Early Professional Development of Physical Education Teachers: Effects on Lesson Planning

Abstract Educating pre-service teachers to plan effectively their lesson is a significant challenge in almost every teacher candidate preparation system or program. While the importance of lesson planning is widely recognized, research evidence that is exclusively dedicated to this issue is limited. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a biannual, university practicum course (lesson planning, teaching, observing and evaluating, supervision) on pre-service physical education teachers’ ability to design lesson plans for elementary school students. Twenty-seven student-teachers who were enrolled in the seventh semester of studies participated. Each teacher was evaluated in three out of twelve lesson plans; one for each measurement (pre-, post-, retention), using the lesson planning domain of the Rubric of the Tennessee State Board of Education (2009). One-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted for data analysis in each of the three indicators of lesson planning. Results yielded statistically significant differences in teachers’ performance among measures with regard to the establishment of appropriate instructional goals and objectives (indicator 1), and instruction planning and student evaluation, as a result of understanding the content, student needs, curriculum standards, and the community (indicator 2). It can be concluded that the practicum course assisted pre-service teachers’ learning in terms of creating more effective lesson plans, as these were assessed in the present study.

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