The impact of physical education teacher education on nascent teachers’ identities

Physical education (PE) has long been seen as outdated and in need of reform and the impact of PE teacher education (PETE) on teachers' identities is often considered weak compared to other socialisation types. Given that PETE is the most common route into secondary school PE teaching in the United Kingdom, and research, predominantly from the United States, indicates that PETE is the least impactful socialisation phase (behind acculturation and organisational socialisation), it is crucial to understand PETE's impact on PE teachers’ careers. This is especially important as PETE's effects are said to diminish during organisational socialisation. Therefore, the aim of this quasi-longitudinal study was to explore what (if any) aspects of PETE influenced teacher identity. Three research questions sat at the heart of this study: 1) How does acculturation impact the identities that pre-service teachers bring to PETE? 2) What are the inherent factors in PETE that influence teachers’ identities? and 3) Is the influence of PETE washed out by employing schools as NQTs?

Adopting an interpretivist paradigm the thesis involved the co-construction of meaning with 11 participants who were undertaking a provider-led PETE course at a university in central England. Data were collected in each of the three Occupational Socialisation Theory (OST) phases: the acculturation phase (participatory task); the professional socialisation phase (structured interview, metaphors, semi-structured interviews); and the organisational socialisation phase (semi-structured interviews). A thematic analysis approach was adopted to analyse the data.

This unique quasi-longitudinal study illustrates the importance of relationships with family, PE teachers, PETE staff (in-school and in-university) and pupils. There was an enduring belief across the phases of OST that PE should be fun and inclusive and that this would result in lifelong participation in sport or physical activity. The power of acculturation, the apprenticeship of observation and the subjective warrant, were reinforced and this thesis extends our understanding, suggesting that while identity is formed early it remains fluid. The Pre-Pre Service Teacher (PPST) phase was prominent in the formation of teacher identity, providing PETE recruits with a ‘more real’ insight into PE teaching than their earlier acculturation. This thesis reports that PETE, specifically university-based teaching and school-based experiences, can positively influence teacher identity. Finally, it shows that the impact of PETE is not automatically washed out by employing schools in the first year of teaching. There were reality shocks, namely poor pupil behaviour and the teacher’s timetable, but these new teachers strategically complied to be the teacher that they want to be.