Bomna Ko

Background: Communities of practice (CoP) have been proposed as a promising form of continuing professional development for teachers’ learning. However, there remains limited understanding of the processes and factors that sustain teacher-initiated CoP. Purpose: This study provides a qualitative examination of a group of internal leaders’ perspectives on how a large teacher-initiated CoP in South Korea was established and sustained as an effective form of continuing professional development. Methods: Data included semistructured interviews with the internal leaders, Website artifacts, and researchers’ reflective journals, and were analyzed through inductive analysis. Results: Findings included the following: (a) shared passion for good teaching, (b) widening professional network, (c) collaboration through sharing, and (d) continuing professional development opportunities via technology. Discussion: The CoP were initiated by a group of teachers with a shared value for improving their teaching in schools and were sustained through online and offline interactions that created a safe space for sharing ideas, collaborative interactions, and learning opportunities.

Purpose : There is little known about the state of teacher education programs in this field. The aim of this article is to provide a descriptive analysis of physical education and health education teacher education programs in the United States. Method : Using published curriculums, a census of active undergraduate teacher education programs and a more in-depth analysis of one program from each state based on interviews with program coordinators was conducted. Findings : Data are reported across nine categories: (a) institution and program classifications, (b) degree designations, (c) degree and major’s hours, (d) enrollment, (e) program status and trends, (f) admission and graduation requirements, (g) curricular time, (h) faculty demographics, and (i) health education. Conclusions : The data show that there is a broad interpretation of what counts as physical and health teacher education in terms of curriculum, and there are significant and pressing challenges for the field to address moving forward.