The purpose of this study was to observe, describe, analyze and interpret what pedagogical content knowledge elementary teachers build through reflective physical education class, how such pedagogical content knowledge is applied, and how it changed o...
The purpose of this study was to observe, describe, analyze and interpret what pedagogical content knowledge elementary teachers build through reflective physical education class, how such pedagogical content knowledge is applied, and how it changed of teaching behaviors. From the interpretive approach, researcher expected to reduce errors in elementary teachers’ physical education class and to improve their expertise in physical education teaching.
For this purpose, researcher designed ‘a case study’ based on qualitative research methods, selected four experienced elementary teachers as participants of this study, and collected data through non‐participant observation, in‐depth interview, group interview, and documents for one and a half years from March 2008 to August 2009. In the process of describing, analyzing and interpreting the collected data and drawing conclusions, the researcher used member checking, auditing and triangulation to ensure trustworthiness. Through this procedure, this study analyzed, interpreted and discussed the building and application of pedagogical content knowledge, which is the essence of expertise in elementary physical education perceived by elementary teachers, and changes in teaching behaviors. The contents of this study are summarized as follows;
First, elementary teachers’ building of pedagogical content knowledge was affected by aspect and base.
In terms of aspect, ‘knowledge of objectives’ included ‘cooperation and consideration for others,’ ‘joy and vitality,’ ‘physical development and stress relief’, ‘Knowledge of student understandings’ was acquired from pedagogy class and teaching practice while studying in university, and from counseling parents and observing children while working as a teacher in the field. The viewpoint of students were considered ‘passive learners,’ ‘active learners,’ or ‘learners with potential.’ ‘Knowledge of curriculum’ emphasized reorganization through reducing and changing the contents of the curriculum in consideration of students’ interest, challenging spirit, appropriate difficulty, school environment, community facilities, teachers’ teaching skills, etc. ‘Knowledge of teaching strategies’ was acquired from pedagogy class while studying in university, and training, participation in workshops, and observation of colleague teachers’ demonstrative classes while working as a teacher in the field.
In terms of base, ‘personal orientation’ was affected by sports experience in school, teacher education in undergraduate school, various media, field experience, training, and ‘experiential orientation’ was affected by difficulty of learning contents, children’s interest, goal attainability, and achievement level. ‘situational orientation’ appeared to emphasize the ‘structural aspect’ and ‘practical aspect’ of the teaching environment.
Second, elementary teachers’ application of their pedagogical content knowledge expressed various teaching patterns through the process of transforming the contents of teaching. The 1st teacher pursued ‘genuine’ teaching rather than ‘packaging’ teaching, applied ‘cooperative learning,’ and 2nd teacher pursued ‘monotony’ to ‘diversity.’ In addition, he designed interdisciplinary education through consillience thinking, 3rd teacher pursued in a way of ‘overcoming traumas,’ induced isolated students to participate in class actively, 4th teacher pursued promoted humanities-oriented physical education in a ‘spiritual’ dimension rather than in ‘technical’ dimension, and practiced direct and indirect teaching activities.
Third, meaningful results were observed in the change of teaching behaviors resulting from elementary teachers’ application of pedagogical content knowledge. In ‘warming‐up and motivation,’ dynamic warming‐up, which was running round the playground, practiced healthy walking‐running such as ‘power walking’ and ‘Masai walking,’ and static warming‐up, which was gymnastic exercise, practiced ‘new millennium health gymnastics,’ ‘rope skipping to music’ and ‘group gymnastics.’ Motivation used ‘humane approach strategies’ of ‘sympathy’ such as ‘name calling’, ‘encouragement’, ‘praise’ and ‘smiling’, and ‘pedagogical approach strategies’ of ‘perception’ such as the use of ‘multimedia’, ‘adjustment of task difficulty’, and ‘stimulation of curiosity’. ‘Class objectives setting’ was focused on the setting of balanced objectives, setting of optimally high objectives, setting of specific and clear objectives, and the affective dimension related to emotional attitude or value. In ‘presentation of learning tasks,’ students’ understanding and tasks performance were supported by giving cue to the tasks and demonstrating or using multimedia tools. In ‘teaching of subject contents,’ the teachers agreed that, in order to structure the contents of instruction, they should set learning objectives, understand learning tasks for reaching the objectives, and consider teaching methods, and emphasized the importance of elementary teacher guidance for preparing teaching materials and starting class on time. In ‘learner discipline,’ the maintenance of order in class was sought by sharing rules with students in ‘the preventive aspect,’ and agreements were made and practiced such as wearing a gym suit, using sports equipment properly, behaving nicely to friends, and keeping a healthy and clean condition. In addition, 'diverse groups' were organized and utilized so that they have a stable sense of separate identity. In ‘the remedial aspect,’ ‘verbal restraint’ and ‘physical restraint’ strategies were used appropriately. In ‘feedback provision,’ the effect of athletic performance was enhanced through peer feedback using ‘teaching assistants,’ specific and positive feedback, positive feedback, and non‐verbal feedback. In addition, teachers’ desirable role in feedback provision was not a static teacher staying at a place but a dynamic teacher who takes interest in individuals’ activities.