Abstract

This small study was conducted to ascertain the levels of provision that gifted and talented

pupils receive in Key Stage 2 PE. Another purpose of the study was to investigate how

recommendations from out of school figures and different settings affect gifted and talented

provision. In order to understand the subject area before starting the research, relevant

literature written by published authors was examined in order to create a platform of

knowledge on the subject area.

The research was conducted by utilising the data collection method of interviews and

questionnaires in order to gauge the perceptions of the bodies directly affected by Key Stage

2 PE. Twenty questionnaires were administered to randomly sampled gifted and talented

pupils, whereas four interviews were used to record teacher perceptions.

After collecting this data the teacher interviews were transcribed and analysed. The next stage

was to code the research and utilise thematic analysis in order to structure the results. Once

placed in themes the perceptions of both pupils and teachers could be analysed, discussed and

finally used to make conclusions based on the research question and subsequent aims.

This research did suggest that according to the perceptions of teachers and pupils, gifted and

talented pupils aren’t currently receiving appropriate levels of provision in the setting of Key

Stage 2 Physical Education.

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Introduction

‘All children have the right to reach their full potential’ (Teare, 2006: 3). This sentiment is

shared by all professionals in the teaching profession, but how realistic is it to cater for gifted

and talented pupils in order for them to reach their full potential? This study will explore how

well gifted and talented pupils are being catered for in primary school PE, considering both

pupil and teacher perceptions in order to ascertain how teachers implement provision in a

school environment.

Due to the focus of the research, it is evident that the reader must firstly gain an

understanding of what ‘gifted and talented’ actually means in the context of primary school

education. The term ‘gifted and talented’ refers to two differing types of pupil who

demonstrate exceptional ability in specific areas of the National Curriculum. Gifted pupils are

the most academically able and their ability might be general or specific to a particular area

within the curriculum whereas talented pupils demonstrate high ability or potential in art,

music, performing arts, physical education or sport (Morley & Bailey, 2006).

With this in mind all schools should establish their own gifted and talented PE register with

no more than 5 – 10% of each cohort. Using this criteria, perhaps only 2 or 3 names in PE

will make their way onto the school list (Williams, 2008). Once gifted and talented pupils

have been determined, necessary levels of provision can be administered to each pupil. This

applies more to high schools as opposed to primary schools, and is written from the

perspective of how a PE department caters for gifted and talented pupils. Therefore this leads

the researcher to the question; how does this apply to primary schools and is there adequate

provision for gifted & talented pupils to support their needs in PE lessons? It is therefore the

intention of this research to ascertain to what extent they are acknowledged and how effective

the identification process is.

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The current research available to educationalists on the subject of provision for gifted and

talented pupils is mainly focused on secondary school pupils rather than their younger

counterparts in primary schools. There are very few published articles written on the subject

relating to provision for primary school gifted and talented pupils. Therefore the justification

for conducting research in this area is to fill some of the gaps in research currently available;

highlighting in particular how provision is delivered and if gifted and talented pupils receive

appropriate levels of provision in order to fulfil their potential.

The perceptions from teachers and pupils are extremely valuable in this research as they are

the bodies that are directly affected by provision for PE gifted and talented pupils. This

therefore means that educators and parents can relate to the study as viewpoints are taken

from their fellow professionals and the pupils’ directly affected by this issue.

The attitude of some practitioners currently, is that gifted and talented pupils are lacking the

support and provision to suit their individual learning needs. Morley and Bailey (2006: 212)

comment on the current state of provision by stating:

‘whatever the general ability within a school, there has been a tendency to plan and provide for the middle range, to modify for those who are struggling and to leave the most able to get on with it’

Whether this will prove to be true or not will depend on how teachers and pupils perceive

provision in PE for gifted and talented students. Primary school teachers might question the

practicalities of providing a small proportion of each class with the required amount of

provision, which could be to the detriment of the majority of the class who don’t demonstrate

the same ability in PE lessons. However SEN pupils are clearly identified and legislated for

in PE, therefore it prompts the question, why not gifted and talented pupils?

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The interest in this subject stems from reading multiple pieces of literature on provision for

gifted and talented pupils, within the setting of a secondary school where full time PE

teachers have a significantly more contact time with students than their primary counterparts

do. Therefore PE teachers have more time to correctly identify and implement provision

policies than primary school teachers have within the context of PE.

This leads to the title of the research being focused on primary rather than secondary schools,

as there is currently a lack of research focused entirely on primary schools and it is generally

an under-researched area (Pickup & Price, 2007). Pickup and Price (2007:159) also state that:

‘much research within primary physical education has focused on the ITT process and comparatively little has been investigated within school-based pedagogy and practice.’

Although the focus of this research will be based on primary schools, there is a general

consensus presently that:

‘there is a wide range of talent identification and provision strategies in the areas of education and sport but not physical education’ Morley and Bailey (2006: 216)

In this paper the researcher will consider current literature in the subject area of provision for

gifted and talented PE students. The research will take place within two primary schools from

the same area and involve pupils from a year 6 class, comprising of boys and girls from both

schools. The school’s year 6 teachers will be interviewed to ascertain their viewpoint on

current provision for gifted and talented PE pupils within their school. Their ontological and

epistemological responses will be recorded and then evaluated throughout the course of the

research.

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To summarise the text; the aim of the research is to gauge the current state of provision for

gifted and talented PE pupils in primary schools. In order to achieve this interviews and

questionnaires will be conducted with teachers and year 6 pupils in two primary schools. The

purpose of the research is to obtain opinions of those directly concerned with gifted and

talented PE provision and add to the pool of research already conducted on the subject area.

Research Questions

1. Teacher perceptions of provision for gifted and talented PE pupils.

2. Pupil perceptions of provision for gifted and talented PE pupils.

3. How do settings (PE lessons, extra-curricular activities, and other sporting facilities)

and recommendations (teachers/parents/coaches talent identification process) affect

provision in primary schools?

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Review of Literature

The intention of this research is to use the existing literature available to place the topic of

research into the context of primary school PE. Physical Education has a large role to play in

the holistic development of every child and is used as a tool to create responsible adults who

make a contribution to society upon leaving secondary school (The Department of Education

& Science: 2007). There are many different definitions of Physical Education but the most

fitting description is:

‘Physical Education represents an umbrella term for a wide range of purposeful physical pursuits that can enrich lives and improve the quality of living.’ Bailey and Macfadyen (2000: 4)

This encompasses the idea of Physical Education and focuses on the educative and social

aspects of the subject which are sometimes overlooked.

There has been some research in the area of provision for gifted and talented pupils but

predominantly all of the research has been on secondary school PE departments or is research

that isn’t recent, which therefore isn’t applicable to the current state of primary schools.

Although in theory, all of the policies suggested in the majority of these journals can work in

the context of a primary school, it is of interest how practical and applicable these actually

are once put into practice in this environment.

It is essential that gifted and talented pupils in physical education continue to improve and

learn throughout the entirety of their schooling lives. Therefore teachers must ensure that all

of the content in their PE lessons meets the needs of each gifted and talented pupil (Williams,

2008).

There are problems with this approach though as Morley & Bailey suggest that:

‘When teaching mixed ability groups there may be a tendency to pitch the level of the lesson to the mean, the middle and the mass in order to fulfil expectations of the National Curriculum’ (2006: 68)

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If this is the case in primary schools, should this mean that the National Curriculum needs

addressing in order to accommodate the needs of every single pupil, not just the middle of the

class? And has the excellence in cities ‘gifted and talented initiative’ done enough to ensure

talented PE pupils receive appropriate support throughout their primary school education?

