Exploring the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of Value Orientations in Physical Education Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper focuses on the significance of curriculum value orientations for curriculum implementation and, therefore, for teacher education. The paper draws on data arising from research undertaken with six Health and Physical Education teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand to explore issues pertinent to Physical Education teacher education (PETE). Selected findings from the study are presented and critically engaged with from a teacher education viewpoint to specifically address (i) considerations relating to students' value orientations that teacher educators need to be cognisant of, and (ii) issues arising for teacher educators seeking to engage with value orientations in undergraduate and/or postgraduate PETE programmes. The paper foregrounds the highly personal nature of value orientations in considering their significance in teacher education programmes and is written from the position of the author as a teacher educator committed to raising student teachers' awareness of value orientations and their influence on curriculum and pedagogy. Attention is drawn to the significance of course content, practicum, critically reflective practice, and programme structures in relation to efforts to embed value orientations into teacher education programmes.

Rethinking Sport Teaching in Physical Education: A Case Study of Research Based Innovation in Teacher Education

“…(Oh, Ankers, llamas & Tomyoy, 2005;Tannehill & Zarajsek, 1990). Gillespie (2011) recently drew attention to mentor teachers' influence in relation to how pre-service teachers conceive their role as teacher and the appropriateness of curriculum and pedagogical choices, and pointed to a need for PETE to therefore place more emphasis on mentor value orientations in their placement of pre-service teachers. This research leant support to this call and Gillespie's (2011) accompanying emphasis of the significance of PETE students' value orientations in considering prospective engagement with curriculum and pedagogy in physical education.…”

The Influences on Teaching Perspectives of Australian Physical Education Teacher Education Students: The First-Year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) Study

“…The school-based cultures in which PETE students enter can have a large influence on teaching approaches due to the level of support that is offered (Hastie et al 2005;Pill et al, 2012). The influence of teaching mentors on PETE students' beliefs and intentions can play a key factor in broadening value orientations (Gillespie, 2011). As content, scaffolding learning and providing student support are often prioritised within PETE students (Capel, 2007), the values of receiving mentoring and undertaking mentorship could have been over-looked by the beginning teachers.…”

The Psychometric Properties of the Physical Education Lesson Attitude Scale for Preservice Classroom Teachers

“…The classification of value orientations in Ennis and colleagues' both original and revised Value Orientation Inventory [(VOI) (Ennis & Chen, 1993) and (VOI-2) (Ennis & Chen, 1995)] included five orientations (discipline mastery, learning process, self-actualisation, ecological integration, and social responsibility), of which our scale mostly dealt with self-actualisation and to a lesser extent, learning process (Ennis & Chen, 1993;Timken, 2000). Our scale focused on the processes of building self-worth, self-knowledge, enjoyment in learning, and emotional factors affecting the general course of the learning process of the pre-service classroom teachers (Gillespie, 2011). In the conceptual framework and theoretical level, the determination of the items of our scale was based on these self actualization concerns.…”

“…The curricula and structure of the teacher education programs, the quality of the educators, gender, age and cultural differences, value orientations and judgments, previous experience with sports and physical education, academic motivation and self-efficacy (confidence) levels can all play role in the formation of negative attitudes. For example, Gillespie (2011) argued that the quality of the educators and the interaction between the educators and teacher candidates are quite important in the formation of value orientation of teacher candidates towards physical education programs. This is a logical result of the teacher educators' coherent views towards different courses, and their impact on the beliefs of teacher candidates.…”