Preservice Teachers from Physical Education: Differences between Ireland and Spain in Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyse and contrast the experiences of six Preservice Physical Education Teachers (onwards PPET) from two different socio-demographic contexts, Spain and Ireland, regarding the use of Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (henceforth TPSR) during their work placement. The sample consisted of six students aged between 21 and 25 years (three boys and three girls), in their final year of their bachelor’s degree, who had completed their work placement within the education pathway in different schools in Ireland and Spain. Each student participated in a semistructured interview to find out about their practicum experience, the relevance of TPSR and its relation to occupational socialisation theory. After transcription of the interviews, the results show great similarity between the two contexts, with a positive assessment of the experience and its high relevance for both the teacher tutor and the teachers during their nonuniversity education. Spanish students largely described the importance of past school experiences, showing a very positive assessment of past experiences as PE teachers. On the other hand, it is the students from Ireland who placed greater value on the applicability of TPSR in other subjects. In addition to having more experience using other pedagogical models, they also emphasised the importance of planning before applying methodologies such as TPSR.TPSR is highlighted as a suitable model for the promotion of social values in the classroom, although the training received during the degree course is insufficient for the proper application of the model. It is concluded that TPSR was perceived by Spanish and Irish students as a suitable methodology for teaching undergraduate students, but the students’ previous experiences must be taken into account.

1. Introduction

Situations experienced in the field of physical and sport activity in school and out-of-school contexts, as well as life experiences, can be determinants in the choice of academic and professional development in youth and adulthood [1,2,3,4]. Following Lawson’s [5] theory, occupational socialisation, as with any type of socialisation that exerts an influence on individuals when choosing Physical Education (henceforth PE) teaching as a profession, subsequently affects their practical knowledge of teaching and their actions as physical educators.

The occupational socialisation theory explains to us, through three phases, the reasons why an individual is attracted to PE [6]. Lawson (1986) [5] defined occupational socialisation as any type of socialisation that exerts an influence on individuals when choosing PE teaching as a profession and then affects their practical knowledge about teaching and their actions as physical educators. There are different types of factors that influence this decision and no, this determination is not made when choosing which career to study but rather comes from further back in time.

The acculturation phase (first stage) begins from birth and ends by leading the individual to pursue a university degree related to education [7]. During this period, the individual is under the influence of different people (friends, family, teachers or sports coaches) with whom he/she establishes a relationship. In relation to the aspects that influence “socialisation”, such as group participation, socialisation agents can promote young people’s participation in cultural practices. Humans have an inherent desire to be part of their social group(s), and parents can foster and channel this motivation to facilitate socialisation. Evolutionary theorists have suggested that the motivation to be part of a group is due to the need to rely on the wider social group for help and resources.

Professional socialisation (second stage) begins when the individual starts his/her studies as a teacher, and therefore acquires a series of knowledge and skills related to PE, developing in turn a professional identity [8,9]. In this training period, field experiences or whatever is the same, such as internships, suppose an enormous influence on future PE teachers since they can put into practice the knowledge they have acquired, in addition to improving their teaching skills [10]. In the final stage of training, future teachers begin to establish professional and social relationships with other veteran teachers of the educational centre in which they are located. In addition, this clash of reality causes students to conform their own idea about teaching and learning, causing an advance in their identity as teachers.

In this sense, it is very useful for future teachers to write autobiographical essays, as these help them to evaluate and order their thoughts critically. In addition, through them, they can reflect on their previously mentioned socialisation experiences and, in this way, reconsider the type of teacher they want to become.

The third stage, organisational socialisation, occurs once students complete professional socialisation and enter an educational institution as physical education teachers. The transition to organisational socialisation takes place on the job and continues throughout teachers’ professional lives [11]. This phase is fundamental to understanding how new teachers experience the challenges related to the social and environmental aspects of their profession. Thus, the previous phases (socialisation and organisational socialisation) are decisive in consolidating teachers’ professional lives, hence the importance of the development of basic and transversal competences in educational curricula during the practicum. In this sense, the European Higher Education Area (onwards EHEA) has encouraged the definition, analysis and development of basic and transversal competences in educational curricula to improve students’ employability, reinforcing the role of external placements [12]. The perception of the professional competences that are acquired during the PE teacher training process, Physical Education Teacher Education (onwards PETE), can have a substantial influence on the quality of future education [13]. In this context, the use of active methodologies is a fundamental aspect to transmit competences in the three areas: knowing (knowledge), knowing how to do (practice) and knowing how to be (attitude), since they grant responsibility and autonomy to students [14].

