THE IMPACT OF CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON INNOVATIVE TEACHING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

Background: Quality education remains a fundamental process in the development of individuals and society. Physical Education (PE) is important since it helps in developing physical fitness, teamwork, and social skills. However, PE often struggles with maintaining engagement and innovation in teaching practices. Practices in PE remain a concern for engagement and innovation. For these challenges, there is a need for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for educators as a way of improving teachers’ knowledge, skills, and competencies. Objective: This research explores the role that CPD has in promoting innovation in teaching practices in PE, a case being a CPD program on a mountain biking unit. The purpose is to establish how the chosen type of CPD contributes to increasing teachers’ professional readiness and capacity for delivering effective and interest-catching content and recognize how CPD makes an impact on teaching approaches, curricula, and student engagement. Methods: This study used a qualitative research approach with systematic data collection through surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions with PE teachers involved in a one-year CPD program. To examine the patterns and themes of the data, inductive content analysis was employed. Results: The effectiveness of the CPD initiative in enhancing the teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitude towards innovative teaching practices. Teachers found out that they have higher confidence and level of motivation, better class management, and more efficient delivery of lesson content. Such measures as incorporating mountain biking and other innovative activities helped to increase students’ participation and engagement. Organizational support and availability of instructional resources proved to be central to sustaining these innovations. Conclusion: CPD is essential for promoting innovative teaching practices in PE. It enhances teachers' professional capabilities and significantly improves student engagement and participation. These innovations require Sustained support and resources to be maintained. The study is useful to educators, policymakers, and educational leaders in the process of designing and delivering effective CPD programs. Future Work: Future research should increase the study duration to capture CPD’s long-term outcomes, examine multiple educational contexts in which it exists, and supplement the qualitative data with quantitative data. Moreover, creating more sophisticated models of the process of an efficient, innovative, and individualized CPD can also enhance teaching practices in PE.