Purpose: A comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) is designed to help school-aged youth meet physical activity guidelines as well as develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that foster meaningful lifelong physical activity participation. In this study, we employed a "diffusion of innovations theory" perspective to…

Purpose: This study evaluated the teaching effectiveness of six first-year physical educators, three Southwestern and three Midwestern graduates, employing different curricular approaches. Method: Utilizing surveys, interviews, questionnaires, and systematic observations, data were analyzed through a framework of seven essential teaching tasks…

Throughout history there have been debates as to what content knowledge (CK) is of most value for physical education (PE). Much recent conversation has circulated around the hope that time spent in PE supports students' regular participation in physical activity (PA). Researchers' use of the term PA, however, often stresses the similarities while…

Despite the expansion and diversification of contemporary physical activity culture, curricula of many secondary physical education programs remain narrowly comprised of sport content. Given the personal and contextual nature of teaching and the immense amount of control teachers exercise over their programs, we examined how a group of 15…

The purpose of this study was to examine how three PE teachers' personal biographies before their formal teacher education programs influenced their early careers in urban schools. Using occupational socialization theory and cultural relevance theory, we conducted in-depth interviews and observed early career physical education teachers who did…

The main purpose of the study was to analyze teaching styles used in Finnish physical education. Another aim was to investigate the relationships between background characteristics of teachers and use of teaching styles. The participants of the study were 294 (185 females and 109 males) Finnish physical education teachers. The teachers responded…

This study examined National Board Certified Physical Education Teacher's (NBCPETs) demographic characteristics, recalled subjective warrants for entrance into the profession, and reasons for seeking this advanced certification. An extensive search for approximately 1,200 NBCPETs resulted in contact information for 819 NBCPETs. All were sent a…

The article outlines the occupational socialization perspective of the physical education curriculum by exploring 11 primary assumptions which call attention to the relationship among teachers, teacher educators, curricula, and social structure. (Author/CB)

Explored the perspectives of two experienced female high school teachers regarding their use of exercise as a behavior management tool in physical education. Data from surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that sport participation patterns in each teachers' life history were at the center of a matrix of socializing factors that…

This issue is devoted to a monograph. Topics are teachers' perspectives; beliefs about teaching during preservice training; research use in practice; induction of physical educators; life histories of physical educators; linking educators, knowledge, and quality; the reciprocal nature of organizational structures and identity; faculty consensus…