A comparison of Korean and U.S. physical education teacher education systems

The purpose of this paper is to compare the Korean and the U.S. physical education teacher education (PETE) systems in terms of the recruitment procedure, structure and content of PETE curricula, and licensure requirements. The specific focus of comparison is how physical education content- and pedagogy-related knowledge are emphasized and tested throughout the recruitment process, teacher education program, and licensure exams. Two exemplary PETE programs from each nation were selected for the study. The data were collected from teacher education student handbooks, state and national teacher education standards, teacher education program flow charts, course syllabi, and physical education student teaching handbooks provided by each institution. Analysis of the data reveals some similarities and differences between the Korean and the U.S. PETE systems. Compared with the Korean system, the U.S. PETE system had stronger physical education pedagogical knowledge and student teaching yet had weaker physical activity content knowledge. (The rest omitted)