Becoming a responsive teacher: perspectives of health and physical education teachers
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The purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine the ways in which the elementary health and physical education (HPE) teachers understand responsiveness in their teaching practices and how they engage in responsive pedagogy. For this study, the generic qualitative research methodology was used, and seven participants who have at least three years of teaching experiences in elementary HPE contexts in Manitoba were recruited through a maximum variation strategy. One-on-one semi-structured interviews, follow-up conversational interviews, field notes, and self-reflective journals were used as data. The data was analyzed thematically to identify the particular themes that construct the HPE teachers’ understandings of responsiveness and their engagement in responsive teaching practices in their day-to-day HPE teaching contexts. The quality of the research findings was ensured through six quality criteria (i.e., reflexivity, credibility, resonance, significant contribution, ethics, and coherence). As the result of the study, three main themes that describe a responsive teacher in HPE were identified: 1) Being a Passionate Learning Facilitator; 2) Being an Empowering Educator; and 3) Being a Lifelong Learner. Each theme was supported by several subthemes that describe the participants’ perspectives and experiences on teacher’s responsiveness in HPE contexts. This research study has contributed to the provision of empirical knowledge for teachers regarding practical ways to engage in responsive teaching practices in multicultural classroom settings that encompass students’ diverse backgrounds and levels of abilities. In addition, the research findings drawn from the participants’ own perspectives and experiences provided the practical information that would help teachers appropriately teach and respond to students with diverse educational needs. This information has also contributed to filling a gap between book-knowledge and real-life practices of teaching with diverse student populations in multicultural HPE contexts. In doing so, the results of this study provided HPE teachers not only with opportunities to reflect on their teaching practices, but also with resources containing in-depth knowledge helpful for improving their teaching in a responsive manner. Further research should consider a more diverse context in various regions and at different school levels (i.e., middle or high schools). In addition, following studies on teachers’ responsive teaching practices would need to be conducted from various perspectives, such as students, parents, pre-service teachers, or school administrators.