Pre-service teachers’ entry onto a physical education teacher education programme, and associated interests and dispositions

Investigating the reasons for pre-service teachers (PSTs) whom choose to undertake a physical education teacher education (PETE) programme can inform teacher educators on how best to define teaching tasks, organize knowledge relevant to student learning and shape the perceptions of PSTs about teaching and learning (Calderhead, 1987). In this study, Lortie's (1975) attractors and facilitators to the teaching profession frame the examination of the influences, interests and dispositions that motivate PSTs to enrol in a PETE programme. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a sample of 10 PSTs, at the beginning of the first semester and the end of the second semester, within their first year in a 4-year PETE programme: We frequently recorded that significant others and interest in sport influenced their choice to enrol in a PETE programme.