issues in CPD from the perspectives of physical education teachers. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty experienced physical education teachers (each with more than 5 years teaching experience) to find out what they defined as CPD, when/where/what they had undertaken in their careers, how they evaluated their experiences and any other comments. The data point to five important issues.

• In different ways and for different reasons, these teachers had found physical education-specific CPD to be limited. For many, it was in other areas of their roles that they found, what they described as 'challenging' and 'interesting' CPD opportunities. Indeed, most of the teachers seemed unable to conceive of CPD in physical education that went beyond sport-specific update courses.
  
• 'Good' one-day, sport-specific courses, off-site and without any follow-up in schools, were remembered vividly and had led, from the teacher's perspective, to a lasting impact upon practice. Some were identified from as far back as 10 years ago - and the details and principles could be recalled vividly. The key point here was usually the quality of the teacher/course leader.
  
• Echoing previous research (Schempp, 1993; Ward & O'Sullivan, 1998), are the findings that these teachers rarely (if ever) read research in the field of physical education, that there was a lack of time for professional development, and that they felt isolated from colleagues in other schools. On the other hand, as one teacher commented, 'I don't read, but I look'. She believed that physical education teachers are visual people - and that they gain much information and updating from, for example, watching sport on television.
  
• Although there were some clear similarities in experience, it also became clear that, as individuals, the teacher respondents were characterised by difference: different reasons for becoming a teacher, different routes into teaching, different motivations and different career paths within the profession.
  
• Individuals' patterns of CPD were very haphazard; there was no discernible pattern or progression.

Section 5: So, Where Does This Lead Us?

We need to recognise that many experienced physical education teachers are pedagogues who have developed increasingly connective pedagogies. In examining some of the recent attempts to define pedagogy, Watkins and Mortimore (1999: 3) conclude that learning is central. Thus, pedagogy is 'any conscious activity by one person designed to enhance learning in another'. While accepting this as a starting point, I would like to argue for a definition that more overtly recognises the complexity, depth and breadth of this concept, whilst acknowledging its academic foundation and its powerful personal, professional and political components. Penney and Waring (2000: 6) in our own field of physical education go some way towards this by describing pedagogy as a concept that underpins 'rationale, curriculum design, teaching and learning', but still, somehow, it is not enough. More helpful is the work of Leach and Moon (1999: 274) who argue that pedagogy is about the relationships between four key elements of education: teachers, learners, learning tasks and the learning environment. Importantly, they contend that 'at the heart of this dynamic process is a personal view of the purposes of education, what constitutes good teaching and a belief in the purposes of the subject'. This takes us to the core of the discussion. It will be difficult for teachers to find professional development courses properly designed to match the depth and challenge of teaching. The case being developed here, therefore, is that the concept of pedagogy must be understood as 'connective' if it is to shape and inform the continuing professional development of teachers. It must also be viewed as multi-dimensional. Thus, a connective pedagogy echoes Young's (1998) arguments against fragmented subject knowledge in the curriculum. From this perspective, teaching can be understood as a process of making a myriad of meaningful connections, not only to and between subject matters, not only to and between methods but, as important (if not more) to and between other persons and other facets of life. It can be argued, therefore, that a 'pedagogy of connections' is both legitimate and necessary for life-long professional development.

Section 7: Research Partnership Schools and CPD:

The Missing Link?

But, how can we provide CPD at a level that is both appropriate and challenging for experienced physical education teachers? Research linked into the multidimensional concept of pedagogy is one way - but how can we guarantee the quality and applicability of that research? And how can the links with practice be made?
The McIntyre report (2001) provides some clues in this respect. The report was commissioned by the ESRC for the next phase of its Teaching and Learning Programme of research. The report looked at 'Capacity for Research into Teaching and Learning' and the following two findings are interesting:

'whilst there is much enthusiasm for research to be more usable and more used by schools, and also for schools to see themselves as actively engaged in research, there are very diverse understandings of what all this might mean, what responsibilities schools should accept, and why they should accept them'

'a major priority for the Programme should be to seek to develop research capacity of this kind. One of the most appropriate ways for it to do this will be through supporting systematic investigations of the problems and possibilities for schools and colleges in becoming research organisations, in working in sustained research partnerships with university departments, and in generating high quality research into teaching and learning' (page xi).

