Pre-Service Teachers’ Subject Matter Competency and Quality of Teaching Practices: An Exploratory Case Study

Aims: This study examined how the pre-service teachers with strong subject matter competence quantitatively and qualitatively differed from their counterparts in teaching practices.
Methodology: Thirteen pre-service physical education teachers (8 females and 5 males) who enrolled in one secondary methods course voluntarily participated in this study. The data were collected through videotaping and coding 13 pre-service teachers’ playing two basketball games and teaching seven lessons with two instruments, writing descriptive lesson vignettes, and conducting formal interviews. The quantitative data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, MANOVA, and ANOVA methods, whereas, the qualitative data was analyzed using the constant comparison technique. The mean score of the pre-service teachers’ overall game performance index was calculated to classify the participants into above-average group and below-average group.
Results: The results of the MANOVA yielded a significant difference on the overall teaching practices between the above-average and the below-average groups (λ = .858, F = 2.534, df = 65, p = .049). Subsequently, ANOVA revealed that the high-game performance participants scored significantly higher than their counterparts with low-game performance on Task Presentation and Instructional Responses, but not on Task Design and Class Management. Analysis of qualitative data indicated that the pre-service teachers who had high game performance competency presented precise and relevant learning cues within the context of authentic game, showed ability to quickly detect students’ problematic learning responses, and provided students with tailored guidance for helping fix their mistakes. In contrast, the pre-service teachers who had low game performance competency focused on presenting procedures of a learning task rather than key points, and barely provided any specific feedback for students even though off-task behaviors and incorrect learning responses became apparent. However, the pre-service teachers designed sequential learning tasks in their lessons and smoothly used instructional routines to organize the class for learning and practicing.
Conclusion: The pre-service teachers’ subject matter competency plays a critical role in their Task Presentation and Instructional Responses.