"I Don't Want Them to Take Sports as an Exam-Oriented Education": Exploring Novice Physical Education Teachers' Professional Identity Tensions in Rural China

• In Event: Physical Education Teachers' Knowledge and Experiences

Abstract

This qualitative study explored sixteenth novice physical education (PE) teachers’ professional identity development in rural China. Through multiple sources of data analysis, this research shows that identity is a multifaceted, context-specific, and continuously changing social-cultural phenomenon. The novice PE teachers’ professional identity is shaped by the interplays between family backgrounds, individual agency, significant others, K-postsecondary schooling experience, and workplace contexts. Moreover, the participants also explicated various professional tensions, such as the gap between the PE core competency curriculum reform and the traditional instructional mode and the contradiction between the marginalized status and multiple professional responsibilities, which constrained the development of their professional identities. Implications for facilitating PE teachers’ professional development in rural China are discussed.

Authors

• Gang Zhu, East China Normal University
  Presenting Author

• Aidong Zhang, Louisiana State University at Shreveport
  Presenting Author