Effect of the Jigsaw Method on Self-Reported Practices by Physical Education Teachers: A Textual Analysis

Abstract

Jigsaw is a cooperative teaching method that is easy to implement and may engage teachers who use it. Previous studies have mainly focused on the effects of the Jigsaw method on students and rarely on teachers. The present study aimed to determine whether Jigsaw implementation influenced the discourses of physical education (PE) teachers related to their teaching practices. Six volunteer teachers used the Jigsaw method during three PE teaching sequences with various physical activities practiced, and semi-directive interviews were conducted before and after the Jigsaw implementation. Each interview was recorded and transcribed with the aim of performing textual analysis using Alceste2018®. The qualitative content analysis performed from the outputs of the automatic textual analysis led to determine the emergent themes in the interviewees’ discourses and the focuses used to address these themes, before and after the Jigsaw implementation. The themes in the discourses were found to be teacher-centered before the Jigsaw implementation (e.g., the guidelines and principles for teaching) and student-centered after the implementation (e.g., the student activity during learning). The focuses were found to vary accordingly (e.g., teachers’ intentions, before the implementation, and students’ characteristics, after the implementation). Such changes in the teachers’ discourse thus suggest that the Jigsaw method might be a useful tool for the development of teaching practices.