Physically active learning and teachers’ professional learning: A qualitative study of teachers and principals participating in a continuing professional development program in physically active learning in Norway
Doctoral thesis
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2024Metadata
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Original version
Teslo, S. B. (2024). Physically active learning and teachers’ professional learning: A qualitative study of teachers and principals participating in a continuing professional development program in physically active learning in Norway [Doctoral dissertation, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences]. HVL Open.Abstract
The thesis aims to explore how a continuing professional development (CPD) program in physically active learning (PAL) can develop and support teachers’ professional learning (PL). Three qualitative studies were conducted to explore this, capturing the perceptions and experiences of teachers and principals participating in a CPD program in PAL in Norway. These perspectives were then analyzed through the theoretical lenses of Karl Weick's (1995) ‘Sensemaking in Organizations’, John Dewey's (1916) ‘Education as Growth’, Louise Stoll et al.’s (2006) ‘Professional Learning Communities’, and Vivian Robinson's (2011) ‘Student-Centered Leadership’. Moreover, Norwegian educational policies, Ingersoll and Merrill’s (2011) framework, and relevant research on PAL and teacher PL has contextualized this thesis’ discussion of how CPD programs in PAL can develop and support teachers’ PL.
Findings from the thesis show that CPD programs in PAL can develop and support teachers’ PL by grounding PAL within an educational context, providing hands-on experimentation with PAL in relevant situations, and facilitating reflection upon these experiences individually and collaboratively. By placing teachers’ PL at their heart, these programs can support teachers’ professional responsibility in providing relevant education for pupils in the longer term. This means developing teachers’ contextual skills and knowledge, such as PAL, as well as their ability and eagerness to learn from their experiences and develop their practice. To achieve this, CPD programs should balance a transmissive and transformative approach, alternating between precise instructions and empowering independent decision-making. This also requires a collective effort, where school leadership and culture play a vital role.
In essence, the findings in this thesis emphasize the complexity of developing and supporting teachers' PL and how the dynamic interplay between the individual teacher, CPD programs, and the school context influences this process.
Has parts
Teslo, S., Thurston, M., Lerum, Ø., Mandelid, M.B., Jenssen, E.S., Resaland, G.K., & Tjomsland, H.E. (2023). Teachers’ sensemaking of physically active learning: A qualitative study of primary and secondary school teachers participating in a continuing professional development program in Norway. Teaching and Teacher Education, 127, 104113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104113Teslo, S., Jenssen, E.S., Thurston, M., Mandelid, M.B., Resaland, G.K., Chalkley, A.E., & Tjomsland, H.E. (2023b). It’s the journey, not the arrival that matters – Teachers’ perceptions of their practice after participating in a continuing professional development program in physically active learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 136, 104377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104377
Teslo, S., Chalkley, A., Jenssen, E.S., Glosvik, Ø., & Tjomsland, H.E. (in review). Many roads to Rome? A case study of two Norwegian schools as professional learning communities cultivating physically active learning. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.