Provision

The main factor that directly affects gifted and talented pupils in primary schools is

provision, with the major talking point being what provision is in place and how it is

provided for students.

In the context of gifted and talented, Morley and Bailey (2006: 66) define provision as

‘strategies to facilitate the development of gifted and talented pupils’.

Without provision gifted and talented pupils would lack direction in their

development both physically and emotionally. With appropriate strategies and

routines in place, these talented pupils have much more of a chance of fulfilling their

early promise. The question is however, what specifically do primary schools offer

in terms of provision and can more be done to enhance student’s skill level and

holistic development?

Eyre and Lowe (2002: 178) emphasise that variables outside the control of teachers can affect

provision for gifted and talented students in primary schools, stating that:

‘the opportunities that a primary school can offer its pupils will depend on a variety of factors, including the availability of PE and sport specialists, time given to PE within a crowded curriculum and the finances for facilities and equipment.’

Primary school teachers of course have little control over these factors and this highlights the

need for school policy centering around gifted and talented pupils and financial backing.

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There are however methods available to teachers that they can control in order to effectively

deliver provision despite these potential inhibiting issues.

Teachers can make use of differentiation in their approach to teaching gifted and talented

pupils, providing them with appropriate levels of provision according to their level.

Differentiation is defined as recognising the differences of every student and then finding

strategies that meet their individual learning needs (Eyre, 1997).

Therefore in the context of gifted and talented children methods such as grouping and

acceleration can be employed in order to challenge pupils and expose them to new situations.

As a result of teachers differentiating their practice, students learn more as it gives them the

opportunity to learn what they are ready and motivated to learn (Roberts and Inman, 2007).

An example of possible differentiated practices in a Physical Education setting could be

planning progressive activities that challenge the mix of varying abilities in a class thus

ensuring that all pupils feel challenged and have the opportunity to achieve something new in

the lesson.

Mentoring is another method teachers can use to vary the learning experience of gifted and

talented pupils.

‘Mentoring is most often defined as a professional relationship in which an experienced person assists another in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.’ (Management Mentors, 2013)

There are many different parties that can mentor gifted and talented children; it isn’t just

restricted to teachers. Parents and coaches can take an active role in mentoring gifted and

talented children, if they have good subject knowledge on the child’s talented area, then they

are in a position to facilitate provision and guide them through the process of their

development.

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Davis, Brimm & Siegle (2011:164) highlight the benefits of mentoring by stating that:

‘research shows that because mentors provide social and emotional support and advocacy beyond what is normally found in typical instructor-student relations, mentors make a difference in the creative achievement and education attainment of their mentees’

Mentoring is also extremely important in the case of primary school teachers, giving them the

opportunity to deliver better provision for gifted and talented pupils as they can monitor their

development closely on a personal level. It also gives teachers a chance to affect the holistic

development of talented pupils who may enjoy PE but are disaffected in other subjects on the

school curriculum (Morley and Bailey, 2006). Thus allowing them to tailor their schooling

program to meet the needs of talented pupils and help them to balance sporting commitments

with their school work.

As a result of mentoring for instance teachers can ‘try to identify and transfer positive

attributes gained in PE into other areas of the child’s schooling’ Morley and Bailey (2006:

87). This does depend however on the schools agenda and approach to educating gifted and

talented pupils. Which leads to the question; for what purpose should provision be

administered to talented pupils? Should it be purely performance based or concentrate on

holistic development?

Mentors can use the Hellison (2003) responsibility model to assist in the mentoring of gifted

and talented pupils. This can be used to encourage and promote educational values and allow

pupils to take responsibility of their own learning. Both parties can work through all five

levels to identify what stage of responsibility they are currently working at.

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The five levels of the Hellison responsibility model are:

Level 0 – Irresponsibility

Level 1 – Respect (displaying self-control)

Level 2 – Participation (displaying self-motivation)

Level 3 – Self Direction (displaying courage to resist peer pressure)

Level 4 – Caring (displaying compassion and sensitivity)

Level 5 – Advanced Stage (being a responsible role model to other children)

This is important for teachers to understand as the structure of this model provides a system

where gifted and talented pupils holistic development can be the focus. It also represents a

measurable progressive process that both mentor and pupil can follow in order to affect the

emotional maturity of their pupil. This gives teachers another area to work on with gifted and

talented. In terms of performance they may be much higher than everyone else in the class,

but on a responsibility level they may not be. Therefore teachers who perhaps don’t know

how to challenge their gifted and talented pupils due to their ability can challenge them in

other ways such as this in order to develop the ‘whole child’.

Using this system Eyre emphasises the benefits by stating that:

‘through appropriate discussion and questioning, gifted and children will be pushed toward the next conceptual level’ Eyre (1997: 40)

This therefore highlights the importance of this study as this statement does generally reflect

the opinion of a teacher. However, in order to properly ascertain how effective provision is

for gifted and talented, the perceptions of the students themselves need to be considered. For

example teachers may feel like their regular talks and guidance are extremely helpful in

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providing provision, whereas in reality the perception of the student when asked in

confidence by the researcher could be completely different.

Mentoring is generally seen as an effective method in order to supply provision to gifted and

talented pupils (Morley and Bailey, 2006). However, there does remain a

need to develop additional differentiating methods that have mainstream curricular impact.

Another method teachers can use to differentiate for gifted and talented pupils is grouping.

This is where pupils are either grouped in same ability sets or mixed ability sets depending on

a teachers approach to learning and the suitability of practice for gifted and talented pupils.

The benefits of similar ability grouping are outlined by Morley and Bailey:

‘talented pupils like working with pupils of similar abilities; it gives them opportunities to operate at a high level and expand their expectations of themselves.’ (2006: 68)

Having said this however, there are disadvantages to similar ability grouping, as gifted and

talented pupils will be less likely to experience different roles as they might perhaps in mixed

ability groups. Gifted and talented pupils would therefore experience the role of performer in

similar ability groups but they will be less likely to practice the roles of leader and official

due to the focus being more on performance. In mixed ability groups the tendency might be

to use gifted and talented in a demonstration capacity rather than performing. Therefore

taking into account their subject knowledge and ability, they will be well placed to lead small

practices in groups and have the chance to experience officiating as they are well above the

level of the rest of the group. This setting will also ensure that gifted and talented have the

opportunity to peer assess other pupils and give feedback based on their performance. This is

all extremely important in order to affect the holistic development of gifted and talented

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pupils, exposing them to new concepts in order to improve their all-round attributes rather

than focusing solely on performance.

The importance of this interaction between students is epitomised by Davis, Rimm and Siegle

(2011: 146), stating that:

‘Students are stimulated to work and to think, which they have not always been asked to do. Equally important is the opportunity to interact with others like themselves for social and academic support.’

This collaboration between pupils with differing abilities will inevitably improve

their social and emotional skills, but it shouldn’t be overused by teachers as it will

inhibit their performance and progression as a talented child (Morley and Bailey,

2006).

Research has suggested that mixed ability groups do tend to benefit average ability pupils

rather than gifted and talented pupils; although (as previously stated) there are benefits to

mixed ability grouping.

After reflecting on the issues of grouping, this leads to the question: what is an appropriate

balance of single and mixed grouping in the context of provision for gifted and talented and is

it realistic in a primary school setting?

Could temporary grouping be the answer?

Temporary grouping is where students are taken out of their regular classes once or twice per

week in order to experience enrichment activities (Davis, Rimm and Siegle, 2011). This

could be more realistic for primary schools as they might struggle to find a large enough

group of talented individuals in a cohort. Therefore gifted and talented pupils wouldn’t reap

the benefit from same ability groups. Temporary grouping is also more personable, which

allows teachers/gifted and talented co-ordinator to get to know students on a personal level

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and empower the students to take more control of their own development via consultations.

