Supporting preservice teachers to implement an alternative physical education pedagogy on practicum

BackgroundVarious student-centred teaching approaches have been promoted within physical education teacher education (PETE) courses for many years. However, building preservice teachers' (PTs') pedagogical skills for the effective implementation of these approaches beyond university and into their school practicum has been challenging for PE teacher educators. A recent study by Moy, Rossi, and Russell ([2023]. "Supporting PETE students to Implement an Alternative Pedagogy." Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 28 (2): 165-182.) investigated a practical university teaching experience widely suggested by researchers to overcome this challenge. The experience involved PTs working in small groups in collaboration with a pedagogical expert to explore the implementation of the student-centred constraints led approach (CLA) in an authentic but simplified physical education context. The authors found that the teaching experience was effective in supporting PT's learning and implementation of the key principles of the alternative pedagogy. Whilst these results are encouraging, it was deemed critical to investigate the effectiveness of the university teaching experience in a transition to a more authentic teaching environment, namely the school practicum.PurposeThe study sought to follow these same PTs and investigate how this learning gained through the university teaching experience influenced their teaching practice while on their subsequent school practicum.Participants and SettingThe study sample consisted of 36 of the 40 PTs who participated in the study by Moy, Rossi, and Russell ([2023]. "Supporting PETE students to Implement an Alternative Pedagogy." Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 28 (2): 165-182.). Participation involved undertaking a 4-week block of supervised practicum at an Australian secondary school, and then submitting an individual written reflection about the influence of the university teaching experience on their practicum teaching practice.Data collection and analysisTo improve the trustworthiness of PTs' accounts of their experiences, two qualitative sources, written reflections, and a semi-structured focus group interview, were used to collect data. Data from both sources were combined and analysed collectively using thematic analysis to identify repeated patterns of meaning within the data.ResultsAccording to PT's accounts, the research-informed university teaching experience appears to have had a profound impact on their teaching practice on practicum. PTs recounted their ability to effectively design and deliver physical education learning environments that embedded the same pedagogical principles they learned to embed in their teaching practice at university. The main factors that facilitated this transfer were the design and delivery of the university teaching experience and a supportive school practicum environment.ConclusionThis study has provided evidence of a practical teaching experience that has the capacity to facilitate the transition of learning from university to the 'real world'. This model has the potential to improve teaching quality not only in physical education but across all subject areas and importantly enhance student learning outcomes in schools.