In recent decades, numerous pedagogical models have been developed in the area of PE [15], among which the model Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) [16] stands out for acquiring transversal competences such as education in values. This methodology has been applied in sports activities [16,17] and in physical education since the 1980s and 1990s, with benefits being seen in various countries such as New Zealand [18], El Salvador [19], Turkey [20], Portugal [21], South Korea [22], Finland [23] and Taiwan [24].

The model of personal and social responsibility is structured in five levels or aspects to work on for the development of learning in values, prosocial behaviour such as personal and social responsibility, as well as coexistence and group cohesion. The five aspects to be developed in a Physical Education session or in any other subject are: (1) respect for the rights and feelings of others (the aim is to create a safe and trusting climate among peers, based on the search for self-control regulation); (2) participation and effort (with the aim of achieving positive experiences in students so that they actively participate in sporting activity, eliminate passive behaviour and persist in the face of difficulties); (3) self-management and autonomy (the fundamental objective is that the student learns to perform tasks independently, to make decisions and to assume responsibilities); (4) help and leadership (the objective is to help others voluntarily, knowing how to be responsible leaders based on empathy and leadership); and (5) transfer outside the classroom (the aim is that all the values learnt are transferred into society and in their day-to-day lives beyond the classroom). The model allows teachers to include innovative intervention strategies in which the learner is the protagonist of the teaching–learning process. Some examples of these strategies are: during the class, the teacher attends to all students, especially those who have greater difficulties; during the session, one or more students are encouraged to explain to the rest of the class what the activity they have to respond to consists of in a group and consensual manner; and at the end of the session, there is a reflection (teacher–discussants) on the importance of transferring what has been worked on in class to daily life (relationship with the family, with peers, increasing the amount of daily physical activity, etc.).

Focusing on the field of physical education, the first published study was that of Escartí [25], where improvements were achieved in aspects related to aggressiveness, responsibility and self-efficacy. More recently, the model has been innovated by combining this methodology with others such as the Sports Education Model [26] or assessing aspects such as motivation and basic psychological needs in PE [27] together with responsibility and classroom climate [28]. Thus, recent research has shown that TPSR is fully adaptable to the general educational context, in addition to Physical Education [29,30,31], even being applicable to students from Early Childhood Education [32] to university students [3].

Thus, physical education teachers have the capacity to be active agents of change and facilitators of value-transformative pedagogical practices in addressing personal and social challenges [33]. In this sense, Richards [3], in a recent study, indicated that the intentional design of professional socialisation experiences, and the application of pedagogical models such as the TPSR model, could contribute to preservice physical education teachers (PETE) developing more inclusive future PE sessions, in which they include physical challenges to work on value education and leadership as proposed in TPSR. In turn, Flory [34] highlights that the experiences of PETE have implications for fidelity in model implementation, particularly with student-centred models such as TPSR that seek to break away from traditional teacher-centred practices that stem from the acculturation experiences of student trainees. Thus, some previous studies indicate that teachers can learn to implement TPSR with fidelity [35] even in subjects other than Physical Education [31]. However, few studies have examined students’ learning experiences in practice with this model. Therefore, this study aims to investigate what are the values, beliefs and perspectives of PETE regarding physical education: “how did they shape those beliefs and perspectives” (acculturation) [2], and how trainees learn to implement the methodologies they acquire during their academic training (acculturation) [2]. Some of the PETE studies that have experienced the application of TPSR (Ref. [36] describe the experience as an opportunity to belong to a “learning community” where they face challenges and learn to become better professionals. Furthermore, these students express that after training under the TPSR pedagogical approach they perceive themselves as more competent in empowering young people, in making decisions and in guiding them to have a say.

Thus, the main objective of this study is to deepen the knowledge of the opinions, derived from their experiences, of Sport Science students during the development of their internships in the PE pathway and the use of TPSR, as well as the differences that may exist when belonging to two different socio-demographic contexts (Ireland and Spain). In addition, the impact of their previous training and the influence of socialising agents on their behaviour as teachers is analysed. It is hypothesised that the formative experiences of physical education teachers (PETE) in both contexts, Spain and Ireland, are influenced by the contents received during the development of the degree and by the methodology used by the placement tutor during the practicum. Another hypothesis is that Spanish and Irish preservice students who have received training on TPSR during the degree are more confident in applying it in the development of the practicum.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Investigation Design

This is a qualitative methodology study using a semistructured interview.