Thus enabling teachers the chance to discuss how their PE lessons are going, discussing their

progress and perhaps discussing activities they have done at a club level. By understanding

this, teachers can differentiate lesson activities in order to challenge gifted and talented with

new practices or providing provision to ensure that new skills learnt at club level can be

practiced and improved in a PE lesson setting.

There are consequences however, as gifted and talented students might find it hard to relate

with their fellow class mates as they are visibly taken out of classes. This could result in them

becoming isolated which would affect their social development.

All methods of grouping have advantages and disadvantages, so how should they be

employed in primary schools? Or does it depend entirely on the situation and setting?

Teachers need to make allowances for gifted and talented progression and development as:

‘talented pupils will more often than not progress through a series of tasks at a faster rate than their peers, it may be appropriate to consider the most suitable level and amount of content necessary to challenge them effectively.’ Morley and Bailey (2006: 74)

Therefore due to their level of ability teachers should differentiate both pace and acceleration

of gifted and talented learning in order to deliver provision.

The term pace describes the tempo of learning and how fast pupils progress. It is important to

set the pace of learning for a gifted and talented pupil at a suitable level in accordance with

their ability. If the pace of learning is too fast then pupils will experience limited success and

become frustrated about their lack of progression (Morgan and Bailey, 2006). Consequently

if the pace of a lesson is too slow then talented pupils will become uninterested and bored.

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Therefore this highlights the need for teachers to be adaptable and have the ability to

recognise/implement when the pace of learning needs to change in order to adequately

challenge gifted and talented pupils. Primary school teachers might experience limitations

with this though as their subject knowledge at a gifted and talented level may be lacking.

Therefore they won’t feel comfortable or know how to alter the pace of the lesson in order to

deliver provision to gifted and talented pupils. These teachers highlight the need for extensive

training in PE in order to successfully include all pupils in their lesson, not just the middle

ability range.

Acceleration differs from pace, as it implies moving faster through academic content (Davis,

Rimm and Siegle, 2011). This could mean setting gifted and talented pupils tasks that are

more advanced, and perhaps aimed at children who are older than them in order to encourage

their development.

There are problems with acceleration though as it can result in social immaturity

(Davis, Rimm and siegle, 2011: 131) as pupils could miss out on social experiences in pursuit

of performance improvement.

‘If provision is to meet the needs of all pupils, the teaching styles used must challenge the specific ability of the identified pupil across the range of the NCPE.’ Morley and Bailey (2006: 70)

This statement highlights the key role teaching styles have in order to effectively facilitate

provision. Teaching styles have a huge impact on gifted and talented development as it is a

key factor in producing high quality learning experiences for pupils. The focus of teachers

should be to provide an environment where gifted and talented pupils feel comfortable

learning and are willing to try new things. An example of this would be if a gifted and

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talented pupil is used to a command style approach to their learning, teachers should then

make every effort to teach them in this manner without straying into other teaching styles,

therefore enabling the student and teacher to attain the best results in a harmonious

environment.

Identification

Ofsted (2004) cited in a report that the identification of pupils with potential as a major area

requiring development in schools currently, thus highlighting the importance of teacher

training in this area. Therefore the relevance of identification in a study about research is that

identification of gifted and talented pupils must take place initially in order to facilitate

provision.

Identification is generally associated with coaches or agencies recognising talent outside of

school, although the onus is also on teachers to identify gifted and talented pupils to produce

their school cohort of gifted and talented pupils.

Williams, G. (2008: 21) states that ‘Pupils who have been identified and developed outside of school frameworks should not be ignored. Any concerns about coaching rationales from external agencies should not overshadow the need for pastoral care.’

It is this pastoral care that reinforces the need for teachers to identify gifted and talented

pupils in their lessons, as coaches can have the tendency to be performance driven as opposed

to teachers who aim to holistically develop every pupil. Once a teacher has identified a gifted

and talented pupil they can tailor their lessons to meet the needs of the pupils and put the

required provision into place in order to aid their holistic development.

Teachers have a number of methods at their disposal to identify gifted and talented pupils, for

example identification strategies can be broken down into three broad categories: Relatively

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generic strategies, Activity-specific measures and Ability-specific strategies (Morley &

Bailey, 2006).

Given the importance that teachers play in gifted and talented pupils, the role of coaches and

parents is still essential to the child’s development.

Morley and Bailey (2006:43) state that ‘Parents and coaches are essential parts of a talented pupil’s system of support, in that they can actively assist in the mentoring, evaluation and support of the child, addressing in particular the notion of school-life balance.’

It is important that all parties concerning a gifted and talented child work closely together in

order to ensure that the child experiences a broad curriculum and continues their progression

within their sport.

Olympics

With the huge success of the Olympic Games in London last summer, how has the legacy of

this international event affected the subject of PE?

It is of interest to the researcher to ascertain what opportunities have arisen for PE/ gifted and

talented in particular in the context of primary schools.

With the building of brand new facilities (and increased funding in sport and PE) there are

more opportunities for schools to utilise enrichment activities as a means to deliver provision

to gifted and talented PE pupils. However, due to the feel good factor created in the aftermath

of the Olympics and increased media attention on the countries sporting performance; have

teachers lost sight of the objective of developing and delivering provision for gifted and

talented pupils?

Various educators have differing opinions on how provision should be delivered and what the

purpose of gifted and talented pupils actually are in the context of PE.

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Williams (2006: 19) is generally of the opinion that gifted and talented pupils sole function is

to become an Olympian or elite sportsman. This stance becomes obvious as he refers to PE

teachers as ‘sports teachers’ and states that:

‘If you do have a talented pupil who has not yet been picked up by one of the local affiliated clubs and who may have a chance, it is best to get him or her on their books as soon as possible.’

His stance is that gifted and talented PE pupils are on a production line to achieving

sporting success and if talent is identified in PE, they should be encouraged to

further their sporting development. Therefore in his opinion a teacher’s role is to

keep children engaged and participating in sport, purely to stop talented pupils

slipping away, producing future Olympians/high performing athletes. This approach

does have its benefits as successful gifted and talented PE students who reach the

highest level of sport raise the profile of the subject through publicity. However, this

performance-based journey could perhaps come at the detriment to their own holistic

development.

Williams (2008: 21) however has a different stance on provision for gifted and talented PE

pupils stating that:

‘Any gifted and talented programme should aim to put the needs of the children first although there will be considerable political, cultural and social pressures to justify government spending on sport.’

This approach ensures that the whole child is developed as opposed to just their

sporting performance. This does however have its drawbacks as due to a focus on

process rather than product, fewer pupils will make it to the top level of sport,

meaning that the government will find it hard to justify spending when fewer

sportsmen are competing and winning at an elite level.

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This therefore leads to the debate, provision to suit the needs of gifted and talented

pupils or provision to produce elite sportsmen/women.

Settings and Recommendations

Schools can have a tendency of relying too heavily on outside coaching agencies as opposed

to planning appropriately for provision in PE lessons. This is generally due to a lack of

subject knowledge and confidence from teachers to successfully cater for gifted and talented

pupils, perhaps feeling that pupil’s subject knowledge is more advanced than their own.

Teachers may also feel that it is impractical to plan for all levels of ability within their time

constraints for lesson planning. This attitude by some teachers is reflected by Morley and

Bailey (2006: 4) stating that:

‘Schools and/or subject departments often approach provision for the most able pupils with some reluctance because they imagine a lot of extra work for very little reward.’

Teachers are however, more than capable of providing the same experience for their

pupils as they would gain from outside coaching. There are methods available to

teachers in order to deliver provision to gifted and talented pupils in PE lessons.