A link to CPD can be made here. One of the reasons for teachers to become involved in research partnerships is the potential it offers for material for a CPD portfolio. The climate is right for 'fundamental research' in physical education (Armour & Jones, 1998), for schools and universities to work together as they are already starting to do with Best Practice Research Scholarships, and for links with CPD in the form of building work-place credits towards Masters degrees. NB the link to individual teachers is the key here. As Smedley (2001) found, there are many barriers to such partnerships and those that tend to be successful are those that have strong links between particular people rather than formal links between organisations.

At Loughborough, we are in the process of developing Research Partnership Schools underpinned by the following:

• Approaches to involve schools in research need to be co-ordinated and directed towards those schools that are genuinely interested in being involved in research;
  
• Research in schools needs to be developed with coherency in mind, so that projects can build on findings emerging from previous work, rather than appearing to be ad hoc in their focus;
  
• Research developments need to embrace schools' and teachers' curriculum and professional development interests / needs;
  
• Research needs to be sensitive to the dangers of 'overload' for some (particularly local) schools.

The structure enables schools to be involved in linked research at two levels:

• Level 1 is applicable to any school participating in research with the department. It establishes standard procedures for research and outlines the basic expectations for research that are designed to ensure that all work undertaken is mutually beneficial.
  
• Level 2 offers schools the opportunity to become more actively involved in research by entering into an enhanced partnership relationship with the Department. Involvement at this level signals an interest in working with the department for a sustained period - usually a minimum of two years. This level is particularly directed towards schools concerned to establish longitudinal dimensions to research activity, and that will therefore welcome linked projects in which findings arising from one project are used to inform another phase of research and development work. The commitment would be reflected in the school formally registering the research partnership via a written agreement. The department will offer incentives to teachers in level 2 schools to embark upon postgraduate degrees.

Section 8: Conclusion

The best way to visualise the links between CPD and research partnership schools is in the context of developing 'collaborative professional learning' (Hargreaves, 2001); or 'growth in practice' as a model of professional development that assumes that teaching is intellectual work and that professional development occurs when teachers have the opportunity to learn together (Lieberman & Miller, 1999).

In my view, these are fundamental principles upon which both CPD and research partnerships must be founded.

*For information:
Par A of this paper is based on an ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council) research project. The 2 year funded project starts on 1st December 2001.

Project number: R000239437

Project title: Continuing Professional Development: Provision for Physical Education Teachers.

Detailed Research questions:

1. What is already known, both nationally and internationally, about the range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities traditionally provided for (and undertaken by) physical education teachers, the reasons found for low levels of engagement, and how the experiences of physical education teachers compare with teachers of other curriculum subjects?
   
2. What can experienced physical education teachers tell us about the pattern of their own CPD histories, the nature, quality and appropriateness of their experiences, and the problems and issues linked to CPD as they understand them?
3. What can physical education teachers, who are engaged in different forms of CPD, tell us about why they selected a particular type of CPD, how they evaluate that CPD experience as it progresses, how/whether/why the activity becomes embedded in their practice and whether/how an impact upon the quality of pupil learning can be discerned?
   
4. How can this research on physical education teachers contribute to the broader theoretical and empirical knowledge base on the continuing professional development of teachers, particularly in the area of understanding issues about impact on practice and ways of evaluating impacts upon pupils' learning?

Part B

Section 1: The Vision

Earlier this year, I was asked to run a workshop at the Specialist Sports Colleges Annual Conference. The conference title was 'Achieving the Vision' and the workshop was to be on 'The Impact of Research on Raising Standards'. No further guidance was given, so I took the opportunity to do something a little different and to engage the participants in a kind of taster session on autoethnography. Apart from anything else, I reckoned they would be curious about the term. In the event, the session was unlike anything else on offer at the conference, and was very different to what the participants had expected from the workshop title. In their evaluations, participants commented: 'this was not what I expected' (not sure if that was meant to be a positive or negative comment); 'really interesting'; 'I thought this would be a summary of research done by other people - experts - to tell us how to teach' and 'I hadn't thought about me'.