2.2. Participants

The study sample consisted of six students between 21 and 25 years of age (three women and three men) whose selection was based on accessibility and convenience. There were three from Ireland and they were carrying out their school practice corresponding to the last year of the Degree in Primary Education at the University of Limerick. The other three students from Spain were in the last year of Sport Sciences at the University of Murcia. The six participants carried out their practicum in different educational centres. The students from Ireland taught the subject of Physical Education and another subject (Irish or Maths), while the students from Spain taught the subject of Physical Education. It is noteworthy that the educational centres in Spain were public and mixed schools, while the centres in Ireland were private secondary schools and only for girls.

All students worked in secondary schools. The internship lasted from January to March 2020. The study had the approval of the research ethics committee of the University of Murcia (1685/2017).

2.3. Measure

At the end of the school internship, each student was given a semistructured interview to investigate their experience in the practicum and its relationship with the theory of occupational socialisation. These interviews were conducted individually and online through the Zoom platform and lasted approximately 20 min each. The responses were recorded on a tape recorder to be transcribed verbatim later in Word format.

The interviews were carried out by four teachers who were experts in TPSR methodology (two from Limerick University and two from University of Murcia). The individual interviews were conducted ad hoc by the main researchers, analysing and selecting in consensus three groups of questions in a semistructured way with open questions. Specially, the questions explored the preservice teacher backgrounds; experiences of teaching physical education on school placement; and experiences of the initial teacher education and the use of TPSR and other methodologies, ending with the selection of the 14 questions (

Table 1. Interview description.

1. Have you used the TPSR during the practicum? If not: Why haven’t you used it or what has prevented you?

2. Have you used the TPSR in a subject other than PE? If yes, please briefly explain your experience. If not, explain why not.

3. What other pedagogical models have you used? If yes: Why did you use those?

4. To what extent has the school context (students, internship teacher-tutor) conditioned or led you to make the decision to use the TPSR or not?

5. Describe the school in which you taught. How many students attended it and what was their background? What kind of centre was it? Public, independent, private? Socioeconomic level. Location.

6. Describe the PE department of the school. How many teachers are there in the department? What type of facilities and equipment are there?

7. Has the centre participated in centre projects that you know or know of?

8. To what extent has your experience or university training in PE conditioned your decision to use the TPSR or not?

9. What has been the impact of the training you have received as a teacher when it comes to being a teacher in class?

10. How have your previous experiences influenced the way you taught with or without the TPSR?

11. How confident do you feel about teaching it in the future?

12. Describe what PE classes were like at the college/institutes you attended. Was it a good experience or a bad one? Describe your teachers. Do you think they were effective?

13. To what extent have your previous PE experiences influenced your decision to study this degree?

14. Describe the moment when you decided to study a PE career. Why did you make that decision? Who influenced you?

).

The text was transcribed and revised, with the intention of grammatically correcting the content, checking the proper division of the text into sentences for later segmentation into units of meaning in the content analysis process in Atlas.ti 7.5.4 (Scientific Software Development GmbH, Berlin, Germany). Regarding the script, it should be added that it was designed by a group of experts on the theory of occupational socialisation, practicum and TPSR, with a total of 14 questions asked. The different questions followed aspects about the theory of occupational socialisation. For instance: Has the centre participated in centre projects that you know or know of? (about the importance of the experience); How have your previous experiences influenced the way you taught with or without the TPSR? (about the importance of past experience); To what extent has your experience or university training in PE conditioned your decision to use TPSR or not? (about the influence of the degree to complete their practicum).

2.4. Procedure

The objective of this study required the gathering of evidence obtained using a semistructured interview at the end of school internships.

The protocol followed for setting up the interview was the following: First, the students doing internships were chosen for accessibility and convenience from among all the students of the last year of the degree. They were informed about the objective of the study and their participation was requested. Subsequently, a report of this work was presented to the research ethics commission of the University of Murcia from both countries, which issued a favourable report from an ethical point of view of the research. Finally, we proceeded to contact the Heads and the PE teachers of the six educational centres to which the trainees were linked to inform them about the study.

2.4.1. Development of School Internships

The practicum was extensive, that is, depending on the subjects that each student took, they could be organised in the way they wanted to attend the educational centre that they had requested to carry out their internships. The Spanish training period was from 10 to 14 weeks in PE classes lasting 55–60 min. The Irish equivalent was from 8 to 12 weeks in classes of 90 min or 40 min depending on whether the subject was PE, Maths or Irish.