Williams (2008) suggests local communities of primary schools ‘pool their teaching

resources together’ in order to teach gifted and talented pupils with minimal outside

interference from NGB coaches, who are primarily concerned with sporting

excellence. Due to the difference in coaching and teaching practice, a balanced

approach of provision from both parties can only benefit gifted and talented pupils

as they aren’t limiting the pupils to a sole type of provision.

Extra-Curricular activities are another means of provision for gifted and talented pupils. This

is one of the most important practices available to teachers in order to positively affect the

development of gifted and talented pupils. Due to the lack of high ability performers in each

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primary school cohort, extra-curricular competition provides an excellent platform for gifted

and talented students to test their abilities against children of a similar ability.

Morley & Bailey (2006: 84) highlight the value of this type of provision by stating that:

‘Aligning and integrating school PE and sporting opportunities in the community will help to ensure the young person has a clearer and smoother journey through the sports system that enables them to make the best of their sporting abilities.’

However Bailey (2005) argues that extra-curricular sports aren’t as valuable to a child’s

development as PE lessons are. His opinion is that teachers should focus on timetabled PE

lessons as opposed to curricular and extra-curricular sport.

Both extra-curricular sport and PE lesson have their advantages and disadvantages, but which

method of provision is the most effective? This debate will be explored further during the

course of this research, with pupil and teacher perceptions taken into account based on this

argument.

Parents also have an important role to play in the development of gifted and talented children.

Morley & Bailey (2006: 43) reinforce this statement by saying:

‘Parents and coaches are essential parts of a talented pupil’s system of support, in that they can actively assist in the mentoring, evaluation and support of the child, addressing in particular the notion of school-life balance.’

Parents can assist teachers in ensuring their child receives appropriate levels of provision in

primary PE lessons. They can do this be communicating with teachers regularly, keeping

them updated on how their gifted and talented child is progressing in their extra-curricular

commitments. Taking into account their level of progression at a club level, provision could

be provided by the teacher to support pupils in their development. However, within the time

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constraints primary school teachers experience in lesson planning along with their other

school commitments, is it practical to flexibly plan for gifted and talented pupils?

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Methodology

The methodological direction of this study followed a qualitative approach to data collection

in order to obtain the best results from this study. Qualitative research ‘is a situated activity

that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive material practices that

make the world visible’ (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011: 3), therefore meaning that the subjective

responses from participants will enable the researcher to identify themes that perhaps a

quantitative approach wouldn’t find.

In a qualitative study ‘researchers do not make predictions about findings. They are more

interested in whether the findings of a study support or modify existing ideas’ (Cresswell,

2012: 81). Consequently the interest in this topic stems from the idea of how qualitative

responses will support or modify preconceived notions of provision.

Due to the interpretivist nature of this investigation, questionnaires and interviews are utilised

in order to obtain an appropriate sample that effectively covers the research title.

By selecting interviews and questionnaires as the method to record teacher and pupils’

perceptions, the research is based on collecting qualitative data as opposed to quantitative.

The reason for this being that the perceptions of the participants won’t be as easy to interpret

using a quantitative approach, therefore a qualitative approach allows for descriptions and

takes into account experience and time.

The study area demands an interpretivist approach, utilising qualitative data to effectively

identify the perceptions of teachers and pupils regarding provision for gifted and talented key

stage 2 pupils in PE.

One of the methods utilised in this study is questionnaires, these are a set of written questions

that are devised to obtain specific data on a subject from their target audience. The

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advantages of these are that they offer specific questions for specific purposes and are very

easy to respond to. I found that in this research his means of data collection was successful in

collecting specific pupil responses. It was much more successful than an interview would

have been as they may have had the tendency to deviate from the question in an interview.

Whereas with questionnaires, pupils had the chance to read over questions as many times as

they wanted, collect their thoughts and then write it down following the structure of each

question.

There are negatives to questionnaires however as responses can be subjective and

participants can answer many questions but not often ‘why’. I experienced problems with

some open questions on the questionnaires as pupils didn’t always provide detailed answers

or justify their answers sufficiently, which is something that I would have expected from a

more mature person. However (taking into account the age of the pupils) in the case of this

research, the usefulness of this method of data collection far outweighs the negatives as it

enabled me to attain focused perceptions from gifted and talented pupils.

Opie (2004: 95) states that ‘the justification for its use, as with all research

procedures, is that there is no other more reliable and valid method which could be

used’. This is particularly relevant to this research when collecting the data through

the medium of questionnaires.

The questionnaires in this research were self-administered so they could be distributed

personally, thus enabling myself to be present to answer any queries the participants may

have had about the questions. This may have had some implications on the type of responses

I received from the participants though; as perhaps due to my presence in the room, the pupils

didn’t give natural responses due to the nature of the silent test environment they were

subjected to. If I allowed them to fill in questionnaires in their own time without myself being

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present perhaps I would have received more thoughtful responses, however

teacher/supervisor bias may have affected their responses if questionnaires were conducted in

this manner. Therefore I felt in order to remove as much bias and confusion as possible from

the process, it would be more beneficial if I were present.

There are ethical implications to consider by using this method of data collection with year 6

pupils though, as voluntary informed consent had to be granted from the participants and

their guardians in order to partake in the research. The study also appreciates that the

researcher has taken steps to ensure every participant understands the process in which they

are to be engaged BERA (2011). Therefore by adhering to the BERA ethical guidelines for

educational research, I ensured that my research was ethical. Some specific examples of

ethical practice utilised in this study was considering whether harm would be a factor in this

research. Therefore in order to prevent harm from occurring all participants were informed

that they would remain anonymous in the study before participating in the research and that

they had the right to pull out of the research at any point.

The data for this research was collected from two primary schools in the same area of a

northern city, and from each school a random sample of ten gifted and talented pupils with a

mixture of girls and boys from a year 6 class were asked to fill in questionnaires. These

pupils were asked to line up in the classroom and were picked at random by myself to fill in a

questionnaire. Two teachers were then interviewed in each school at a time convenient for

them. This study was repeated in the other school the same way, leaving the myself with four

interviews and twenty questionnaires to analyse and interpret. Teachers and pupils were the

subjects of this study as they are the two parties directly affected by the issue of provision for

gifted and talented pupils.

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The second method of data collection utilised in this study is interviews. This is a

conversation between two people whereby the interviewer asks questions and records the

response of the interviewee. Kumar (2005: 123) describes an interview as ‘any person-to-

person interaction between two or more individuals with a specific purpose in mind’. It is this

focused response based around the research question that helps to add value to this study and

the results from this particular method strongly influence the conclusions made by the

researcher.

The advantages of interviews are that they are adaptable; unexpected data may emerge and

they gain a response of the interviewees own perceptions (which fits in with the aim of the

research). When conducting the interviews I did receive unexpected responses which have

helped to add more depth to this study. There are however disadvantages of interviews, which

are that one party in the interview could dominate the conversation, the interviewer could add

their own bias and the quality of data depends solely on the responses given. It is for this

reason that I made a conscious effort to limit my input in the interviews, in an attempt to

eliminate my bias from the process. However, there were occasions in the interviews where I

asked teachers to elaborate on their answers or ask a question that wasn’t part of the interview

structure in order to clarify certain concepts they brought up in their answers. They weren’t

obligated to answer these extra questions and understood it was in their rights as a participant

to abstain from commenting on questions they weren’t comfortable answering.

