Influence of a Models-based Physical Education Teacher Education Program on the Perspectives and Practices of Preservice Teachers

Abstract

A recent innovation in the United States is for university faculty to deliver models-based physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. The study described in this paper evaluated the effectiveness of one such program. Participants were three cohorts of preservice teachers (PTs). The cohorts were a non-entry cohort (NEC; n = 29), an entry cohort (EC; n = 31) that were due to enter the core PETE program, and a completion cohort (CC; n = 55). Data were collected by interviewing all three cohorts about (a) their perspectives and practices regarding physical education and (b) their acculturation, and professional socialisation. Data were analysed by categorising the PTs within each cohort as having one of four orientations (i.e. hard core coaching, moderate coaching, moderate teaching and hard core teaching) to the physical education profession from which data were then further analysed within each orientation and cohort. Data were reduced to key themes by employing Leximancer text mining software and traditional interpretive techniques. Key findings were that the PETE program appeared to have an influence on PTs, none of the PTs possessed hard core coaching orientations and a relatively large percentage of PTs had moderate teaching orientations at entry into PETE