Chapter 2 Creating a Before-School Physical Activity Program: Pre-Service Physical Educators’ Experiences and Implications for PETE

The purpose of this study is to describe the experiences of physical education teacher education (PETE) majors enrolled in an internship course that provided them with authentic experiences promoting and facilitating a before-school physical activity (PA) program and to examine the associated implications for PETE programs within the Comprehensive School Physical Activity (CSPAP) framework. In this study, five PETE majors were recruited to participate. Data were collected from several sources including participant observation, interviews, systematic observation, and document analysis. The results show that preservice physical educators struggled with PA promotion as a consequence of perceptions of early programmatic success, feelings of nervousness and influences of their existing beliefs about the role of the physical educator. Therefore, when considering the role of the physical educator relative to a CSPAP, PETE programs should consider making adjustments to their curricula to include experiences that allow preservice teachers to practice skills associated with out-of-class PA promotion.