Generalist Early Education and Specialist Physical Education Teachers’ Views on the Scope of Early Childhood Physical Education

Authors : Ioanna DİAMANTİ, Aspasia DANIA, Fotini VENETSANOU, Irene KAMBERİDOU

Pages : 167-191

Doi:10.54141/psbd.1234072

View : 104 | Download : 91

Publication Date : 2023-08-28

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :On a national ministerial announcement concerning employing specialist Physical Education insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(PE); teachers to teach PE in early childhood education insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(as opposed to generalist early education teachers);, this research sought to investigate teachers’ views on this issue. Taking Lawson\`s insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(1983); theory of occupational socialization as a sensitizing framework, we examined whether teachers\` specialization and experiences of participation in PE influenced their perspectives on early childhood PE teaching. Twenty in-service teachers, male and female, working in public education as generalist early childhood teachers insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(n = 10); and specialist physical education teachers insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(n = 10); participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews and the thematic analysis technique were used to generate data. The results showed that irrespective of their specialization, teachers’ positive acculturation experiences in PE and sports influenced their attitudes towards early childhood PE. However, all participants assigned a functional-practical value to PE rather than an educational one. This finding was attributed to broader socio-cultural influences concerning the scope of school PE in early education. Both generalist and specialist teachers perceived their professional roles and responsibilities as distinct. They advocated for establishing interdisciplinary professional training programs as a prerequisite for employing PE specialists in early childhood education. Even though teachers’ specialization shapes their scientific assumptions and understandings, personal acculturation and professional socialization experiences seem influential in determining their daily practices at school. The emerging early childhood PE literature could open up a myriad of opportunities for research in this field, always keeping in mind that the learning needs and interests of young children stay in the foreground.
Keywords : Occupational socialization, Professional development, Qualitative research, Teacher education

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