Practical Pedagogical Training in Teacher Education

Practical pedagogical training (PPT) is a significant element of professional development in the education of physical education teachers. It is important in their professional socialisation while developing teaching competencies and classroom management skills. This paper examines Slovenian physical education students’ estimations of their own progress during PPT. In a cross-sectional study, two groups of students (N2007/08=84; N2009/10=82) who participated in PPT in the 2007/08 and 2009/10 academic years were compared. Basic statistics, the T-test, the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used. The results revealed that teacher-educators ’ encouragement of students for better preparation for PPT and written students ’ reflections improved the level of their efficiency and made them more certain of their teaching practice. Better preparation for PPT lead to greater progress of students and helped ensure that administrative and/or pedagogical changes lead to changes in teacher behaviour. The correlations between the observed areas showed that the lesson planning had the strongest influence on students ’ efficiency at PPT. Key words: efficiency; lesson planning; physical education; teacher education; teaching competencies