Digital Pedagogy and the Social Construction of Knowledge in Physical Education Teachers

This paper is a qualitative case study of the social construction of knowledge in physical education teachers and teacher candidates through digital environments. Physical education teachers normally use ongoing reflection, teamwork and collaboration to improve professional practice, and they do so through daily dialogue and the development of social relationships that extend beyond regular teaching hours. While this is innate and valuable to the unique culture of physical educators, it is limited to those who can meet face to face. In order to expand the knowledge mobilization for physical education teachers and teacher candidates, both nationally and internationally, the authors developed an online professional learning community as an adjunct to traditional physical education teacher education. This community shared knowledge through a blog, twitter, Facebook and weekly videoconferencing meetings. The authors attempted to replicate this distinct culture of knowledge sharing by capturing the innately social nature of physical education teacher knowledge using digital environments. The central research question resides in how to best connect PE teachers and teacher candidates using digital means, in the same way that they would informally connect and learn from daily face to face discussion and reflection. Can online environments be effectively used to replicate this professional PE learning community by bringing together teacher candidates and their mentors in synchronous online Adobe connect sessions? Findings indicated that students found the experience invaluable, as they had the opportunity to have informal talks from professionals at two different universities. The online community provided real time access to the latest developments in Health and Physical Education, including the release of UNESCO's Quality Physical Education Policies, the political challenges faced by the release of the new Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum and recent legislation surrounding concussion protocols. This paper suggests practical strategies for using the digital world to mobilize knowledge in Health and Physical education teachers and teacher candidates.