The relationship between occupational socialization factors and in-service physical educators’ reported use of sport education

Extensive empirical evidence exists for how Sport Education (SE: Siedentop et al., 2020) can deliver valued student educational outcomes, yet there remains a dearth of knowledge of how in-service teachers implement the model in practice. The purpose of this study was to examine how the stages of occupational socialization predicted teachers’ reported implementation of the structural features of SE. An SE use and occupational socialization survey was developed and completed by 65 experienced teachers who had received training on using SE during their undergraduate physical education teacher education program. Respondents reported three versions of SE implementation: (a) full, (b) modified, and (c) light, with the majority of teachers reporting using either a full or modified version of SE. Professional socialization (physical education teacher education programming) was the only significant predictor of teachers’ model use. The SE features typically implemented were formal competition, team affiliation, and seasons. The more student-centered features of student roles, record keeping, and a culminating event were less frequently used during practice. Professional socialization remains the most powerful predicted on in-service teachers’ use of SE during their professional practice. Physical education teacher education programs are encouraged to explore methods to facilitate pre-service teachers’ learning of how to implement the student-centered features of SE, as this learning will likely translate into pedagogical practice in schools.