Etapas del proyecto

Position Graduation Year

Qualifications Years employment at

setting Head of

Department

1999 Bach. Ed. (Human

Movement)

10 years

I went into this, my first appointment, conscious of my role in the conversation process and nervous at being a first-time researcher. Initially, I was more concerned with asking the questions (and making sure that all of the questions were asked) rather than allowing the conversation to flow and then steering it in the direction that I desired.

Brenda presented as an engaged and conversant individual and the discussion started to flow after a while. This (2015) was Brenda’s first year in the role of Head of HPE Department at St David’s College. She had worked in the Catholic education system previously, teaching in a regional secondary school in Victoria before returning to a major metropolitan city to teach in a large, co- educational Christian school. That appointment involved working mainly in the school’s Outdoor Education program. From there, Brenda moved back to regional Victoria and gained employment at St David’s College. For the past five years, Brenda had worked either part-time or not at all because of family commitments. She returned to teaching this year, and taught Physical Education, Health and Geography. Brenda combined her classroom duties and responsibilities as Head of Department with working at school for two full days and working from home for the other three days each week.

During this, her first year of department leadership, Brenda was focused on what she described as ‘other matters’ within the department. Those matters, which centred on some disruption in the HPE department following changes in staff, had involved a great deal of her time, and being part-time, she has found it a busy first half of the year. She readily recognised that being new to the position had required her to focus her energies in a number of directions and that at the moment her knowledge and awareness in relation to the AC:HPE Curriculum was limited.

Brenda - I am well aware that I am right down at the lower end and I know that circumstantial, it’s not that I’m not interested at all, don’t want to know, but it’s just purely being part-time and not being here and a busy first half of the year with other matters. Knowing that this is coming and knowing the need to get my head around and I haven’t got there yet.

I asked Brenda about her awareness of the historical background of physical education in Australia. She acknowledged that physical education had a military background, and added the involvement of dance. Additionally, she was able to expand on the historical timeline of the discipline with the learning of sports and its associated skills. Promotion of health to the individual and the need for individuals to be more physically active was seen as a pressing issue that was being addressed more in modern times.

Brenda described her involvement in previous curriculum development and the curriculum review that was currently being undertaken at St David’s College. She spoke of her openness and willingness to embark on curriculum change. Brenda viewed curriculum change as an opportunity to update professionally but tempered this by adding that her willingness to undertake change was that it needed to be for the betterment of the students. As Head of Department, Brenda was pleased to be in a position to be able to exert an influence in relation to this matter. Brenda did indicate that one of the concerns she had in relation to curriculum change was a lack of time in which to implement the changes.

While Brenda was comfortable with curriculum change, she realised that there were deficits in her knowledge in relation to the AC:HPE Curriculum. The new national curriculum was not something that she feared, but as Head of the HPE Department she was aware of her position and so was keen to increase and expand her knowledge. One part of this development would involve examining what was occurring at other schools. Another source of knowledge would be the undertaking of external professional development. In this, Brenda

expressed frustration that any major professional development involved significant travel to a major city, which involved costs of travel and time. The conversation then focused on Brenda’s input into the AC:HPE Curriculum. She commented that she was aware of the opportunity to contribute to the national curriculum via the online portal, but did not avail herself of it. Brenda also indicated that during this time there were other matters within St David’s HPE department that required her attention and that participating in a survey was not high on her priority list.

When the conversation focused more specially on the AC:HPE and its structure, Brenda initially referred to the notion of an imposed curriculum, but within that, she also spoke of the desire that the curriculum would be flexible so that it could be applied in a manner that best suited St David’s College. Brenda - It is definitely imposed upon us, we have to do it – and certainly

we’ll do it and we’ll implement in a way that suits us the best. Which I guess the whole thing is about, there is freedom within it to implement.

Brenda viewed the AC:HPE Curriculum as a gathering of the best from each State’s curriculum and from that a common curriculum would be developed and delivered. However, she was unsure as to what the content matter would be. Furthermore, when pressed to describe two of the five key characteristics of the new AC:HPE Curriculum, Brenda displayed uncertainty as to their meaning. In relation to the AC:HPE Curriculum, Brenda saw inactivity/obesity as a major driver.

Brenda was seeking further help and assistance in developing her knowledge of the AC:HPE Curriculum. She was conscious of her need to take a leading position and be able to direct and inform her fellow HPE staff members. However, she had been frustrated by a lack of information and/or knowledge in relation to the AC:HPE Curriculum. When she enrolled in a professional development opportunity that suited her needs, Brenda was exasperated by its

late cancellation. Added to her frustration was the issue of travel for regional teachers to gain professional development. At the end of our conversation, Brenda reiterated her comfort in embracing change and the opportunity it presented to her to update her knowledge within the field. Her view as to the implementation of the new AC:HPE Curriculum was one of ‘tweaking’ what was presently occurring at St David’s College rather than that of a major overhaul of its present curriculum.

Upon reflection, the start of the conversation was about getting the process right and ‘ticking all the boxes’ in relation to the questions that were asked. However, towards the end the conversation seemed to flow somewhat more smoothly. I did find it difficult to remember what questions to ask and this was something that I would need to address. Unfortunately, I am confident that my focus on asking Brenda questions meant that I heard but did not process her responses and so missed many valuable opportunities to probe more deeply into the issues.