Professional Development of Rural Physical Education Teachers from the Perspective of Educational Ecology:A Case Study of Deqing County

Based on the theoretical perspective of educational ecology,the basic situation of professional development of rural physical education teachers in Deqing County and the restricting factors in the process of professional development were investigated and analyzed by using the methods of literature review,questionnaire survey and mathematical statistic analysis,aiming to find out the problems existing in the professional development of rural physical education teachers in Deqing County.The targeted optimization strategies were explored,so as to achieve the effects of enriching the research theory of professional development of rural physical education teachers,improving the quality of physical education in rural schools,inheriting excellent rural sports culture,driving the development of rural mass sports,promoting the construction of rural material and spiritual civilization,and improving the quality of rural human capital.According to the research,the gender structure of rural physical education teachers in Deqing County was unreasonable;the teachers were undertaken heavy teaching task;there was a shortage of highly educated people;some teachers lacked understanding and attention to the connotation of professional development;the teachers had insufficient knowledge of educational science;teachers’sense of responsibility needed to be strengthened;schools did not pay enough attention to teachers’continuing education and training,and teachers were less satisfied with training.

Association between Teacher Candidates'Competency and First-Year Employment in Physical Education:A Comparison Study

Physical education teacher education(PETE)programs prepare teacher candidates to be competent and employed in P-12 school settings.This study examined the relationship between competency and first-year job obtainment in physical education(PE).Participants included 111 teacher candidates from two schools.Participants'competency in content knowledge in Kinesiology and sub-disciplines(CKKH),content knowledge in sport and skill proficiency(CKSP),pedagogical content knowledge(PCK),and first-year job obtainment in PE were collected.Descriptive statistics,independent-samples t tests,and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the data.The overall sample showed participants were most competent in PCK,followed by CKSP and CKKH.Female participants were more competent in PCK than their male counterparts,and those at School A performed better in CKSP and PCK than their peers at School B.As a sample,more than half of the participants(55.9%)obtained PE jobs.There was a significance between the overall sample and female participants'competency in CKKH and their first-year employment in PE.This study was limited by sample size,variances in courses between the two schools,and by the defined timeline to clarify first-year PE employment.Implications regarding the importance of CKKH and first-year employment were discussed.