The interviews in this research are semi-structured in order to remain flexible; thus

encouraging spontaneous responses and yet still offering a structure to the interview. An

example of this would be when I combined questions 9 and 10 in the interviews, asking

teachers to agree with one statement and then asking them to justify their answer in

whichever way suits them. Therefore this type of question provided the research with uniform

information ‘assuring the comparability of the data’ (Kumar, 2005:126) during the analysis

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phase of the study. This structure ensures that all of the key areas regarding provision for

gifted and talented key stage 2 pupils are answered without the interviewee deviating too far

from the critical areas.

All teacher interviews were taped and transcribed in order to record and collect the responses

of the participants for this study. This enables the researcher to identify patterns in the study

and provides evidence of research that has taken place in order to reach conclusions.

There are ethical implications to consider by using this method of data collection though as

the teachers answering the questions had to consent to being interviewed firstly, and secondly

be made aware of the private nature of the interview. Thus reassuring the interviewees’ that

‘the confidential and anonymous treatment of participants’ data is considered the norm’

BERA (2011: 7). I ensured teachers anonymity in this study by presenting their responses

under a pseudonym (Teacher A, Teacher B etc.) thus withholding their actual identity. I

received far better results by offering teachers a vale of anonymity as they could speak freely

and be critical, safe in the knowledge that they couldn’t be identified.

Another reassuring factor I utilised to make the participants feel comfortable and receive

valuable responses was by informing the teachers that they could revoke their statement and

stop taking part in the research at any point.

Due to the advantages and disadvantages of both interviews and questionnaires (already

covered in this section), triangulation is employed in order to resolve any discrepancies in the

data. Triangulation is a combination of methods used in order to illuminate data that could

potentially be missed by a sole method of data collection. Consequently the research is

designed to centre on the concept of triangulation in order to successfully carry out the

research. Patton (2002: 248) also shares this opinion by stating that:

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‘studies that use only one method are more vulnerable to errors linked to that particular method than studies that use multiple methods in which different types of data provide cross-data validity checks’

The general impression of triangulation is that its exclusive role is to highlight

inconsistencies in data (Patton, 2002); however it was my intention to draw on these

inconsistencies and construct the research around this data rather than ignoring it in an

attempt to make the data consistent. Due to the qualitative nature of the study, inconsistencies

are to be expected when the focus is on individuals perceptions. It is these results as a

consequence of triangulation that strengthen the research, revealing inconsistencies which

wouldn’t be achieved by limiting the research to only one type of data collection. I used

triangulation in this study by first of all coding the perceptions of teachers and pupils, then

comparing and contrasting the responses (taking into account the advantages and

disadvantages of both methods) in order to make conclusions based on the research

questions.

Only two schools were used in this research in order to collect data at a manageable size, but

it is also large enough to obtain a meaningful sample in order to arrive at conclusions

regarding the research topic. A larger sample would of course be ideal and enable the

researcher to identify more patterns, making stronger conclusions regarding provision for

gifted and talented key stage 2 pupils in PE. Although, within the set time constraints for

carrying out this research, a larger sample would not be practical with regards to managing

the data, compiling it and then interpreting it. Therefore a small scale specific study is most

suited to this particular study.

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During the process of collecting data the research will become ethically sound by ensuring

that at no point in the research does participants autonomy, privacy, reciprocity or equity

come into question.

With the research based on both teacher and pupil perceptions on provision for gifted and

talented PE pupils, the teachers and the pupils are the subjects and focus of the research. The

study does experience obstacles though due to the qualitative nature of the study. Opie(2004:

151) explains that ‘the problem lies in creating some sort of meaning out of what can often be

a vast quantity of data’. However, thematic analysis and coding are employed to break down

the study and to provide a focus on the main issues concerning provision.

Themes were identified in the collected data in order to determine if the views of gifted and

talented pupils were consistent with that of their teachers on the subject of provision.

Thematic analysis is used in this research in order to examine and record patterns within the

data. I first of all read through all of my data and then considered themes that arose in the

study. After considering this, I then structured my themes in accordance with the research

questions by organising perceptions into ‘provision’, ‘identification’,’ settings and

recommendations’ and ‘additional responses’ sections.

Due to the qualitative nature of the study, content analysis was utilised in order to devise

definite themes in the research (Patton, 2002). Thus allowing the researcher the ability to

focus on perceived key areas of provision and highlight potential problems and successes in

primary schools currently.

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Results

The results collected from questionnaires, interviews and from relevant literature were

considered in order to answer the research questions surrounding this study. Although the

study was based on teacher and pupil perceptions regarding provision for gifted and talented

key stage 2 pupils in PE, new themes emerged from the collected data and available literature

relating to provision for gifted and talented pupils in key stage 2. Therefore four themes

became the focus of the analysis for this research. These themes were:

1. Provision

2. Identification

3. Settings and Recommendations

4. Additional Findings

The additional findings section was extensive within this research; therefore it became a

theme in its own right as both teachers and pupils revealed many valuable points that can

effect provision for gifted and talented pupils in a primary school PE setting. Before

exploring these themes in further depth I will introduce a brief outline of the most valuable

responses from both teachers and pupils, exploring similarities and offer explanations for the

perceptions of both parties in the analysis and discussions section later on.

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Teacher perceptions

All teachers in this research were interviewed in order to ascertain their perceptions regarding

provision for gifted and talented pupils.

Some of the responses for certain questions were the same across the board. For instance all

teachers agreed that gifted and talented PE pupils’ main function in a lesson was to

demonstrate good practice and to support the teachers in areas that they had poor subject

knowledge. Other than differentiation of activities and conversing one on one with gifted and

talented pupils about advanced principles (such as tactics) there were no other procedures

they could suggest to facilitate provision to gifted and talented pupils. Therefore the general

consensus was that teachers saw the pupils as a resource rather than actually catering for

them in PE to ensure that they progress and achieve something in every lesson.

The interviewees did however admit that they struggled to plan for all pupils in their class

and that planning for ‘varying abilities’ (Teacher C) did present problems when considering

PE primary lessons are only an hour long.

Other findings from the results were that all teachers consulted with their gifted and talented

pupils on some level and they all agreed that the benefits of one on one consultation in

delivering provision were ‘huge’ (teacher B). Although, the practicalities of regular

consultations with gifted and talented pupils just wasn’t viable in a normal schooling week.

Another point agreed upon by teachers was the resounding success of the Trust that the

school belonged to. This trust consisted of a cluster of local schools all linked to the local

High School. The purpose of this was to provide enrichment opportunities and create a

competitive environment in specialist facilities at the High School. Thus exposing gifted and

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talented pupils to new situations and using the expertise of specialist coaches/PE teachers to

gain the necessary amounts of provision required.

This trust receives funding from the council in order to fund these activities and deliver

provision to high performing pupils.

Perhaps the most important uniform response that came back from the teachers was that they

all felt that key stage 2 PE wasn’t delivering in terms of challenging gifted and talented pupils

and that enrichment opportunities set up by the school were their best chance at being

challenged. This does seem quite alarming, as the setting of a PE lesson has immense

potential in delivering provision to gifted and talented pupils and it is not being realised

currently via the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

Teachers stated that they interacted with coaches when they came into school, making use of

their expertise in order to build on their subject knowledge and improve their ability to

identify gifted and talented pupils. Identification was regarded as being immensely important

in the process of delivering provision to gifted and talented pupils. Their feeling was that in

order to provide provision, gifted and talented pupils must first be identified, and without this

process necessary levels of provision wouldn’t be administered. Other methods of

identification utilised by teachers were staff meetings evaluating gifted and talented children

progress and discussing if they had seen potential in some unrecognised children.

