準教師的能力與應屆獲得體育教師職務之關聯性

The association between competence and first-year employment in physical education

緒論：在美國有兩種成為體育教師的途徑：就讀有師培與體育系的大學或是相關學 系畢業後再修教育學分。兩種途徑皆規定師培生通過教師檢定以獲得教師證，準教師即 可申請該州的教師職缺。美國健康與體育協會推導準教師應具備六種能力。先前的研究 使用專業科目知識、教學內容知識、以及體適能與術科程度衡量準教師的能力，卻沒有 著重在畢業後的就業狀況或能力與成為體育教師之關聯性。本研究主旨在於分析準教師 的能力與應屆獲得體育教師職務之關聯性。方法：受試者為 31 位在 2015-16 與 2018-19 學年畢業的準教師。學業成績平均值用來反應受試者的專業科目知識、術科知識與程度、 與教學內容知識。體適能是以庫柏協會的 Fitnessgram®五個項目進行測量，然後對照常模 分為優等、平均、與待加強。是否應屆成為體育教師則是以電子郵件與電話來收集資料。 成績平均值與體適能程度是否與應屆成為體育教師有關聯是以多類邏輯迴歸與費雪精確 檢驗來分析。結果：受試者的教學內容知識最高、術科知識與程度其次、體育專業科目 知識最低。七成受試者的體適能達到平均以上的程度。一半以上的受試者成為體育教師。 然而，受試者的能力與應屆獲得體育教師職務沒有顯著的關聯性。結論：此研究局限於 小樣本、體適能測驗的選擇、與體育教師的職位定義。未來可收集更多國內外樣本、使 用適合大學生的體適能測驗項目與常模、用不同的術語來定義職位、或收集定性資料來 解釋是否成為體育教師的原因。這類的研究方向應會得到較有意義且具代表性的結果。

Introduction: There are two primary routes to become a physical education (PE) teacher in the United States of America: Through a traditional physical education teacher education (PETE) program and through an alternative teacher preparation program. Both require pre-service teachers (PTs) to pass state-specific and/or national examinations before a desired licensure can take place. Once completed the degree program and met examination requirements, PTs are eligible to apply for any PE positions at K-12 schools in the state (s). According to SHAPE America (2017), PTs should be able to demonstrate competence in six standards by the time they graduate from the PETE program. Previous research has indicated the use of content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and fitness and skill proficiency to assess PTs' competence. However, limited research has been conducted to explore first-year employment after graduation or the relationship between PTs' competence and their job attainment in PE. This study intended to examine the association between PTs' competence and their first-year job attainment in PE. Methods: Participants were 31 PTs who completed their undergraduate degrees in the PETE program at a regional university in the southeastern USA between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 academic years. The participants' content knowledge in Kinesiology subdisciplines and health-related areas, content knowledge in sports/physical activities and skill proficiency, and pedagogical content knowledge were collected through the calculation of grade point average (GPA) in respective courses. The participants' fitness proficiency was evaluated using five testing items from Cooper Institute's Fitnessgram® and then categorized as ''excellent'', ''acceptable'' or ''unacceptable'' based on the number of passing scores. The participants' first-year employment was collected by asking whether or not they took a full-time PE teaching position in K-12 school settings via emails and phone calls. The three continuous and one categorical data, as independent variables, were analyzed to identify any significant relationship with the dependent variable (1 = employed in PE, 0 = not employed in PE) using a multiple logistic regression and Fisher's exact test. Results: The participants had the highest GPA in pedagogical content knowledge (3.55), followed by content knowledge in sports/physical activities and skill proficiency (3.53) and content knowledge in Kinesiology courses (3.11). There was an overall passing rate of 71% for the participants who demonstrated ''excellent'' and ''acceptable'' fitness proficiency. More than half of the participants (58.1%) became full-time PE teachers at K-12 school settings. Lastly, the participants' content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and their fitness and skill proficiency had no significant effect on their first-year job attainment in PE. Conclusion: This study was limited to the small sample size, the use of Fitnessgram® as the assessment battery, and the title of the position defined. Future research could (a) collect a larger sample size with more than one PETE program across the USA or internationally, (b) administer a fitness test that has national criterion-referenced standards for college students, (c) define the position in a broader term such as ''physical educator,'' and (d) collect qualitative data to discover the various reasons whether or not and how they became physical educators. Such attempts may yield different results and produce a more appropriate representation of the target population in this line of research.