Pre-service physical education teachers’ indigenous knowledge, cultural competency and pedagogy : a service learning intervention

Louisa R. Peralta, Donna O'Connor, Wayne G. Cotton, Andrew Bennie

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    27 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this paper, we investigate the effects of a community- and school-based service learning experience (SLE) on pre-service physical education teachers’ Indigenous knowledge, cultural competency and pedagogy. Informed by the theoretical tenets of Indigenous research methodologies, experiential learning and critical reflection, we examine 55 final-year pre-service physical education teachers’ (age: 21.9 [8.3]; 10.7% low SES; 68% females) cultural learning and competency in a core unit of study with a six-week SLE. Measures of their experiences included reflective journals, multicultural teaching competency scales and focus group interviews. Findings support the design of the SLE, with statistically significant changes in pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their cultural competency (p < 0.001). Pre-service teachers were able to challenge their assumptions about Indigenous students, plan and implement student-centred and culturally relevant pedagogies. Attention is drawn to the design of this SLE and demonstrates the importance of using Indigenous community members and teachers as mentors, which has not been explored in previous SLE studies.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)248-266
    Number of pages19
    JournalTeaching Education
    Volume27
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • indigenous knowledge
    • mentors
    • multiculturalism
    • physical education teachers
    • training of

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