2.4.2. Training of Trainers in the TPSR

Regarding TPSR, the students received training during their degrees in two subjects related to this methodology.

Spanish preservice teacher: the students were trained in the TPSR in the subject of Methodological Aspects of Physical Activity and Sport, a six-credit module in their 1st year, as part of the content of the subject, being a lesson within the list of 20 of which the agenda of the subject is composed. In addition, in the last year/course, they received training in the subject of Athletics Specialisation, a three-credit module, with theoretical and practical lessons, where all of them followed the same structure and the teacher used this model as a methodology for twelve weeks. They received lectures from experts in the athletics field to practice some skills and they had to manage an athletics competition.

Ireland preservice teacher: the students were trained in TPSR in the subject of Pedagogy of Athletics. It is a six-credit module taught in year three of a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. The main learning objective is for the preservice teachers to learn about planning and teaching athletics lessons which are safe, enjoyable, inclusive and educationally meaningful, aligned with the national curriculum for postprimary students. Following a “living the curriculum” approach [37], preservice teachers learned about teaching the personal and social responsibility curriculum model throughout a 12-week semester. They had to practice some athletics skills first before learning to teach their own team members and then the whole class. To achieve this, the twelve weeks were structured in blocks of two weeks (two weeks of practice and two weeks of teaching).

For Athletics Specialisation (Spain) and Pedagogy of Athletics (Ireland), all the lessons followed the same structure [38]: (i) relational time, (ii) awareness talk, (iii) physical activity (except for the theoretical lessons in Spain) and (iv) group and individual reflection. Students worked in the same team for the whole semester. Furthermore, each week had a focus on the different levels of responsibility. For instance, weeks 3 and 4 were focused on effort and cooperation, weeks 5 and 6 on respecting the others, weeks 7 and 8 on self-direction and weeks 9 and 10 on leadership (week 1 and 2 were introductory, and in week 11 and 12 a final event was organised to celebrate learning). The individual and team reflection was promoted by assessment forms with different prompts related to setting goals aligned with the levels of responsibility being addressed. In terms of assessment, the different teams had to complete and maintain a digital portfolio to document evidence of learning and progression (e.g., photos, videos and reflections).

3. Data Analysis

To analyse the qualitative data extracted from the interviews, the information collected was incorporated into a single file stored on the excel 2010 programme (Microsoft, Palo Alto, CA, USA). The excel file was opened in turn in the Atlas.ti 7.5.4 programme, so that all the information produced by each of the participants could be analysed. Different codes were created from the citations, with a total of 22 codes (69 extracts or cites) from Spain and 21 codes (81 extracts or cites) from Ireland. Later, these codes were grouped into 4 “families” following the theory of occupational socialisation and the TPSR model, which were written in the sections of results and in the tables from 2 to 5.

The families were the same in both contexts. The codes included in these families were similar, excluding “Possible use of TPSR in PE” (Spain), Importance of the Teacher-tutor gender (Ireland), Abundance of resources (Spain), Problems with the school teacher-tutor (Spain) and Influence of the school to be a PE teacher (Spain). Data collection informed the subsequent phase in this study (Seale, 1999) [39]. The process of data analysis began after phase one, where the researcher read the interview transcripts, reflective journals and field notes, writing memos and notes to inform phase two. The interview transcripts were read and all the data were grouped and organised under specific themes and headings informed by the conceptual framework and TPSR strategies, e.g., assessment literacy and preservice teachers (PST) use of feedback in physical education. The transcripts from the semistructured interviews were examined in their entirety, line by line, and key phrases that indicated challenges in enacting TPSR and developments in PST assessment literacy were highlighted manually. Next, the key phrases were examined and codes assigned (data reduction). These codes were examined and developed into families (data display) using the conceptual framework. Summary charts highlighting the extent to which the PSTs enacted TPSR in their teaching were created from data reflecting the experiences of the PSTs as expressed during their interviews.

4. Results

4.1. Preliminary Analysis

The results produced four families (

Table 2. Family use of the personal and social responsibility model (TPSR).

