Educating primary teachers to teach physical education

Abstract

Research evidence suggests that, worldwide, physical education in early years is mainly taught by primary teachers (Graber et al., 2008; Hunter, 2006; Kirk, 2005). Descriptions of primary teachers’ experiences of teaching physical education are particularly essential as an avenue for developing better-quality teacher training for teaching primary school physical education (Hunter, 2006; Kirk, 2005; Pangrazi, 2003; Tsangaridou, 2008). The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and discuss illustrative findings of research conducted on primary school teachers who teach physical education. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first section, research findings on in-service primary teachers are presented and discussed. In the second section, an account of empirical inquiries on pre-service primary teachers is reviewed. Finally, the third section provides a summary of the major findings, discusses the main conclusions, offers implications for teacher educators and points out directions for further research.