Becoming a physical education teacher during formalised school placement: A rollercoaster of emotions

Abstract

Since becoming a teacher is a highly emotional path, it is fundamental to understand teachers’ emotional journeys while constructing their teacher professional identity. An ethnographic approach was employed to examine how the emotions experienced by physical education preservice teachers during formalised school placement contributed to the construction of their teacher professional identity. Data were collected throughout a ten-month school placement (i.e. an academic school year) and included researcher observations, researcher field notes, and semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers and their cooperating teacher. A thematic analysis was used in a process of constant comparison. Emotions were labelled using Zembylas’ three main categories: ideology; school culture; and power relations. A fourth category labelled physical education culture was created through an inductive thematic analysis to capture emotions deemed to align specifically to the teaching of physical education. With respect to ideology, preservice teachers alluded to positive emotions such as care for students, a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Challenging emotions included insecurity/anxiety, disappointment and anger/frustration. Related to school culture, while preservice teachers expressed a sense of belonging they also reported feeling powerless with respect to particular rules enforced by the school. Related to power relations, while preservice teachers were thankful for having a school structure guiding them they, at times, regretted the limited opportunity that such structure allowed them in cultivating agency. Becoming a physical education teacher triggered specific emotions such as practising safety within the gymnasium and a rise in confidence when recognised as a physical education teacher by other physical education teachers.