So what did we do in the session? Well, I had decided to tackle the workshop title in reverse order, critically examining notions of 'raised standards', 'research' and, finally, 'impact'. Thus the opening OHT was as follows:

Five purposes of this workshop:

• to consider (and reject) simple explanations of the way in which research might impact upon standards in physical education
  
• to find out what group members understand by 'raising standards' and 'research' in education/physical education
  
• to examine ways in which 'impact' might be defined and recognised (the tricky bit) · to consider the role of autoethnography in underpinning, teachers' professional development, innovation/change and raising standards in physical education
  
• to start you on the process of autoethnography…

Perhaps the most important outcome of the session for the participants was the realisation that the issues and principles they were starting to identify and share were those that simultaneously drive, underpin, constrain and enable everything they do as teachers. We began to see hints of the lenses through which different individuals filtered and understood education, pupils, teaching, physical education and a lot more besides. Albeit preliminary and superficial - after all 50 minutes is not that long - it was fascinating. Most interesting of all was the realisation that these teachers had never had the opportunity to critically reflect, in a structured way, on the very core of themselves as teachers.

Day (1999: 1) claims that 'The meaning of teachers' development is located in their personal and professional lives and in the policy and school settings in which they work'. He bases his arguments for holistic approaches to CPD on principles such as:

• Teachers are the school's greatest asset… support for their well being and professional development is an integral and essential part of efforts to raise standards of teaching, learning and assessment.
  
• Teachers understand the curriculum in the light of their constructions of their personal and professional identities - moral considerations - professional development must play close attention to teachers' personal and professional needs and moral purposes.
  
• Teachers are not developed (passively) they develop (actively).

Translated into practice, this means that a key goal of CPD must be to build upon teachers' desires to make a difference in the lives of pupils (as was noted earlier) because it is here that teachers' 'moral purposes' can most easily be found. Moreover, if Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is to have depth and value for teachers, and is to be an effective strategy on the school improvement agenda, then I would argue that research into personal practice must be central, and that autoethnography is a good place to start.

Section 2: But Is It Research?

(i) What is autoethnography?

The following key points are taken from Ellis & Bochner (2000):

• Autobiographical writing - multiple layers of consciousness
  
• Connects the personal to the cultural · Variety of forms - stories, poems, fictions, fragmented · Precise definition and application difficult - the term has evolved and developed
  
• Other related (or interchangeable) terms: personal narratives, narratives of self, personal essays, opportunistic research, personal ethnography, critical autobiography, socioautobiography, evocative narratives, etc.
  
• Autoethnography has become the 'term of choice' - infers the link from personal to cultural

Ellis & Bochner (2000: 737) describe the process of 'doing' authoethnography as follows:

'I start with my personal life. I pay attention to my physical feelings, thoughts, and emotions. I use what I call systematic sociological introspection and emotional recall to try to understand an experience I've lived through. Then I write my experience as a story. By exploring a particular life, I hope to understand a way of life…'

(ii) But is it research?

Again, key points from Ellis & Bochner (2000):

• 'If you can't pitch a theory you can't play in the big leagues'
  
• To be academic is to be smart, clever, analytical
  
• The trashing of emotions
  
• Personal stories have always been embedded in research (and teaching!)
  
• Evocative social science

As an illustration of these points, Sparkes (2000: 43) describes the reaction of undergraduate exercise and sport sciences students to an autoethnography/narrative of self he wrote about being an injured sportsman. Although students enjoy the paper and find it both meaningful and relevant, they do not define it as research:

'For the majority of these students, real and proper research can only be done on the other'
Their reaction is, therefore, similar to the teachers at the conference described earlier, where they anticipated 'research' that was done by others on others.

(iii) What's the point?

Rousmaniere (2000) gives one example of 'the point' of autoethnography. She argues that when teachers critically reflect on their own experiences of school and of education 'they can see their own personal and professional development in a new light that can enlighten their current work in the classroom (p. 87). The first line of the paper is: 'this essay begins with personal memory and ends with curriculum' and Rousmaniere raises the following issues:

• Educational autobiography is 'the sound of silence breaking'
  
• Remembering is an interpretive connection of past and present
  
• Teacher education coursework is too often technical and mechanical
  
• We need to spend more time asking 'Why teach?'; 'What is the purpose of education and the purpose of schools?'

