Training preservice teachers to become effective teachers is the ultimate goal of all physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. A prerequisite of being an effective teacher is the understanding of effective teaching because it can determine the extent to which teachers deliver lessons effectively. Although plenty of research has been done on effective teaching (e.g., Rymhs, Allston, & Schulz, 1993), few studies have revealed how preservice teachers understand effective teaching particularly through pedagogical lenses in the field of physical education. This study was aimed at filling the literature gap and providing empirical evidence for how preservice teachers understand effective teaching in physical education. Such inquiry might help PETE program faculty better prepare preservice teachers to be highly effective teachers.
Method:
Participants were 12 (4 females, 8 males; ages range 21-40) preservice physical education teachers recruited from a major university in Texas, where they were completing the last field-based course (Middle and Secondary School Physical Activities) for the Physical Education Teacher Certificate Program. Data were collected from the participants’ final written exam, which included an open-ended question requiring students to exhibit their understanding of effective teaching, and 4 focus group interviews. The interviews each lasted 40 minutes, with the course instructor as mediator.
Analysis/Results:
Content analysis was conducted to analyze all the data collected. The trustworthiness was established by following the qualitative research techniques Lincoln and Guba (1985) recommended: constant comparison in generation of themes, member checks during focus groups, and reflexive journals kept throughout the data collection and analysis. Three themes emerged from the analyses. First, effective teaching was defined as the measurable increase of student learning in psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. Second, the key elements of effective teaching were classified into 6 categories—teaching styles, skills of teaching, time on task, class management, motivation, and safety. These elements and their certain sub-elements, such as questioning and feedback, interact with each other and together enact effective teaching. Third, the assessment of effective teaching can be achieved through teacher-student verbal communications, students’ written evidence, and teacher’s observation.
Conclusions:
The preservice teachers in this study demonstrated a clear understanding of what effective teaching is about and the interrelations among all the contributing elements of effective teaching. Their comprehension may reflect the impact of the specific PETE program these preservice teachers attended, as it consisted of a series of physical education courses that put teacher effectiveness in the core place.