Effect of Early Athlete Experience on the Teaching Practice of In-service Physical Education Teachers in China

Poster Presentation

Abstract

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30472/aesa-conf.v7i1

In the context of the "double reduction" policy and the new curriculum reform, schools at all levels have an increasing demand for quality physical education teachers, while the shortage of teachers and the uneven teaching standards of physical education teachers constrain the development of physical education in schools. In recent years, the State General Administration of Sports explores ways for outstanding retired athletes to work part-time as physical education teachers in schools and adopts corresponding measures. Several previous studies illustrate the many advantages that retired athletes bring to their students when they change roles to become physical education teachers, most prominently the teaching of professional skills, while at the same time, they encounter many challenges, such as a lack of teaching ability and weak professional theoretical knowledge that affects the effectiveness of physical education lessons, and a long career as an athlete that leads to periods of burnout. Stories are seen as an essential element in understanding human behaviour, providing an opportunity for people to communicate how they see themselves and highlight important moments of change in their lives. Wu Yi argues that narrative inquiry into the meaning of experience moves away from the previous focus on 'scientific value' and academic function, allowing researchers to return to the 'lifeworld' of teachers, listen to them and uncover the meaning behind them. This paper uses narrative inquiry through the perspective of Dewey's Theory of Experience to interpret the personal life history stories of six teachers, with themes revolving around the personal experiences of PE teachers as early athletes and how these experiences might influence their future teaching practice. All interview data were audio-recorded for conversion to textual data, after which the text was summaries and coded via NVivo R1.

Teachers are the most critical part of the teaching process, and their teaching philosophy, beliefs, experience, and school environment are all important factors that influence their practice. Research has shown that most participants become athletes with motivation from family 'support', but the reasons for becoming a PE teacher are different. Some were to promote school sports; others were to get school awards and others were influenced by their former coaches and teachers. The participants' strong personal beliefs (dreams of heroes and champions) and early experiences as athletes have a positive impact on their careers and lives and become a 'powerful tool' in their teaching process, inspiring students to be courageous and combative in the face of setbacks. Teaching experience is built up step by step, and teachers who have taken part in internship and training report that their previous experiences Subliminal influence their subsequent teaching practice. As Dewey argues, 'experience' is the result of human interaction with the environment and the central issue in an experience-based education is the selection of current experiences that have a creative effect on later experiences. By understanding the life histories of teachers and listening to their voices, we have a clear idea of the problems they encounter in their careers. Most teachers suggest that they have participated in less teacher training, and have no opportunity to learn systematic theoretical knowledge, and learn how to teach a good PE lesson, they are more likely to use their early experiences to adopt a model of teaching to students in conjunction with the existing environment, a teaching that would be influenced by the teachers' habits and the constraints of the school, thus challenging both their beliefs and practice. Therefore, schools can conduct more teacher workshops to deepen the interaction between new and experienced teachers, improve the overall development of students, change the traditional teaching model of the past, and explore innovative teaching methods.