The purpose of this study was to look at the influence of and interrelationships between concerns and socialization on the development of student physical education (PE) teachers’ knowledge for teaching and their development as teachers. Six secondary student PE teachers completed a journal on a monthly basis throughout the course of a one-year initial teacher education course. These student teachers and their mentors were interviewed in school towards the end of their course in June. Responses were analysed inductively. A major factor influencing these student teachers’ development throughout the year was their concerns about themselves, their teaching and the material they were to teach over-ridden by concern to pass the course. This was influenced by the student teachers’ socialization prior to and during the course. In turn, this influenced their views of the importance and value of knowledge developed on different parts of the course. The results are discussed in relation to student teachers’ development as teachers

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One of the key elements of figurational sociology is the emphasis on understanding complex networks of interdependencies in which people are involved. The focal point of this paper is the process of initial teacher training (ITT) and the relationships of which student teachers are part during their ITT course. The paper does not look at what student teachers ought to think; rather, it is an exploration of why student teachers may think the way they do. The paper uses data which was collected as part of a larger project funded by a Teacher Training Agency small research grant.Results suggest that student teachers value aspects of their course differently. In particular, student teachers value university practical sessions and school-based experiences over university-based theory sessions, which are considered irrelevant to the actual practice of teaching. Despite attempts by university tutors to engage student teachers in academic discourses about the nature of physical education (PE), student teachers" perceptions of PE did not change during their course. Further, student teachers perceived conflict between the university-based theoretical elements and the school-based elements of the course.

This research highlights issues relating to Physical Education (PE) and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) over the last ten years. The discussion is based upon data collected from three separate surveys of trainee teachers and their teaching experiences of PE during statutory periods of school-based training. The samples used in this, the most recent survey and in our previous surveys, were four-year undergraduate trainee PE teachers studying a Bachelor of Arts Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) degree course at a university in the south-east of England with a strong tradition of PE teacher training. The secondary schools used for school-based training by the university covered the south-east region of England and included state, independent and single-sex schools. The trainees had all completed the statutory thirty-two weeks of school-based experience. A questionnaire was formulated after discussions with trainees based on their continued professional development. The results of this latest survey (2000-4) have been analysed in the light of our previous two surveys (1994-8; 1997-2001). Hence, this article constitutes a longitudinal study covering the period 1994-2004. Key findings are identified in the areas of gender, examination experiences, the use of information and communications technology (ICT) and national curriculum activity areas of study. This article identifies areas where there have been some changes to practice, as well as demonstrating aspects where little has changed in the last ten years of ITE.

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