Method: Five pre-service and 16 in-service elementary physical educators participated in the study that occurred during a full-day professional development workshop on teacher socialization. Participants read Lawson’s (1989) chapter on workplace conditions influencing physical educators prior to the workshop, and engaged in individual written reflection and focus group discussions following a semi-structured guide. Data sources included individual written reflections and focus group discussions regarding factors included in the model and teachers self-identified career stage relative to Fessler & Christensen (1992) Teacher Career Stage Model. Trustworthiness was established through triangulation, member checks, and peer debriefing.
Analysis/Results: Five focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim for analysis and all data were analyzed using inductive and comparative strategies. The coding process followed suggestions from Merriam (2009) involving open coding, axial coding, and the categorization of codes relative to emerging themes. Findings indicated that standards and policy dictated teachers’ curricular choices, while classroom teachers and other school stakeholders’ emphasis on standardized testing directly influenced organizational factors with respect to resources and prestige. Further, students’ behavior, attitudes, and enjoyment influenced the teachers’ level of satisfaction with their work, motivation, and work ethic.
Conclusions: Findings are consistent with existing literature in that as teachers of a marginal subject, physical educators recognize that they receive limited resources and little administrative support. Likewise, these teachers believe that they would benefit from professional development that targets their specific content area. Additional studies are needed to explore the influence of students as a socializing agent and how interactions with students impact teachers’ feelings about their work.