The paper concludes:
'it was autobiographical reflection that helped me turn the lessons of my life into curricular objectives' (p. 97).

So there is a point - but teachers need an opportunity to engage in autoethnography because in an enabling framework, it has the potential to be a reflective, dynamic and growing professional activity.

Section 3: The Module

Perhaps the place of autoethnography on a Master's module entitled 'CPD and the Physical Education Teacher' is already clear. All the students on this programme are either teachers of physical education, or are coaches working in/with schools. This is one place where a structured opportunity exists for 'doing' autoethnography. Students are asked to write about their professional development experiences, to share these with other members of the group, and to locate their experiences within existing literature on policy/practice in professional development and relevant areas of education. Information about the marking process includes the following:

An excellent assignment will:

• be written clearly and in a reflective, analytical and flowing style that is enjoyable to read;
  
• draw upon a wide range of reading material (beyond that provided by me) in both education and physical education;
  
• at every stage, link personal experience and analysis with reading and other research;
  
• provide evidence throughout of the impact of reading upon reflections on personal practice;
  
• make (albeit tentative) connections between analyses of personal development and potential impacts upon pupil learning and school improvement;
  
• be referenced accurately and in a consistent style.

So, although the process of doing autoethnography was likely to be new to students, the marking criteria were firmly grounded in familiar academic terms. Excerpts from the work of two students raise some interesting issues.

Example 1: Self-esteem. Graham wrote:

One young man of resolute determination, Gary, decided that this time peer pressure would not affect him. He had already succumbed to many social vices, but this time there was too much at stake. By 16 he had already lost one friend to the drug, by 18 he had lost another and two more were in prison. His instinctive beliefs and intrinsic sense of right from wrong, instilled in him by his parents, were the essential ingredients to help him overcome temptation. His academic inclination steered him in a different direction; …A world in which young people had enough self-respect, self-worth and self-esteem to perceive their lives as too precious to ruin.

Gary decided he would help create this very world. Gary chose a profession, which would enable and empower him to have a direct impact upon young people's lives. He would become a teacher, he would empower young people to change their own lives. Despite being only a modest sportsman, he decided he would use sport and physical education as the vehicle to provide a truly holistic educational process for young people. Four years later…, Gary proudly entered the profession in a Merseyside community, which was almost identical to his own. With passion, energy vision and a bag full of ideals, he set about changing the world. …….

However all too quickly Gary's dreams began to fade, pedagogical reductionism and isolation set in (Ward & O' Sullivan, 1998). In-service training opportunities were limited to those teachers who had 'seniority'. On the continuum of needs, the system's needs dominated individual needs. Gradually, Gary spent more and more time in the staffroom with the professional cynics and whingers, helping to create an even more negative atmosphere across the school. His requests for training were systematically refused. In four short years, the man who was going to change the world, had had his world changed for him.

Gary left the profession…travelled - and returned, eager to fulfil earlier dreams. He wanted to use Physical Education as a vehicle to raise the self-esteem of every child he taught… he realised that he had a low self-esteem. He would therefore use strategies to develop self-esteem that would go hand in hand with teaching physical education (Brookes, 1992)

Gary is now a leader. Leading a department in a specialist Sports College, he now embraces a new overt, open structure of staff development. He encourages those staff he manages to embrace this ideal and actively seek to continue learning and developing their skills. He seeks to provide staff with the very support and professional development structure he craved and deserved as a young teacher. His own professional development has been inspired by his own personal, spiritual growth. As he grows as a human being, he has grown as a teacher. The two are inextricably connected (Armour & Fernandez Balboa, 2001). His growth as a parent now sources his inspiration and obsession to raise self-esteem in both his own children and those he teaches. He continues to try and inspire not only the pupils he teaches but the colleagues he manages and works alongside.

