A longitudinal study to ascertain the factors that impact on the confidence of undergraduate physical education student teachers to teach dance in Scottish Schools

This paper reports on the complex construct of student teacher confidence and the usefulness of practicum and the ITE course in preparing students to teach dance in their pre-probationary years. A longitudinal study tracked 85 students (f = 46, m = 39) for four years during their undergraduate degree programme in physical education (PE). Students completed questionnaires annually to ascertain the factors that impacted on their confidence to teach dance. In addition, ten student teachers took part in semi-structured individual interviews after their third and final year teaching practicum. Multiple regression results indicated that a model of ‘previous experience’, ‘practicum’ and the ‘university dance module’ explained 55 percent (female) and 43 percent (male) of the variance in level of perceived confidence to teach dance. Comparative analysis of the interviews supported the findings from the questionnaires and revealed that students' sense of identity was central to producing feelings of confidence to teach dance.