Tales from the playing field: black and minority ethnic students' experiences of physical education teacher education

This article presents findings from recent research exploring black and minority ethnic (BME) students’ experiences of Physical Education teacher education (PETE) in England (Flintoff, 2008). Despite policy initiatives to increase the ethnic diversity of teacher education cohorts, BME students are under-represented in PETE, making up just 2.94% of the 2007/8 national cohort, the year in which this research was conducted. Drawing on in-depth interviews and questionnaires with 25 BME students in PETE, the study sought to contribute to our limited knowledge and understanding of racial and ethnic difference in PE, and to show how ‘race,’ ethnicity and gender are interwoven in individuals’ embodied, everyday experiences of learning how to teach. In the article, two narratives in the form of fictional stories are used to present the findings. I suggest that narratives can be useful for engaging with the experiences of those previously silenced or ignored within Physical Education (PE); they are also designed to provoke an emotional as well as an intellectual response in the reader. Given that teacher education is a place where we should be engaging students, emotionally and politically, to think deeply about teaching, education and social justice and their place within these, I suggest that such stories of difference might have a useful place within a critical PETE pedagogy

Professional narratives in mathematics teacher education

In recent years, narratives gained prominence in many educational fields, especially in teacher education and in research on teaching. In this paper I discuss why narratives may be of interest both for mathematics teachers’ professional development and for researchers that investigate teachers’ professional knowledge

Being and Becoming: The Heart of Teacher Education

Teacher education is of critical concern to a nation’s well-being. Scripture clearly identifies that the predominant narratives in a nation’s education are directly linked to its citizen’s behaviour (e.g., see Psalm 78, Judges 2). Literature which claims that teacher education has little influence on beliefs that pre-service teachers bring to their initial teacher education may unnerve Christian teacher educators who seek to equip teachers to make a difference in the lives of children and parents in a nation (Berry, 2004; Fletcher, 1997; Hatton & Smith, 1995; Lowery, 2003). For example, Berry (2004, p. 1302) observes that: There is little doubt that student teachers’ prior experiences as learners serve as powerful templates for the ways in which they practice as teachers. Their beliefs about teaching are informed by the accumulation of experience over time and, once formed, these beliefs are extremely resistant to change, even when they are shown to be inconsistent with reality

Teachers Are Making a Difference: Understanding the Influence of Favorite Teachers

Using the theoretical framework of occupational socialization, the purpose of this study was to examine preservice physical education teachers’ beliefs and values of teachers and teaching through analysis and interpretation of favorite teacher narratives. One hundred and eighty six preservice physical education teachers’ narratives were collected and analyzed using open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). The qualities and characteristics identified through analysis were organized into seven inclusive sub-categories of favorite teacher characteristics and abilities and were articulated into three central themes, described as Pay it Forward, Caring in Teaching, and Motivated to Learn. The findings suggest that understanding favorite teacher influences on preservice teachers provides insights into maximizing the impact of physical education teacher education programs

A Letter from Our New Associate Editor

Christina Belcher is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada and an adjunct of the Education Department at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. She is passionate about children’s literature and is interested in how narratives provoke hope, reveal cultural dispositions, and shape the soul. Her broad interests and areas of writing include literacy, worldview, and interdisciplinary study. She has previously served in teacher education in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Christina is currently a Doctoral Candidate at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia

Diversity, Disadvantage and Differential Outcomes: An analysis of Samoan students narratives of schooling

Social justice discourses, particularly those attentive to the politics of difference, suggest that the perspectives of least-advantaged groups need to be taken into account when endeavouring to realise social justice in education for these groups. In this paper, we analyse narratives on schooling produced by one cohort of least-advantaged students, namely Samoan students attending state-designated disadvantaged secondary schools in Queensland, Australia. Specifically, the narratives of educational disadvantage provided by Samoan students are analysed. The focus is on 'the what' (the knowledge to be transmitted) and 'the how' (the teacher-student relations) of pedagogy in state-designated disadvantaged schools. Attention is paid to the contradictory and ambivalent discourses inherent in these narratives, particularly in terms of realising socially just pedagogic practices

The voices of experience: teacher educators articulate their thoughts and concerns about current and future education policy and practice

This research addressed the neglect of teacher educators’ voices in the discourses surrounding teaching and teacher education. In this study, five Queensland university teacher educators articulated, through the narratives of their professional lived experience, their thoughts and concerns about current and future education policy and practice. Evidence of the neglect of teacher educator voices was found by a search of the literature on teaching and teacher education. A number of reports were found that scrutinised classroom teaching and teacher education in Australia and the United Kingdom and across Europe. These reports make comment on and recommendations about the current and future practice in teacher education but do not indicate the ways in which teacher educators have or have not been involved in the discussion of and preparation of the reports. Narrative Inquiry (NI) was used as both methodology and method in the study. Multiple conversations between the researcher and each participant led to the final five co-constructed narratives of the participants. The narratives told of the professional lived experience of the participants and how that experience has led them to articulate their thoughts and concerns about education today and in the future. Five common themes emerged from the analysis of the narratives: the way in which initial teacher education (ITE) students are recruited; the influence of government policy on the ways in which the curriculum and testing are delivered in schools; the qualifications and experience of teacher educators; the need for a closer working relationship between schools and universities; and the process of transition from teaching in school to teaching in the university. These themes formed the basis of how the researcher made meaning of the participants’ narratives. The nature of NI is such that the researcher becomes a partner in the research and this results in participation in a personal learning journey that leads to the articulation of the researcher’s own lived experience. In the thesis, my learning journey is evidenced in the prologue and the epilogue. There are also personal reflections at points throughout the study. The study adds to our knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of NI. A new dimension, the generative space, was added to enhance the understanding of how the commonplaces of NI work together to enable deep reflection on the past, present and possible future lived experience. Policy and practice in teacher education were scrutinised through the lenses of the teacher educators’ narratives and led to the development of the recommendations regarding the role and status of teacher educators, made in the final chapter. In essence, this study has evolved into being about the things that matter to the five participants. Each is a highly qualified and experienced professional expressing the positives, negatives and frustrations that they experience in their current professional lives. They are five individuals with a passion for education as a whole and for the education of teachers in particular

Self-Narratives for Christian Multicultural Educators: A Pathway to Understanding Self and Others

As cultural diversity increases in classrooms, it becomes imperative for teachers to gain multicultural competency so that they can provide effective instruction to diverse students. This paper argues that the development of multicultural competency should be solidly grounded on reflective, empathic, and critical understanding of one’s own culture as well as others. This cultural understanding, particularly from a Christian perspective, recognizes the connectivity of self and others in God. To enhance the cultural understanding, the author recommends studying self-narratives written by others and writing one’s own cultural autobiography. Keywords: cultural autobiography, self-narratives, self-reflection, multicultural teacher education, discourse of others

Using narrative as a tool to locate and challenge pre service teacher bodies in health and physical education

This paper reports on research that has explored the use of narrative as a pedagogical tool in pre service teacher education. Specifically, we pursue the use of narrative to engage with pre service teachers’ embodied experiences [their lived body] and the ways in which these experiences are in turn currently influencing their ‘living bodies’ in regard to what Health and Physical Education (HPE) is and how it should be taught. Data in the form of an assemblage of pre service teachers’ narratives are presented to show how both the lived and living body contributes to thoughts and ideas about HPE. Discussion also reflects on the pedagogical merits of using narrative in pre service teacher education. We contend that narrative has a potentially important role to play in pre service teachers coming to better understand their bodies and can assist in moving them beyond what they experienced as HPE as school students