As a result of writing this story, Graham has identified a need to learn more about self-esteem from research, and to conduct some action research in his school to critically evaluate the strategies he uses with pupils. (In fact he can plan, conduct and evaluate such studies as part of further learning-at-work and distance-learning M.Sc. modules.) Perhaps of most significance, however, is the understanding Graham has gained from doing autoethnography within a structured group framework. In this context, he has gained an insight into the ways that passions and motivations drive other teachers, and that although they might be different to his own, they are worthy nonetheless.

Example 2: Lucy started with a poem:

Being A Teacher.

"So, why did you go into teaching?" Was a question I was asked,
I had to find some answers and I had to find them fast.
Why did I want to teach? I guess I'll never know.
I thought I'd make a difference. I thought I'd have a go.
To be really honest, I value education.
I longed to impart knowledge to the children of the nation.
To give them opportunity, enthusiasm too,
To help them to achieve the things they'd really want to do.
To work in an environment where values really counted
To help relieve the problems that could not be surmounted.
To give the kids encouragement and compliments and praise,
To follow the curriculum and all the standards raise.
To take them out on history trips and learn of Queens and Kings.
To show them planets, moons, and stars, and scientific things.
To get to know the parents, the governors and the staff,
To have a decent salary? - Oh please don't make me laugh.
To give the children confidence to build their self esteem
With literacy and numeracy and all things in-between.
To work all day and half the night with plans and preparations.
To bow to the inspectorate in their deliberations.
To set the work and mark the books, the time was full of strife.
But I knew that teaching wasn't a job, it was a way of life.

Lucy then identified some of the issues she faced in trying to promote physical education in a primary school :

Over the three years that I taught in Kent both the Literacy and Numeracy Hours were introduced in order to enhance the quality of children's learning and support school improvement (OFSTED, 1999). They gradually became school-owned and were successful. But I have to ask at what expense? Physical education was often left out of the timetable in years five and six, and in other classes the time allocated to this subject and others such as art and music was dramatically reduced. Looking back, I think it is safe to say that there were instances of discourses of resistance (Smyth, 1999) within the school but the general opinion was that there was not enough time to fit everything in to the timetable. Core subjects were always given priority. As for my own professional development, I was told how to develop myself professionally, especially with the introduction of Literacy and Numeracy Hours. INSET days were always geared towards this. As I became more confident I could see where I wanted to take my own professional development to improve my subjects, my teaching, myself, and the connections between them (Armour & Fernandez Balboa, 2001). I ended up funding some courses myself, but when I was asked not to complete any more courses through distance learning, I knew it was time to move on. If I was to stay there I would never have ownership of my 'professional development framework' (DfEE, 2000).

Later, in identifying her plans for the future, Lucy wrote:

For me being a classroom teacher was a job that I had always wanted to do, and from an early age I knew exactly what I had to do to gain the right qualification to get there. In 1996 I became a teacher, the job that I had always wanted. Within three years I had started to question my decision, I had found that whilst teaching was challenging it was not varied enough…And what about my chances of promotion? In the school I was at, there were none; I had to do something….As Raymond et al (cited in Craft, 1996) explain 'in order to know what we wish to do next…we need to know ourselves, who we are, and how we came to be that way' (p. 160). I am a person who has had an interest in sport from an early age. I suppose for me it was inevitable that I would become a co-ordinator of physical education to make others enthusiastic and provide them with opportunities to participate regardless of ability. Despite my involvement with sport this was not as easy to achieve as I had imagined, which is shown in my career history from my career story…

Throughout the module process, Lucy remained certain that she wanted to be involved in education, and specifically physical education, but became increasingly uncertain about the possibility of achieving her goals within a primary school. Lucy has now left teaching to work in sport development for young people.

It is perhaps unsurprising that these students, like the teachers at the Specialist Sports Colleges Conference and Sparkes' (2000) Exercise and Sports Sciences students, had deep concerns about the academic value of autoethnography. In a poignant moment on the M.Sc. module, students voiced their concerns that stories about themselves could not possibly be worthy of postgraduate credits - even accepting that they were cloaked in as much traditional academic paraphernalia as possible (readings, references etc). Moreover, students thoroughly enjoyed the module - in their evaluations most described it as the best module they had taken - but, and here is the sting, that very enjoyment served to heighten their concerns about academic respectability...

