Preservice Teachers’ Experiences with Sport Education: An Occupational Socialization Approach

Abstract

Sport Education has become one of the most well-researched and effective teaching curriculum models (Hastie and Wallhead, 2016). The model emphasizes developing competent, literate, and enthusiastic sports participants by fostering skill acquisition, sport-specific knowledge, and personal growth (Siedentop et al., 2019). This, in turn, helps students become skilled sports participants, understand the sport's content, and grow into successful players, leading to lifelong physical activity. To successfully implement Sport Education, one must be well-versed in all the components of the model. Kinchin (2006) found that preservice teachers become most familiar with Sport Education by first being exposed to the model as students, seeing it in practice, and then teaching it. This study employs an Occupational Socialization Theory approach, guiding students through five distinct phases of Sport Education, akin to Glotova (2011), who conducted four Action Research cycles to achieve comprehensive education and progress her students through the Sport Education Model. The forms of socialization presented by Lawson (1983) include acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization, which were then linked to the study's cycles. These cycles included Learning Sport Education, Practicing Sport Education, Learning to Teach Sport Education, Planning a Sport Education Season, and Teaching Sport Education. By tracking their progress from introductory lectures to the development and implementation of Sport Education units, the study aimed to capture pivotal moments that contribute to successful engagement or decisions to continue using Sport Education. The purpose of this study was to introduce preservice physical education teachers to the Sport Education model and examine how they experience, understand, and implement it. This study utilized a qualitative methodology, collecting both real-time and reflective accounts from preservice teachers to capture the pivotal moments when the Sport Education model “clicked” for them. These rich narratives shed light on the diverse factors influencing their decisions to adopt, adapt, or potentially abandon the model in future practice. Notably, all participants reported strong intentions to implement Sport Education after completing their teacher education program. Yet, these intentions were tempered by authentic challenges encountered throughout the course. As preservice teachers engaged in progressively deeper roles participating, assisting, developing, and leading Sport Education, they gained a firsthand understanding of the micropolitics, administrative barriers, and variability in student age and skill that characterize real-world teaching environments. Their confidence levels fluctuated: initially high, then stabilizing or dipping as new challenges emerged, before rising again as the model's tangible benefits became evident through classroom experience. The study highlights that while enthusiasm for Sport Education is strong among preservice teachers, sustained confidence and successful implementation require authentic, scaffolded experiences and awareness of the complexities inherent in educational practice.