Country and Extracts		Country and Extracts
Spain	29	Ireland	48
Teacher-tutor knew TPSR	3	Teacher-tutor knew TPSR	2
Importance of planning before using TPSR	1	Importance of planning before using TPSR	5
Using other models in PE	1	Using other models in PE	8
Good perception of TPSR of the PST	6	Good perception of TPSR of the PST	9
Building values with TPSR	4	Building values with TPSR	7
Application of TPSR in other subjects possible	1	Application of the TPSR in other subjects possible	7
TPSR application possible	7
Difficulties in applying TPSR	4	Difficulties in applying TPSR	5
Teacher-tutor did not apply TPSR	2	Teacher-tutor did not apply TPSR	3
		Difficulty applying TPSR in other subjects	1
		Difficulties in understanding TPSR by students	1

,

Table 3. Acculturation Family.

Country and Extracts		Country and Extracts
Spain	14	Ireland	5
Influence in choosing EF having been an athlete	1	Influence in choosing PE having been an athlete	1
Importance of school experiences in becoming PE teachers	3
Positive evaluation of the school for being a PE teacher	8	Positive evaluation of the school for being a PE teacher	2
Negative evaluation of the school for being PE teachers	2	Negative evaluation of the school for being PE teachers	2

,

Table 4. Family Professional Socialisation.

Country and Extracts		Country and Extracts
Spain	10	Ireland	10
Positive assessment of the degree to implement TPSR	4	Positive assessment of the degree to implement TPSR	5
Positive assessment of the degree to do the internships	3	Positive assessment of the degree to do the internships	4
Insufficient assessment of the degree to be able to apply TPSR	2	Insufficient assessment of the degree to be able to apply TPSR	1

and

Table 5. Family Professional Organization.

Country and Extracts		Country and Extracts
Spain	16	Ireland	18
Influence of the teacher-tutor on the experience	2	Influence of the teacher-tutor on the experience	2
Diversity importance of the type of student body	4	Diversity importance of the type of student body	9
Abundance of sufficient resources to use	3	Importance of the teacher-tutor gender in classes	3
Diversity of sport extracurricular activities	3	Positive assessment of the internship centre	1
Problems during practices	4	Problems during practices	3

), where each family compiles a series of codes referring to a specific aspect related to that family, with a total of 21 codes from each country. These aspects were then divided into positive (blue), neutral (orange) or negative (red). The number of extracts obtained from the interviews was finally computed. The following families were identified:

Use of the Personal and Social Responsibility Model: Referring to those aspects related to the use of the model and the opinion of the trainee and the teacher-tutor, with a total of 10 codes in Ireland and 9 codes in Spain.

• Acculturation: Considering this family as that compiling everything related to the experiences that served for the students to study to be PE teachers, with three codes obtained in Ireland and four codes in Spain.
• Professional socialisation: This family values the use of the experience acquired in the university degree for internships, with three codes in both countries.
• Organisational socialisation: Referring to those aspects of the internship centre, as well as the student and the internship tutor of the educational centre, with a total of five codes for both Ireland and Spain.

4.1.1. Use of the Model of Personal and Social Responsibility

In Spanish students, a total of 29 extracts, grouped into 9 codes, 5 positive, 2 intermediate and 2 negatives, reflected this family. Positive codes predominated, especially “Application of the TPSR” (seven extracts) and “Good perception of the TPSR by the student-teacher” (six extracts), followed by four extracts of “difficulties in applying the TPSR” and “Promotion of values with TPSR” (Table 2).

We see here positive comments such as:

I feel safe to carry it out because it is the one that I have seen the most in practice and the one that comes out the best for me, besides I see it as an easy model for children and adults.

(C, Spain)

In the case of Ireland, a total of 48 extracts were found, grouped into 10 codes, with 4 being positive, 2 intermediate and 4 negatives, which is the most cited family in the entire investigation. As in Spain, some of the codes with the most citations were the “Good perception of TPSR by the student-teacher” (nine extracts) and the “Application of TPSR”, although in this case other subjects are possible (seven extracts).

I would say that it is a strategy that we can use to break down barriers within the classroom, which is very useful.

(C, Ireland)

On the other hand, within the negative codes, the so-called “TPSR application difficulties” is the most mentioned both in Spain (indicate extracts) and Ireland (indicate extracts). For Spain, the comments allude to the pandemic as one of the main factors, while in Ireland they allude to the type of content as one of the main factors in applying the TPSR model.

I have not been able to give any session. I have not had time because I was going to give the UD of corporal expression but we couldn’t because it was in the 3rd quarter due to the pandemic.

(C, Spain)

I was using activities like spike ball, so I didn’t think the model could be included in those classes.

(C, Ireland)

As an intermediate code in both Ireland and Spain, it is worth mentioning “Teacher-tutor knew TPSR”, since it allowed students to have more room to see this methodology in practice:

My tutor started to use some of the MRPS in the classes as my university tutor talked to him and we were able to work on it.

