An appreciative inquiry into physical education teachers creating a cultural interface in games and sport teaching

The Australian Curriculum requires teachers of all learning areas to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Culture and History where there is opportunity to do so meaningfully. Despite this requirement, there are few studies considering culturally responsive pedagogy for those perspectives in the teaching of Physical Education (PE) in Australian schools. This study investigated a Year 7 PE teaching team in one school’s implementation of a unit of work in the Games and Sport focus area directly incorporating the Cross-curriculum Priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. Four teachers participated in end-of-unit interviews using an appreciative inquiry approach to gain their insights on the work. The results revealed teachers grew in appreciation and awareness of the Cross-curriculum Priority, but experienced cultural and competency barriers during implementation. However, the teachers felt empowered in shaping new ways of student learning. In this study, we demonstrate how rebuilding ways of thinking, knowing and doing provide opportunity for existing games teaching structures to be interrogated, and new ways of knowledge able then to find passage into teachers’ assumptions of PE processes.