There were contrasting responses from the participants for other questions however, for

example there was a split of opinion over the question ‘do gifted and talented pupils receive

appropriate levels of provision in your PE lessons?’. Some teachers cited their lack of subject

knowledge in all areas of PE and the high ability of the pupils being the main obstacles for

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gifted and talented provision. Whereas teacher C was comfortable teaching PE and felt they

had the appropriate subject knowledge and skill set needed to adapt their lesson to ensure that

gifted and talented pupils received appropriate provision.

Pupil Perceptions

The pupils in this research were asked to fill in questionnaires in order to understand their

perceptions regarding the research title. The responses that came back after completion of

questionnaires were fairly negative, this could however be attributed to their maturity and the

general ‘uncool’ stigma attached to school. Despite this attitude however, I still managed to

obtain useful information from this form of data collection. The results from the

questionnaires filled out by gifted and talented pupils were as follows.

Potential methods teachers could use to facilitate provision for gifted and talented pupils

could have been tailoring their school workload to fit in with their training commitments

outside of school. However, all pupils agreed that their schoolwork and homework was of a

manageable size therefore they didn’t experience any difficulties with their schoolwork and

training. They all stated that they did their work as soon as they got home from school

therefore not affecting their sporting commitments.

Pupils also outlined the importance of the support they receive from their parents, assisting in

them in their training. Explaining that they help them by devising activities at home to

accelerate their development and they also help by liaising with their coaches to deliver these

practices whilst at home. In relation to Physical Education, their parents buy them kit and

encourage them to do well in lessons. However, more could be done in the communication

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between teachers and parents in order to understand how best to deliver provision at school in

accordance with their ability (this is a view that is also shared by teacher B).

Students stated that the school generally doesn’t actively assist gifted and talented pupils to

progress in PE lessons. This is interesting after considering the teacher perceptions regarding

the schools role in providing provision. The pupils state that the only provision they receive

through the school (not teacher) occurs after inviting specialist coaches to come in and

conduct lessons.

All pupils agreed that they received feedback from their teachers in PE, but the feedback they

received wasn’t very often and there was no plan in place to periodically assess their

development.

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Findings and Discussion

Consistent themes emerged in the collected data in both the questionnaires and interviews.

The results were broken down into four key areas: provision, identification,

settings/recommendations and additional findings. These themes must however be scrutinised

due to the limitations that are evident in this study. Firstly, I did start the process of compiling

my questionnaires and interviews fairly late; therefore they didn’t come under the required

scrutiny from mentors in order to produce the best possible questions, although ultimately I

was happy with them. I did experience limitations with some interview questions due to the

open nature of the questions; teachers did at times deviate from the question asked. Another

limitation was the maturity levels of the pupils; I didn’t really take into account their age and

the type of responses I would receive from them. For example for some questions I expected

a much more detailed response. Perhaps next time I would compile my questionnaires with

more of a rigid structure with fewer open questions in order to obtain more focused answers

(although this would impede free unrestricted responses). Other limitations in this process

were the time constraints placed on the research, within the space of time allowed to

complete the research I could only realistically conduct a small scale study. However, if I was

allowed more time to collect a larger sample and to analyse data, there would be more depth

to the research and it would become more credible as an academic study. Other limitations

were my presence in collecting the research, for example I was present when questionnaires

were filled in by students and I conducted the interviews, therefore my bias could have

potentially affected the research. I was conscious of this however; therefore there was no

discussion between participants and myself about the research or questions before and during

the interview. My only purpose during the questionnaires was to stop copying from occurring

and to clarify questions on the questionnaires that the children didn’t understand. There was

another issue with bias as I interviewed teachers in one school either side of the morning

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break, therefore the interviewed teacher could have discussed and imparted their bias on the

teacher next to be interviewed during the break in the staff room. A final limitation

experienced in this study was that both the questionnaires and interviews were conducted in

the same day. In hindsight, I would have done my questionnaires firstly and analysed them

before conducting the interviews. This would have enabled me time to adapt the questions of

the interview in order to attain teacher responses that would relate more closely to the pupil

perceptions.

Provision

An area of provision that was very prominent in the responses from participants was the

importance of one on one consultations and feedback to gifted and talented pupils. One on

one consultations with gifted and talented pupils were used in primary schools by teachers in

order to attain pupil’s perception of how provision was meeting their individual learning

needs. Teacher C stated that another purpose of this was so that gifted and talented pupils

understood what specifically teachers are planning for. As a result of this they were then

‘coaching and mentoring them and talking them through plans of how they can improve their

ability’.

There were mixed responses from the children about how often they receive feedback/one on

one consultations with their teachers. Some pupils felt that teachers ‘only tell you once you

have done something that you couldn’t do’ whereas others said that they only received

feedback ‘sometimes after the lesson’. Kirk (2005: 182) states that ‘research that has been

undertaken suggests that there is huge variation in the quality of children’s experiences’.

Therefore this variation of responses must be expected and considered in order to make

conclusions. This response could be a consequence of the time restraints teachers face in a

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normal schooling day, taking into account all of their schooling commitments. There are still

methods available to teachers, for example Teacher D explained that she used questionnaires

to gain gifted and talented responses on provision. Whichever method used, it is essential to

gauge the pupils perception on the provision they experience in PE lessons as they are the

bodies directly affected. Ultimately, ‘this will help to shape the curriculum’ (Teacher D) and

ensure that appropriate provision is administered.

In the context of PE lessons one third of the pupils felt that the teacher spent more time with

less able pupils than with gifted and talented pupils. However, the other two thirds felt that

that their ‘teachers help everyone the same amount’. This does suggest a lack of resources in

primary PE as the middle of the class is supported by the teacher, but there is a lack of special

provision and specific teacher time in evidence for gifted and talented pupils. This could be

remedied by assigning an NTA to gifted and talented pupils, but perhaps within the school

budget for primary PE this wouldn’t be applicable.

Teachers stated that their ability to deliver effective provision to gifted and talented pupils

was inhibited by their subject knowledge in physical education, citing their basic

understanding of NCPE as the main problem. Teacher B illustrates this by stating that:

‘In my PE lessons I think it all depends on my comfort zone and delivery which I think is a major stumbling block. So if I know that I can successfully use them (gifted and talented) within the session then other times I think my subject knowledge maybe stops me from doing that.’

This statement therefore outlines the lack of teacher training and support they receive in order

to ensure they feel comfortable when teaching all aspects of PE.

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Teacher C agreed with this by stating that ‘teacher training isn’t extensive enough in PE

therefore they find it hard to provide provision for gifted and talented PE pupils’.

Another issue that arose from Teacher B’s statement was the teacher’s perception of

provision for gifted and talented in PE lessons. This response suggests that they think using

gifted and talented pupils in a demonstration capacity is providing them with appropriate

provision. However, it could be argued that the roles have been reversed in this context and it

is in fact the gifted and talented pupils (with greater specific knowledge) actually provide

teachers with provision in order to successfully deliver PE lessons to the middle of the class.

‘Even though it (provision) may be planned I don’t think it always does happen for every child as some of the skills that the kids have got are beyond what we can teach them’ (teacher D)

Identification

Identification was a theme that consistently came up in the responses of the participants in

this study. The interviewed teachers talked at great lengths about this aspect in their teaching

experience, whereas gifted and talented responses hardly acknowledged identification as an

important factor when considering the issue of provision.

