What Preservice Physical Education Teachers See in an Unguided, Early Field Experience

Abstract

The ability of physical education teachers to observe the movement response of the learner and the environment in which the response takes place is crucial in effective instruction. This study is an initial attempt to identify what a group of 21 preservice physical education teachers reported seeing in a 15-minute games lesson with fourth-grade students. An analytic inductive strategy was employed to categorize the data at two levels of specificity. Results indicated that as a group the preservice teachers focused on a broad range of teacher and student behaviors and lesson elements, but as individuals they had a more limited focus of attention. Level 2 analysis revealed that only 10% of the recorded statements focused on the movement responses of the children and no statements related to the learning environment. If teacher educators deem it important that their majors notice teacher and student behaviors as well as lesson elements, they have to plan more carefully for this to occur, particularly with majors early in their professional education.

Adopting a models-based approach to teaching physical education

“…This interpretive approach was utilised in an attempt to accurately explore the teacher's actions, and the students' and teacher's responses throughout the process. In this way, and during several independent readings, each text was reduced to a series of complete thoughts and perceptions (Bell, Barrett, and Allison 1985).…”

Perception de la fréquence d’apparition des comportements perturbateurs par des stagiaires en enseignement de l’éducation physique et à la santé (EPS)

“…Des travaux publiés par Bell, Barrett et Allison (1985) ont montré à cet effet que, malgré une posture d'extériorité (observateurs non participants) par rapport aux situations d'enseignement-apprentissage, les stagiaires en enseignement de l'éducation physique demandent d'être guidés dans leurs observations faute de quoi il y a de fortes chances qu'ils observent un spectre trop restreint d'événements ou qu'ils n'échappent carrément des éléments jugés importants au regard de l'intervention en classe. Dans la même veine, Turcotte et Spallanzani (2007) ont constaté qu'une divergence importante existe entre l'autoanalyse des situations professionnelles vécues lors du stage et l'analyse réalisée a posteriori en groupe lors d'épisodes dirigés par des personnes-ressources.…”

What and How Preservice Physical Education Teachers Observe during an Early Field Experience

“…In 1949, Kretchmar, Sherman, and Mooney highlighted the importance of observing when they said that "the ability to observe is sufficiently independent of other performance abilities to require special treatment in its own right, if physical education teachers are to be well prepared" (p. 242). More recently, there has been renewed attention both to the skill of observing and to the development of observational skill in preservice physical education teachers during their teacher education programs (Bell, Barrett, & Allison, 1985;Barrett 1977Barrett , 1983Barrett , 1984Bressan & Weiss, 1982;Hoffman, 1983).…”