Examining the Culture of HPE in a Canadian High School Setting Through Practitioner Research

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of the culture of Health and Physical Education (HPE) in a Canadian high school setting, and analyze how teachers' experiences have been impacted by role conflict, advocacy fatigue, and burnout. A review of the literature revealed that initial concerns around the dual role of teacher-coach, subject marginalization, and burnout existed as separate topics, but very few narrative based approaches were present that examined teachers' cumulative experiences. A collaborative duoethnography was chosen, and dialogues, observations, artifacts, and personal narratives, were analyzed as part of a dialogic inquiry by two female high school HPE teachers at two Canadian high schools. Themes emerged around school and HPE culture, identity/role conflict, ongoing marginalization, and burnout. Next steps reviewed the inclusion of the Comprehensive School Health (CSH) model, administrative support, and policy considerations as possible solutions to the challenges experienced. The experience with duoethnography also yielded an opportunity to examine and explore the benefits and drawbacks of participation in practitioner research. The literature revealed that there still exists a gap between theory and practice in the educational landscape and the inclusion of practitioner research is integral to moving the field forward. However, participation in the duoethnography coding of findings resulted in the researcher experiencing emotional challenges when rectifying the sum of the challenging experiences being explored in her work environment. Given the results of the duoethnography, this subsequently led to questioning if practitioner research would simply be adding more to the already large workload of a group of individuals (HPE teachers). This dichotomy that exists between the efficacy of practitioner research and its demands was explored through a critical exploration and reflection of the practitioner research experience. Ultimately, the importance of practitioner research is apparent, but until teachers workloads can be managed, effective communities of practice are established, and/or the vulnerability of ethnographic research can be effectively supported, teachers will continue to have challenges in embarking on practitioner research. Strategies to mitigate and manage the concerns presented by conducting research in the workplace were explored, and recommendations for next steps were offered.