Both parties involved in the research did however agree on the importance of the role that

parents can play in order to affect gifted and talented development. A child stated in their

questionnaire that their parents ‘are like coaches, they tell me where to improve and where I

go wrong’. The significance of this response therefore highlights the fact that parents spend

much more time watching their child perform, therefore they have a great understanding of

their child’s capabilities and have the ability to identify their strengths and weaknesses. They

are in the unique position where they get to watch coaches deliver provision to their child and

they have the chance to see what was successful/unsuccessful in their practice. It is this

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identification experience that can be of great value to teachers, therefore illustrating that

parents should be utilised more often as a resource to empower teachers in providing

provision. If teachers and parents communicated on a regular basis about specific gifted and

talented children, teachers would be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses (with this

information in mind) quicker thus enabling them to modify provision to suit their learning

needs. This also applies to children who haven’t been identified as gifted and talented in

school, for example if they are performing at a high level outside of school and parents are

open about what their child is doing, teachers can focus on their specific child and decide

whether they should be on the gifted and talented register. Successful identification would

then result in a focus to tailor specific provision to meet the needs of the gifted and talented

child.

Conversely this relationship between teachers and parents should work the other way as well.

Teacher D explains the process upon discovering a gifted and talented child in PE: ‘I

recommend to the parents an idea of where the child can go to further help and develop

them’. Therefore teachers’ ability to identify gifted and talented pupils in PE lessons will

enable parents to exploit other avenues outside of school to progress their child’s

development.

However, parent involvement should be approached with caution, understanding that teachers

are the main medium with regards to dictating gifted and talented learning and provision in a

school setting. Too much parent input regarding provision could have adverse effects on

gifted and talented development. Teacher C suggests that parents can potentially inhibit their

gifted and talented child’s progression by ‘narrowing children’s avenues’. Teacher C

commented further on this issue by stating that ‘I think sometimes they need to allow the

children to try other sports’. Citing the benefits of this by stating that there are transferrable

37

skills that can be learnt in various sports therefore it may actually help them in their specific

talented area

There are however systems in place for teachers to effectively identify gifted and talented

pupils. Teacher A explains that gifted and talented registers are used so that teachers have an

idea of which students require specialist provision. This is important, as when teachers start

new classes at the start of a school year, they will have a record of who the gifted and talented

pupils are and can plan provision strategies straight away. Therefore gifted and talented

registers are a great idea and teachers must keep them updated in order to continue to provide

provision for gifted and talented students.

Teacher D also states that ‘if a gifted and talented child is spotted they do get signposted

somewhere else to go’. Thus highlighting the process gifted and talented pupils go through

upon successful identification in PE lessons.

However, in the current climate all teachers felt that subject knowledge inhibited them in

identifying gifted and talented children, as they weren’t sure what level of performance

constituted to a gifted and talented child (in the context of PE).

Teacher B stated that ‘coaches are much better at spotting children’ therefore meaning that

they would take a step back and allow coaches to control the identification process due to

their superior subject knowledge.

More extensive training in talent identification needs to be made available to teachers as they

shouldn’t become over reliant on gifted and talented registers (passed on from previous

teachers) and coaches to identify gifted and talented pupils. More training in this area would

38

ensure that they feel comfortable and take more of an active role in the identification process

through PE lessons. These training courses available to teachers are known as continuing

professional development (CPD) Armour & Duncombe (2004: 8) state that:

‘Teacher development is widely recognised as a key ingredient of successful school improvement strategies. Thus, the provision of more and better continuing professional development is offered as the solution to a range of problems in education.’

Having said this however, it is important to remember that whilst teaching development is

important, it isn’t the sole solution to providing better provision for gifted and talented pupils.

Settings/Recommendations

Both pupils and teachers agreed that parents play a large role in supporting gifted and

talented children’s ambitions and holistic development throughout primary school. One of the

pupils stated that ‘my dad trains me in the garden, gets me kit and teaches me new skills’, it is

this base of support and interaction with parents that was clearly needed by the children

themselves in order to stay motivated and continue their progressive development. It is

parent’s intimate knowledge of their gifted and talented child that can directly affect how

provision is delivered in a Physical Education setting. For example recommendations can be

(and should be) made to teachers of how provision is delivered to their gifted and talented

child outside of school, and what their preferred learning methods are, thus helping to guide

the process of planning provision for their child.

As a setting, Physical Education lessons can potentially offer a lot in terms of gifted and

talented provision. A pupil emphasised the benefits of this by stating that ‘it helps because it

is learning through doing it instead of listening in class’.

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Teacher C highlights the benefits of Physical education as a tool to deliver provision by

stating that:

‘I think you can learn a lot from playing rugby and if you are very good at cricket as well I think there are a lot of different skills you can learn, that you can use’ in terms of transferrable skills to their sport.

This highlights how PE is useful as a tool to provide provision to gifted and talented pupils

by aiding them in their development across all areas of the school curriculum. Taking

something they excel at and potentially using it as a means to affect their holistic

development. These early learning experiences are extremely important as they are ‘critical

years for the development of the kinds of physical competences that place individuals in a

position to access and engage actively in the physical culture of society.’ (Kirk, 2005: 242).

PE has the potential to develop and improve gifted and talented physical attributes. One pupil

stated that PE was helping their performance, as PE ‘helps because I can get my speed for a

round off flick summersault’. Therefore through lesson practice and planned activities pupils

can learn transferrable skills, which can then be translated into their sporting performance.

This therefore emphasises the fact that no matter how high the ability of the child there are

areas that can be broken down in order to positively affect gifted and talented performance

(via provision). The prospective benefits PE can offer as a subject aren’t being realised

however as teacher training and curriculum activities for gifted and talented are inadequate.

Kirk (2005: 183) attributes this to:

‘The increasing pressures on the primary school curriculum and on generalist teachers, it seems highly unlikely that primary schools can offer the kind of quality experience young people need’.

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Recommendations can also come from coaches; with this interaction between

themselves and teachers contributing towards gifted and talented provision.

The general consensus in this research was that teachers point out to the coaches who the

gifted and talented pupils are firstly, which then allows coaches to deliver provision to these

pupils. The responses from teachers do however seem to suggest that teachers do have a

tendency to take a step back when coaches come in to school and let the coaches formulate

the provision for gifted and talented pupils. Teacher C emphasises this by stating that

‘specialist coaches come in and deliver PE sessions which I think then is a bit of a relief for

some teachers who struggle with PE’.

This therefore illustrates the need for teachers to take more of an active role working

alongside coaches in lessons, as this reluctance inhibits their development and versatility as a

teacher. This can be altered by utilising coaches subject knowledge and talent development

recommendations in order to adapt their provision for gifted and talented. However, teachers

must consider the differences between coaching and teaching when receiving

recommendations so that they can adapt ideas with the focus on holistic development as

opposed to being based purely around performance.

Additional findings

All pupils managed to balance their schoolwork with their sporting commitments outside of

school, with many of the participants stating that ‘I do work as soon as I get home’. This was

a speculated method of provision by the researcher before collecting data for the study (which

is why the question was included in the questionnaire). The justification for this speculation

was that teachers could provide provision to their gifted and talented pupils by designing

work/homework so that they experienced as little disruption with their training outside of

41

school as possible. However, due to these perceptions teachers don’t particularly have to

focus on this aspect of provision as pupils find the workload manageable.

It is important that gifted and talented pupils feel challenged in Physical Education lessons

otherwise the type of provision provided for them by teachers should be deemed

unsatisfactory. There is an argument to suggest that provision in primary schools isn’t of the

required schools as all pupils wrote in the questionnaires that they weren’t challenged

physically or mentally in PE lessons, they feel like ‘they can do harder stuff and activities in

PE are too easy’.

Teacher C reinforces the sentiment that PE isn’t delivering as a means to challenge gifted and

talented pupils as ‘in primary schools the focus is on core subjects’, therefore PE tends to get

overlooked. Teacher A states that PE has the potential to be a challenging subject for all

pupils ‘but it’s not specific enough’. This therefore leads to the argument of ‘why bother

providing provision for gifted and talented students (in relation to set lesson plans) if they can

do all of the work? There is no point, which is why the curriculum has to be addressed to

realise the potential of primary PE.