Section 4: Further Reflections on the Module and on CPD

Sparkes (2000) recalls how one of his colleagues described the use of personal narrative/autoethnography as 'academic wank' and perhaps the charge of self-indulgence ought to be addressed. Aveling (2001: 41) argues that autoethnography 'does not function as a form of psychotherapy but rather as a political, intellectual project devoted to transformation'. Thus, autoethnography is not a 'soft' option. Rather it is hard; very, very hard. Richardson (2001) in a powerful text writes about her life experiences and then identifies some (current) thoughts about writing. Several of these are relevant here, particularly when read in the context of Graham's and Lucy's assignments:

• People who write are always writing about their own lives - even when disguised.
  
• Writing is a method of discovery
  
• What you write about and how you write it shapes your life
  
• Writing stories offers the writing of new plot lines
  
• Writing about your life is not without its perils

Thus, we can begin to see the value of doing autoethnography in a structured CPD context where the story is written critically. Autoethnography is an activity that can enable teachers to grow, develop and, where warranted, change. It is a riveting and dynamic process. Clandinin and Connelly (1998) note that telling stories has become something of a fad, and they make a plea for stories to be seen as more than the mere recounting of tales (passive). Rather they argue for growing stories; stories that are lived, relived and retold. They use the term 'stories to live by' to describe a process whereby we can use stories to 'understand how knowledge, context and identity are linked and can be understood narratively' (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999: 4). In an example of just such a growing process, Whelan, Huber, Rose, Davies & Clandinin (2001) give an account of the way in which one teacher, in the context of a research group, told the story of an unpleasant incident that happened at school with a pupil and parent. Initially, the research group responded with sympathy and reinforcement for the teacher - after all, they assumed that this was what she needed most. However, the teacher was disappointed and in the sessions that followed, the story was retold, reconsidered and, eventually, re-evaluated. The process led to a change in the way the teacher viewed her role and the role of parents. She commented: 'when I'm in school with the others, telling stories isn't to do with learning, it's to do with diffusing this thing' (p.153). In the context of a research group however; a 'chosen community' (Nelson 1995) all can learn:

'storytelling with diverse responses that leads to restorying with growth and change...in order for this to happen, we realise that teachers and others who live in schools will need to create new places on the professional knowledge landscape of our schools...more like a chosen community' (Whelan et al:154). There are echoes here of some comments made recently by David Hargreaves on school effectiveness and improvement. He notes that 'many British teachers lack a culture of collaborative professional learning' (2001: 490). He also notes that a key characteristic of effective schools is that the culture is not only about promoting excellence in students, but is also 'about enriching the quality of the professional lives of teachers themselves and their intellectual and moral excellences' (493). Autoethnography can help on both counts.

Section 5: Conclusion.

It has been argued in this paper, that autoethnography deserves a place in the broad context of teachers' continuing professional development. It is not suggested that autoethnography will solve all the problems of education, nor that it should be the only (or even the main) focus of CPD. As Hopkins and Reynolds (2001: 473) point out, CPD that focuses wholly on individual teachers and schools, and that fails to draw upon existing good practice, is hardly helpful. However, as they also acknowledge 'the ongoing problem is to give knowledge bases about good practice without disabling teachers from generating knowledge themselves'. It would seem that autoethnography/personal narrative/ personal stories - call it what you will - might represent one way forward. If teachers, in structured contexts (master's degrees are ideal for this) can engage in critical autoethnography, they might gain a better understanding of themselves, each other, education, and the things they need to know in order to change practice and become more effective.

Finally, Richardson (2001: 34) describes the way in which 'My ideas and relationship to writing shift and change'. As a result of writing this paper, my thoughts on autoethnography and on the design of my master's programme have also changed. I can now see the need for 'negotiated studies' modules that specifically encourage teachers to design extended studies on practice linked to their personal stories and the key issues they raise. There is also scope for departmental learning. Undertaken within departments, the unit most often ignored in school improvement initiatives (Harris, 2001), autoethnography could provide teachers who share subject interests with collaborative learning opportunities. Managed group projects could help departments to grow into 'chosen communities' (Nelson, 1995) whilst enabling individual teachers to gain postgraduate credits, fill professional development portfolios and, most revolutionary of all it would seem, enjoy their learning!

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