Nearly 40% of all undergraduates are adult learners (age 25 and older; Kasworm, 1990). As the number of adult learners rises, physical education teacher education (PETE) faculty members must begin to explore how these learners differ from traditional 18- to 24-year-old students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the events leading to a career decision in PETE and to examine participant-described behaviors as PETE students of two delayed-entry students actively enrolled in a university PETE program. Analysis of three 90-minute, in-depth, open-ended interviews revealed that significant life experiences prompted participants to reevaluate their career goals and pursue a career teaching physical education. As PETE candidates, participants frequently utilized a reservoir of life experiences to make sense of their career decisions and navigate their career paths. The adult learners described themselves as self-motivated and self-directed with clear career goals and timelines.
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Hutchinson et al. (1996) studied this question.