DIFFERENCES IN NOVICE AND COMPETENT TEACHERS ' KNOWLEDGE

This study investigates the differences between competent and novice teachers ' knowledge of teaching physical education. Participants were teachers (N=5) with five or more years of teaching experience, and novices (N=5), student teachers within a year of graduation with no prior public school teaching experience. Data were gathered through audiotaped, extended, multiple interviews that focused on the knowledge teachers used in planning and conducting physical education classes. Themes and categories emerging from the data were then compared with D. C. Berliner's theory of the acquisition of teaching expertise, a developmental sequence characterized by the following levels: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. Findings suggest that novices require different strategies to meet their occupational demands and different forms of inservice training. Competent teachers woul