Service-learning within field experience of physical education teacher education in South Africa: experiences of pre-service and in-service teachers

Abstract

The re-implementation of Physical Education (PE) in the South African national curriculum after an absence of more than ten years, has led to problems, such as unqualified PE teachers and a lack of PE equipment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits and challenges experienced by pre-service and in-service teachers in a service-learning Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programme, in a South African school setting of unqualified PE teachers and a lack of PE equipment. A total of 140 pre-service teachers presented PE lessons once a week at a pre-school and primary school according to assignments involving course content, critical reflection and the construction of PE equipment. Employing qualitative methodology supported by limited quantitative data, data was collected from reflections, interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative data was analysed using an interpretive approach, while quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The results show that pre-service and in-service teachers perceived the programme as beneficial to all role players. Unique contributions of this study lie in the experiences of the teachers that the barriers of teacher incompetence and a lack of PE equipment, were overcome due to the service-learning programme.

Keywords: Physical Education; Teacher education; Pre-/In-service learning