Research: From Discomfort to Possibility: How Non-Sporting Preservice Teachers Experience Sports Literature

Despite scholarly evidence that delineates the benefits of incorporating sports literature into K–12 classrooms, the effects of sports literature remain understudied in teacher education. This absence feels particularly relevant given the reality that many teachers have limited interest in sports and too often assume that student athletes in their classes are low achievers. This study describes the experiences of non-sporting English language arts (ELA) preservice teachers as they engaged with young adult sports literature in a required literacy course. At the outset of the experience, preservice teachers described negative experiences with and/or disinterest in sport. However, as they read and responded to young adult sports literature, they evidenced critical learning connected to identity, societal inequities, and resistance to dominant narratives through sports. Additionally, they reimagined their personal and professional relationships with sport, describing personal connections with the text and the possibilities of incorporating sport into their future teaching. Findings thus suggest the positive influence of sports literature on these preservice teachers’ perceptions of self as people and as ELA professionals.