"I am unsure if I can use all this in school." An Interview Study of Physical Education teacher-students

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to highlight teacher-students' experiences in a practicum course. More specifically, a) to describe issues related to subject content, teaching strategies, grading, and the scientific basis of teaching and b) to focus on alignments and incongruences between the program and the school Theory: Teachers’ occupational socialization begins already when they observe their teachers as pupils. When entering teacher education, teacher-students are confronted with the program philosophy. The result of this confrontation is put to the test when employed at a school. Teachers’ occupational socialization occurs within broader struggles among professions, while the modes of specialization and knowledge acquirement are crucial for the outcome. A threefold message system is central to the teaching profession: subject content, teaching strategies, and grading procedures. Method: Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with six teacher-students. Adopting meaning condensation and administering the quotes with Nvivo, themes, and subthemes were revealed. Results: Considering subject content, teacher-student quotes indicate that it is difficult to transform all Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) knowledge into practice during practicum. Moreover, minor or significant discrepancies exist between the program and the school. PETE provides many solutions for teaching strategies, even if inclusive strategies should be included in more courses. According to teacher-students' quotes, they got many ideas from cooperating teachers even if they do not explicitly use scientific theories and models when teaching. Regarding grading procedures, PETE provides, in general, beneficial knowledge on formative evaluation, even if schools prioritize summative evaluation. Teacher-students realized the complexity of grading and got concrete ideas from cooperating teachers. In association with the scientific basis of teaching, there is a gap between PETE and authentic school settings. Discussion based on scientific terms is not so common at 3 schools, even if there is considerable variation. PETE ought to facilitate a more in-depth study of instructional models. More evidence-based approaches are needed.