Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Upon completion of an undergraduate degree programmes graduates enter the competitive employment market with the aim of securing appropriate employment in an area of interest. While many sports graduates enter the sports science and sports coaching workforce a large proportion aim to gain employment in physical education teaching. This study focused on the perception of final year students and aimed to identify if the students believed that they held the appropriate knowledge, practical delivery skills and experience to enter a graduate teacher training programme. A case study approach, including semi structured interviews were carried out to collect data. The semi structured interviews took place with 3 full time female physical education teachers and 3 female final year sport students. The findings of this research indicated that while final year students felt prepared for further specific teacher training they did not feel prepared for employment as a physical education teacher. This observation was in parallel to the physical education teachers who felt that “learning on the job” was of more value that their University studies in Sport.