Being an effective teacher is both an important and a critical goal for all educators. Often, teachers through their own personal experiences, develop "craft knowledge." That is, their own self-perception of what they believe is effective teaching. However, does this craft knowledge compare with the definitions of effective teaching offered by Borich (1996) and Harris (1999) who suggest that effective teaching results in intended learning? If student learning is a goal of teaching, then teachers should view student learning as being of prime importance. However, there is evidence that in the area of physical education this might not be the case. (Placek, 1983), (Schempp 1983),(1985). Therefore, the purpose of this study was threefold. Firstly, to investigate teachers' conceptions of effective teaching. Secondly, to determine whether teachers' conceptions of effective teaching change dependent upon the curriculum subject area being taught. A comparison between physical education and "other" curriculum areas was made. Thirdly, the study compared differences in conceptions of effective teaching between novice university student-teachers and experienced teachers. A total of 40 participants were involved in the study. 20 participants were university elementary school trained student-teachers who had completed their practicum experiences and 20 participants were experienced elementary school teachers with a minimum of 5 years experience. Based on Flanagan's (1954) original ideas, a "critical incident" questionnaire was used to determine the participants' conceptions of effective teaching. The use of qualitative reduction techniques identified themes deemed to be central to effective teaching. When considering the subject area of physical education, student learning was not highly considered as being part of effective teaching, enjoyment and participation were identified as the major factors. However, when considering "other" curricular areas, both novice student-teachers and experienced teachers rated student learning as the highest indicator of effective teaching. From the results of this study it is suggested that both novice student-teachers' and experienced teachers' conceptions of effective teaching change dependent upon the curriculum subject area. It is clear from this study that a systematic line of research needs to be conducted to more fully understand why learning is not considered to be an integral part of effective physical education teaching.Keyword(s): elementary education, professional preparation