An Empathetic Approach to Physical Education Teacher Education

Although Physical Education (PE) offers potential solutions to many chronic health issues, literature suggests that numerous students have been “turned off” to physical activity because of negative PE experiences. Considering that the ultimate goal of PE is the realization of a physically fit society and that the majority of PE teacher education students come from athletic backgrounds, a major challenge of PE teacher education programs should be converting these athletic and competitive pre-service teachers into teachers of all children. An Empathetic Approach to Physical Education Teacher Education examines effects of an affective-focused educational intervention on college-level physical education teacher education students. A quantitative pre-post quasi-experimental design with control group measured changes in pre-existing empathy levels among participants. Significant findings were demonstrated in experimental groups after a semester-long educational intervention. Analysis of reflective essays suggested a change in experimental subjects’ personal view of PE toward an empathetic approach. Study strengths, weaknesses, and implications for future research are discussed.