The purpose of this study was to examine middle school physical education teachers’ perspectives of contextual factors that influence their workplace. There are two main benefits to this work. First, Korean and international audiences may gain insight into how similar or different their own programs are, when these findings are contrasted with other studies of teachers’ professional perspectives. Second, these findings may contribute to the design of professional preparation programs when teacher perspectives on the realities of practice are better understood. Participants were 13 middle school physical education teachers (10 males and 3 females). All teachers provided informed consent to participate in the study. Data sources included a 30-item open ended questionnaire under five categories, formal and informal interviews (individual) and teachers’ reflective journals. Five main categories of information were identified: (1) purposes of physical education, (2) workload and restrictions, (3) status of p. e. teachers, (4) relationship with peer teachers, (5) effort, and improvement. Findings indicate that the main purpose for physical education for the majority of participants involved some fitness with an exposure curriculum with the intent of yielding a “well-rounded person” who would retain a commitment to continue participation after school. Various types of administrative duties contributed to workloads that were frequently mentioned factors that lead teachers to describe their jobs as “heavy loads.” Further, physical education teachers identified facilities and equipment, and the lack of a supportive administration as factors that inhibited their abilities to do the best in their jobs. Although physical education was not respected as a legitimate subject area in the middle schools, physical education teachers tend to believe that they deserved to get more respect from their students. Relationships with co-workers varied. Most physical education teachers expressed an interest to continue their education, but they were uncomfortable with the research process and theoretical perspectives. Korean middle school physical educators experience many of the same consequences of marginalization noted in the US and elsewhere, and practitioners express a similar aversion to research and theory development. Clearly, teacher education programs face similar challenges to help preservice teachers prepare to teach and to better understand the merits of research and theory to inform the work they do. Strategies for examining teacher education programs for current and alternative ways to meet the needs of prospective teachers are discussed.Keyword(s): assessment, middle school issues, professional preparation