A wealth of research has been undertaken in the area of peer collaboration with primary and secondary school children (Dyson & Rubin, 2003; Legrain, d’Arripe-Longueville & Gernigon, 2003), professionals/practising teachers (Allan, 1995; Swafford, 1998) and university student teachers in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) (Williams, 1996; Jenkins, 2002). However, research into peer collaboration or collaborative learning and teaching (as referred to in this study) with Physical Education (PE) student teachers learning to teach in a UK (United Kingdom) setting, is less evident. Very little is known about how student teachers in ITE view the process of peer collaboration or collaborative learning and teaching or whether it would be accepted as a viable strategy or instructional practice which brings two or more student teachers and their expertise together to acquire, construct, apply and reflect critically on new knowledge, skills and instructional practices to meet the diverse needs of learners (Katene & Faulkner, 2007). Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of both PE student teachers (n=47) undertaking a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Course in one university in the south of England and, primary middle school children (n=65) aged between 11 and 12 years (Year 7), from a small urban middle school in the south of England, toward collaborative learning and teaching as a useful strategy for learning in PE.

For the student teachers, a questionnaire was constructed to elicit their perceptions regarding: (a) the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative learning and teaching and, (b) the usefulness of collaborative learning and teaching in helping them to learn how to teach. Responses were all rated on a five point Likert scale (1 = yes, very much; 3 = not sure; 5 = no, not at all). A similar questionnaire was administered to the children asking them to: (a) list up to three advantages and three disadvantages of collaborative learning and teaching and, (b) respond to the usefulness of collaborative learning and teaching in helping them to learn in PE. The questionnaires were administered to the student teachers and pupils at the end of their three-week collaborative learning and teaching experiences (i.e. 3 x 60 minute lessons). Given the nature of the data, primarily descriptive analyses (means, standard deviations, and frequencies) were reported.

Key findings revealed that: (a) student teachers overwhelmingly agreed that collaborative learning and teaching was a useful tool in developing their subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge), however, concerns were raised over the ‘unequal contributions’ between student teachers during the planning and teaching of lessons, (b) children reported that collaborative learning and teaching (between student teachers) enhanced their own knowledge, understanding and skills in PE but were sometimes confused as to ‘who was in charge’. Implications for teacher educators and student teachers are discussed,