Preservice physical educators' epistemologies of skillfulness

The constructivist theoretical tenet, that individuals create meaning based on the interaction of their previous knowledge and beliefs with currently experienced phenomena, served as the orientating framework for inquiry into a physical education teacher education program that emphasizes development of skillful movers as the primacy goal of physical education. Epistemologi cal stances on movement skillfullness held by 25 beginning preservice teach ers were explored. Data were collected in a directed reflective format. Ind uctive data analysis revealed that these preservice teachers see above aver age ability, task commitment, and creativity as characteristic of being ski llful. Their constructs of skillfulness were developed in contexts that inc lude the human body in action, intermesh of movements, whole pattern of per formance, presence of movement, the sociocultural event, and skillfulness a s a backdrop for teaching. These findings informed the dialectic between te acher education faculty and students by creating avenues for shared underst andings of the epistemological bases of the program.