A Participant-Observation Study of Knowledge Restructuring in a Field-Based Elementary Physical Education Methods Course

Abstract

This paper describes how seven undergraduate students restructured knowledge during a field-based elementary physical education methods course. Guided by the teacher educator the students planned, taught, and reflected on a series of lessons to children in an elementary school. Theoretical course knowledge was integrated into planning and reflecting sessions. Data were collected and analyzed using interpretive research methodologies. The researcher observed and recorded field notes during all class sessions, conducted three formal and many informal interviews with all seven students, and collected available, pertinent documents. All data were categorized, and similarities in what and how the students learned were identified. The students reported knowledge restructuring as a salient aspect of field-based learning. Based on a cognitive theoretical perspective, this study described students as active, goal-oriented learners who, at times, recognized and restructured problematic prior knowledge to form a more differentiated understanding of teaching and children.