Examining the influence of occupational socialisation on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of Models-Based Practice

ABSTRACT Ideas and beliefs about teaching, profoundly influenced by observations and experiences as K-12 pupils, are not easily disrupted. Physical Education Teacher Education, when beliefs might be examined, has long been criticised as a weak intervention to combat the powerful influence of K-12 socialisation. The purpose of this research was to gain insights into teacher educator practice by describing the influence of pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) occupational socialisation on their learning about and through Models-Based Practice (MBP). Multiple forms of qualitative data generated by nine PSTs enrolled in courses founded in MBP were analyzed using a deductive approach to map concepts from occupational socialisation theory onto the data. Two ways of disrupting PSTs’ ideas and beliefs about teaching are offered: (a) making the unfamiliar familiar and (b) a modest critical approach to innovation. The articulation of such practices holds possibilities for ways in which teacher educator practice might influence PSTs’ socialisation.