Exploring beliefs about teaching sports

Abstract

The study analyzed the change in beliefs of an undergraduate student about sports teaching during her initial training in Physical Education at a public university in southern Brazil. In this qualitative, descriptive, and interpretive longitudinal study, the unique case of an undergraduate student was investigated, based on semi-structured interview procedures, systematic observation, memory stimulation and Content analysis technique. The results revealed that throughout her initial training, the undergraduate student changed her beliefs related to the purposes, strategies, and organization of content through different processes of conceptual change. This evidence shows that professional learning, comprehensive from the perspective of conceptual change, is an active, long, slow, and gradual process that involves a continuous revision of beliefs.

Adaptation and Validation of the Constructivist Teaching Practices Inventory in Elementary Physical Education (CTPI-EPE) for Brazilian Physical Education Pre-Service Teachers

“…Recent observations in PSTs' learning and the implementation of student-centered models in physical education noted the low impact of initial training on changing PSTs' beliefs concerning constructivist-oriented practices [10,11]. Physical education PSTs start education programs with personal, preconceived knowledge regarding teaching and the nature of learning from their previous accumulated experience as students and athletes [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In addition, constructivist principles often conflict with naive teaching perspectives [18,19], given that PSTs can interpret learning as a transmissive process, during which PE teachers should rely on the reproduction of knowledge, and the teacher's authority plays a determinant role in the learning process [19].…”

“…Therefore, conceptual change is a difficult, long-term process [9]. Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs should support this conceptual change and help PSTs to reconceptualize teaching and learning in physical education [16,18,19].…”