How school influences future sports teachers’ conceptions on teacher profession: An invisible message

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The object of this paper is to study the preconceptions first year initial teacher training program students have about their future profession. Based on the literature review, the article assumes that these reconstructions seriously affect the further nature of teacher professional activity. Methodology: To understand how these preconceptions are formed and how they are transformed in the process of obtaining professional pedagogical education, the authors conducted 34 in-depth interviews with pre-service first-year teachers. Based on semantic analysis of interview transcripts results, the main semantic blocks of preconceptions and their basic characteristics were determined. Results: The categories obtained during interviews were matched to certain modules of the teachers training program to make sure pedagogical theories experiences are applied properly, tackling individual cognitive patterns and school experience to avoid theoretical material misperception. Applications of this study: In the study, the authors proposed purposeful transformation of these preconceptions during the initial teacher training program implementation. Novelty/Originality of this study: The authors introduce the “invisible message” category as a body of values and attitudes that characterizes what it means to be a teacher. This invisible message is implicitly transmitted while future teachers were taught at school and it serves as a basis for preconceptions formation.