Canadian Journal of Higher Education

Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Anticipated Challenges and Needs during Teacher Education Programs

Audrey-Anne de Guise, Stéphanie Girard, Maude Boulanger — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Given that teacher dropout is an issue for beginning teachers, it is important to be proactive in order to retain teachers within the profession. Physical Education pre-service teachers’ education programs represent a crucial part of their professional development in preparing them to face the challenges that often explain retirement, especially students’ motivation. Authors recognize the importance of considering pre-service teachers’ needs during teacher education programs and their concerns about the challenges to be faced once they start teaching (Richards et al., 2013). Using a qualitative approach, this study aims to: (1) identify pre-service Physical Education teachers’ perceptions of anticipated challenges in general, (2) identify the specific challenges they anticipate about
supporting students’ motivation and (3) describe how they can be prepared to support students’ motivation. Participants consisted of 18 pre-service Physical Education teachers (Mage = 25; SD = 3.61 years) from French-language universities in Quebec (Canada). Four focus groups were conducted, and data were analyzed consistent with the four steps suggested by Boutin (2007). Results indicate that the main challenges anticipated by pre-service Physical Education teachers are classroom management and students’ lack of motivation. In terms of supporting students’ motivation, five specific challenges were highlighted: (1) student heterogeneity, (2) proposal of learning activities to support motivation, (3) student engagement, (4) management of disengaged students, and (5) gender differences. As for their needs during teacher education program, participants wished to learn how to plan motivational strategies, be given more opportunities to practice, and discuss how to implement these strategies. Recommendations for teacher
education programs are discussed in the conclusion.

Meso-Foundations of Experiential Education in Ontario Universities: A Content Analysis of the Province’s Strategic Mandate Agreements

Emerson LaCroix — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Experiential education, the process of providing students with applied learning opportunities within and outside the classroom, is rife with organizational complexity. This article examines Ontario’s Strategic Mandate Agreements using qualitative content analysis to see how conceptions and communications of experiential learning have changed over time, and how universities have responded to government pressure to foster experiential learning. Drawing on frame analysis, findings reveal that universities have developed a considerable amount of institutional infrastructure and initiatives to support the expansion of experiential learning, and these efforts have been framed in relation to current discourse about graduate skill readiness. However, these outward signalling responses are not necessarily aligned with internal organizational processes (i.e., expansion of co-curricular learning). These mandate agreements represent official accounts of institutional priorities, which leave the door open for future research to examine micro-foundations of experiential learning through the perspectives of the faculty and staff inhabiting these institutions.

“It's Kind of My Responsibility”: An Analysis of the Current EDI Discourse in Canadian STEM Fields and its Potential and Limitations to Contest Intersectional Discrimination

Mirjam Fines-Neuschild, Tanja Tajmel — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Since 2019, equity, diversity, and inclusion have become institutional priorities for Canadian funding agencies and universities under the acronym EDI. Here, we examine for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) how the current EDI discourse unfolds in scientists’ understandings as EDI construct. This study presents data collected through 18 online interviews
with researchers in STEM fields across Canada. For our analysis we apply critical discourse analysis and the matrix of domination. Four themes emerge from our data regarding STEM researchers’ understanding of and experience with the EDI construct: (a) EDI as
trainable knowledge, (b) EDI as human resources/managerial issue, (c) EDI as assessable performance, and (d) EDI as individual initiative/lonely endeavour. Our findings suggest that the EDI discourse increases the awareness of the underrepresentation of
groups in STEM fields. However, most interview participants demonstrate an essentialist understanding of identity decontextualized from institutional and structural processes of difference making along axes of gender, race, class, and body, amongst others. This critical discourse-analytical work contributes to an intersectional, power-acknowledging understanding of EDI in Canadian higher
education.