Professionalization for uncertainty in physical education

A Didactic Concept for Higher Education

Abstract

Uncertain, unpredictable moments are constitutive elements of teaching. This applies in particular to physical education, which is characterized by the specifics of uncertainty such as the dynamic space, the risk of injury and a constantly changing subject matter due to new trend sports. A common way of dealing with this uncertainty is the tendency of (prospective) PE teachers to close the teaching process. This means that possible educational experiences can be denied to children. Based on a structural-theoretical professionalization approach, the seminar concept aims to develop a constructive approach for the phenomenon of uncertainty in physical education through theoretical sensitivity, practice and video reflection. Based on the theoretical content of the seminar, students plan their own PE lessons and experience them in the sense of situated learning in the school’s practical field. In the process, they are videotaped so that they can reflect on their own teaching actions in the seminar using the videos. This creates valuable moments of reflection for the prospective teachers. Following the seminar, the students were interviewed using guided interviews to find out how they interpreted their own professionalization process. The interviews were analyzed based on grounded theory methodology. The results indicate that the students succeeded in sensitizing themselves to their own tendencies to close down, gaining confidence in physical education in the face of uncertainty and transforming their own understanding of good teaching. The results of the concept reflection allow conclusions to be drawn for the optimization of the seminar concept.