Learning to teach te ao kori: Physical Education Teacher Education student experiences

Abstract

This paper examines facets of physical education teacher education (PETE) student experiences learning and teaching indigenous movement, te ao kori, in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand secondary and tertiary physical education. The PETE students were used to a dominant Pākehā hegemony, the research was designed to investigate some of the consequences of their undergraduate coursework in Māori culture. The research intent was to discern how the students re-interpreted those experiences into their professional practice when teaching in a co-educational secondary school physical education practicum context. Interviews, participant observation and detailed field notes were the sources of data. Drawing on narrative research methodologies, poetic transcription (Glesne, 1997) of the PETE students interview transcripts was used to maintain a feeling of the lived experience; to give voice to their emotions, vulnerabilities, resistances, and actions; and to reveal their practice. The findings reveal, how the PETE students; understanding of Māori culture was positioned in a contemporary physical education context; prepared for and made pedagogical decisions; taught te ao kori (Legge, 2006). The strength of this research lies in its focus on praxis and in the value it places on human agency. The knowledge gained could be of practical value to other educators uncertain and challenged to teach indigenous games and dance in contemporary physical education. Glesne, C. (1997). That rare feeling: Re-presenting research through poetic transcription. Qualitative Inquiry, 3, 202-221. Legge, M. (2006). Māori Culture in Physical Education: narrative inquiry of lived experience. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.