‘The confidence I needed’: elementary education majors' perceptions of teaching physical education

Abstract

Many US states do not require that elementary schools provide a physical education specialist, making the classroom teacher the only provider of physical education instruction. Their attitudes toward physical education and perceptions of their ability to teach it will affect their efforts to do so. Elementary education majors (n = 183) were questioned at the end of a practicum to gain insight into their perceptions of their skill in teaching physical education; of the changes that had occurred in their skill and of how and why those changes occurred; their understanding of physical education; and their comparisons of teaching classroom and physical education. The most striking finding was the confidence they expressed about their ability. Perceptions of their strengths as teachers related more to affect and management than to instructional skills and content knowledge. Students identified practice, instructor feedback and a supportive class environment as contributing to developing their ability to teach physical education. They understood management to include managing themselves and not just controlling children. Responses did not support that a mature understanding of physical education content had been achieved, but that students had positive attitudes toward physical education.

Notes

1. Teacher education programs in the United States typically place candidates in a series of field experiences or practica, ending in a one‐semester or two‐semester immersion traditionally known as student teaching. These are similar to the teaching practices teacher education students in the United Kingdom have.

2. Several models attempt to describe the changes that occur as teachers develop. We refer to Fuller and Bown's model because it addresses the topics the students in this study wrote about.