Teacher C also stated that ‘it’s quite difficult to deliver one lesson that can fulfil the needs of

every child’ due to the varying abilities in the class. Stidder & Hayes (2013: 39) suggests a

rationale relating to why PE isn’t fulfilling its potential as a subject, stating that:

‘a narrow focus on assessment outcomes is perhaps understandable given that the NCPE levels of attainment against which pupils are judged at the end of each Key Stage make very little reference to group work, leadership and coaching. This highlights how the constraints of the curriculum and the pressure to assess pupils against narrow and limited attainment criteria, work to restrict opportunities for teachers to adopt assessment practices that meet the needs of the greater number of pupils.’

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Teacher B suggests a solution to this problem by stating that future national curriculums

should concentrate on providing a ‘framework for normal kids first, then adapt it to meet the

needs of gifted and talented afterwards’.

Other methods schools use to deliver provision to gifted and talented pupils are employing

gifted and talented schemes. Teacher C explains this process by stating that:

‘We do a G & T scheme which runs through KS2 and PE is one of those areas that is highlighted on there. And as the cluster of schools, we have G & T football workshops, so we use the children and put them into a setting where they do maths and literacy based around football’

The cluster of schools he is referring to in this statement formulates the participating schools

in a trust they all belong to which is connected to a local high school. This trust ‘puts on extra

events after school or during whole days inside school time’ (Teacher C) and offers

enrichment opportunities and competitions to gifted and talented pupils. Teacher A outlines

the benefits of this in stating that ‘G & T children get a lot out of going in to compete against

the best of the best’, which is something they wouldn’t experience in the setting of a PE

lesson.

A final additional finding in the research was that teachers couldn’t agree on the justification

and direction for providing gifted and talented with provision. For example teacher B’s

perception was that provision should be provided for the purpose of producing elite

sportsmen/women. Therefore focusing more on performance than any other attribute ‘so that

they are not actually stagnating and there is a progression’ throughout Key Stage 2. This

perception fits in with the newly published draft of the PE National Curriculum 2013, as it

focuses more on performance than the previous NCPE. Stating in particular that its purpose

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will be to ‘offer opportunities to compete in sport and other activities to build character and

help to embed values such as fairness and respect.’ (Department for education, 2013)

There was a contrasting response from the other teachers interviewed though, agreeing that

the purpose of provision for gifted and talented was to meet the needs of each pupil, thus

focusing more on their holistic development. Teacher C stated that ‘children should always

be challenged regardless of what lesson it is, although we don’t say or really aim towards an

end goal’. Teacher D however cited the lack of resources to facilitate the growth of pupils in

to elite sportsmen/women as a justification for their response, so their perception may have

been different if the school had the resources to allocate to gifted and talented pupils.

This mixture of responses is part of the problem regarding the issue of provision as there is

no consistency in the approach and direction for gifted and talented pupils. It seems to be

entirely subjective, therefore, this results in inconsistent provision from each teacher as there

is no agreed goal to their development.

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Conclusion

‘Teacher and pupil perceptions regarding provision for gifted and talented key stage 2 pupils

in PE’

Aims:

4. Teacher perceptions of provision for gifted and talented PE pupils.

5. Pupil perceptions of provision for gifted and talented PE pupils.

6. How do settings (PE lessons, extra-curricular activities, and other sporting facilities)

and recommendations (teachers/parents/coaches talent identification process) affect

provision in primary schools?

This research uncovers the true perceptions of the parties directly affected by the issue of

provision for gifted and talented pupils in Key Stage 2. Teachers gave far more in depth

answers than gifted and talented pupils did, therefore the teacher perception section was

longer than the pupil perception section. However, I still received some valuable responses

from the pupils; some of the results reinforced the teachers views whereas other times they

contrasted. It all helped to add depth to the research nonetheless.

After considering all of the findings throughout the study, this research can came to the

following conclusions:

1. Parents play a key role in assisting teachers to provide provision for gifted and

talented pupils. However, they clearly aren’t exploited enough as a medium to help

teachers in their planning. Teachers should liaise with parents in order to ascertain

what ability level their child is at and what their preferred learning methods are, this

would therefore ensure that provision is personalised. But in the current climate, this

isn’t happening.

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2. Teachers are reluctant in their responsibility to identify gifted and talented pupils and

therefore allow coaches to control the identification process. Subject knowledge is the

main stumbling block with teachers, meaning this lack of certainty results in poor

confidence in their ability to identify and deliver provision for gifted and talented

pupils. It is evident that teacher training needs investment in order to ensure that they

feel comfortable doing this, even in the presence of a coach as there could be

something the coach has missed.

3. One on one consultations with gifted and talented pupils are utilised but not on a

regular basis in primary schools. The benefits of this would be massive, enabling

teachers to adapt provision to meet the needs of gifted and talented pupils. But within

the time constraints of a school day it was considered impractical to do this regularly.

4. There does seem to be confusion on what actually constitutes to provision within the

setting of a PE lesson. The general response does seem to suggest that using gifted

and talented pupils as a demonstration model of good practice is ensuring that they

obtain provision. The reality of this is that gifted and talented pupils are actually

providing primary school teachers with provision. This calls for clarification between

all primary school teachers regarding what ‘provision’ actually is, in order for gifted

and talented pupils to continue their development without stagnating.

5. Physical Education as a subject has the potential to be a key instrument in delivering

provision and affecting the holistic development of gifted and talented pupils.

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However, this research reveals that the potential of PE for this purpose isn’t being

realised in Key Stage 2.

6. Using coaching recommendations, teachers will improve their own practice in relation

to gifted and talented provision. However they need to stop the trend of becoming

over reliant on these out of school bodies in order to independently affect gifted and

talented provision to the same level a coach does.

7. Gifted and talented pupils best opportunity of development comes in the form of

enrichment opportunities and extra-curricular activities rather than in the setting of a

PE lesson.

8. Pupils don’t feel challenged in the current PE curriculum and teachers feel that the

framework isn’t versatile enough to cater for all students. Therefore the middle of the

class are the main beneficiaries of NCPE.

9. Teachers can’t agree on the purpose of providing provision for gifted and talented.

Therefore meaning there is no consistency in their approach and delivery, planning in

accordance with their own perceived goals for gifted and talented.

In relation to literature read on provision for gifted and talented pupils, it is clear that primary

schools experience many more obstacles than high schools do when facilitating provision for

this specific group. Resources available to primary schools are the major inhibiting factor as

high schools have more specialised PE staff, more funding and have far superior facilities.

Therefore due to this gulf in resources, there should be more of a focus on concepts such as

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trust schemes, where a cluster of primary schools are linked to a high school. Although this

was evident in the research, I can’t help but think high schools aren’t doing enough to aid

primary schools in areas of provision for gifted and talented. Along with competitions and

facility sharing (which already takes place), high schools could help in training primary

school teachers and introducing them to new methods via workshops with PE teachers. The

possibilities of a partnership like this are almost endless but it requires either initiative on the

part of high schools/primary schools, or perhaps legislation from the government to raise the

standards of PE lessons in a primary setting. Thus ultimately giving gifted and talented pupils

the opportunity to experience far better provision in PE.

Stidder & Hayes (2013: 34) make the statement that ‘meeting the needs of all pupils is

complex, challenging and, one might argue, virtually impossible’. However, teachers must

accept the challenge of changing their practice, if gifted and talented pupils are to learn

anything of value in the current setting of Key Stage 2 PE.

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