Background/Purpose According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) (2004 & 2008) a competent mover is someone who is both skillful and capable of making appropriate tactical decisions during game play. The purpose of this study was to determine if Physical Education (PE) teacher candidates possess the knowledge and skills necessary to demonstrate competent movement performance.
Method Participants were teacher candidates (N = 116) enrolled in two required major courses. Skill performance was assessed based on process/product rubrics by the primary investigators. Tactical understanding was assessed through the use of the Tactical Decision-making Competency framework (TDC) (Pagnano-Richardson & Henninger, 2008). Faculty determined proficiency benchmarks and linked scores to Unacceptable, Acceptable or Target levels. Teacher candidates participated in two invasion (Basketball and Soccer) and three net/wall games (Volleyball, Badminton, and Tennis).
Analysis/Results Data were analyzed by game classifications. Percentages of participants who were found to be competent movers in invasion and net/wall games were 50% and 42% respectively. Further analysis indicates that both tactics and skill serve as a barrier to competence. TDC was the primary hindrance in Soccer (59%), Tennis (53%), and Volleyball (90%) whereas skill performance appeared to be the barrier to competence in Basketball (40%) and Badminton (31%).
Conclusions The results of this study suggest that pre-service teachers are in need of continued tactical knowledge and skill development instruction throughout their PETE programs. Findings indicate that skill and tactics are content specific therefore it is important to assess teacher candidates' skill and tactics in a variety of game forms.
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