(Student C, Spain)

My tutor used it in Irish classes and used elements of the model in all his classes, so it can be used.

(Student A, Ireland)

4.1.2. Acculturation

This family collected 14 extracts in Spain and 5 in Ireland (Table 3). Both countries shared one positive code, one intermediate code and one negative code. Furthermore, in the case of Spain, there was one intermediate code more than in Ireland (importance of school experiences to be PE teacher).

Focusing on the positive code “positive assessment of school for being a PE teacher”, Spain had eight, and Ireland had two extracts, with statements such as:

It was my favorite subject, it was a very positive experience especially in primary school.

(A, Spain)

I was always interested in doing sports, the truth is that I was interested in them and I played many sports.

(B, Ireland)

Regarding intermediate codes, it should be pointed out that the “importance of experiences in school in becoming PE teachers” only occurred in Spain and had three extracts, where reference was made to the importance that experiences can have if they are good or bad in choosing a future career:

Being a teacher has been with me since primary school. Later in high school I had more and less good teachers in the sense of involvement, but well, I always thought that of what I saw, what I did not like I could later change.

(C, Spain)

Finally, the code “negative evaluation of the school for being PE teachers” refers to those experiences related to the school that could influence the completion of their studies in Physical Education. This was present in both countries and had two extracts in both Spain and Ireland, highlighting that, in any case, the students thought they “could change this”, as seen in the previous extract:

In secondary school the teacher was too demanding and if he had to raise his voice so that the students would pay attention to him, he would do it.

(B, Spain)

The boys could play whatever they wanted and the girls just walked around, we had never heard of different activities or curricular models or things like that.

(B, Ireland)

4.1.3. Professional Socialisation

In both Spain and Ireland, a total of 10 extracts were collected within this family, made up of 3 codes, 2 positive and 1 negative (Table 4). The positive codes were “positive evaluation of the degree to do the internships” and “positive evaluation of the degree to implement the TPSR”, providing a good perception by the students of the degree and the subject of the practicum and of the teaching models, in this case TPSR.

Some of the statements made were:

I think I would be able to implement it, especially the social responsibility model. I realized at university that it worked very well with the classes.

(A, Spain)

I feel confident enough in almost all the contents to apply it, thanks to the fact that I remember all the things from the University.

(B, Ireland)

Although it was seen as previous experience and not so much the training during the degree, it is something fundamental when the students face a real context of teaching practice:

I have been working and teaching for 3 years, not as a PE teacher, but as a rhythmic gymnastics coach, so it has become easy for me thanks to that. But if I hadn’t had those notions before, it would have been difficult for me because at university we haven’t had any experience of leading a class.

(B, Ireland)

Finally, regarding the code “insufficient assessment of the degree to be able to apply TPSR” statements such as that indicated by student B in Ireland stand out: “I did not include the elements of the model, I only followed my routine of the first weeks”, or from student A from Spain: “I need to learn something more to gain security”.

4.1.4. Organisational Socialisation

In Spain, a total of 16 extracts grouped into 6 codes were collected, 2 being positive, 2 intermediate and 1 negative (Table 5). For Ireland there were 18 extracts grouped into 5 codes, 1 positive, 3 intermediate and 1 negative.

The most cited code in both countries was “Diversity and importance of the type of student body”, belonging to the so-called intermediate codes with four and nine extracts in Spain and Ireland, respectively, and with statements such as:

It is a public centre and has a great variety of cultures in some classrooms you can find Arabs, Mexicans those with conduct problems were mostly foreigners.

(A, Spain)

I thought the students were the perfect age to see how it worked. And I also tried it with the so-called transition ages, between 15 and 16 years old.

(A, Ireland)

Regarding positive codes, the results are different in Spain and Ireland. For the former, they were “Diversity of sports extracurricular activities” and the “Abundance of sufficient resources to use”, with examples such as:

Regarding the material, they have a school gym and another in the centre, with cages with a lot of material recycled by the teachers themselves.

(B, Spain)

For Ireland, the only positive code was positive assessment of the training centre, with comments such as:

The school was very good. The truth was that I could not say anything about bad behaviour.

(A, Ireland)

In relation to negative codes, both in Spain and Ireland, they coincide with the code called “Problems during internships”, with four extracts in Spain and three in Ireland. In the case of Spain, they are more focused on the teacher-tutor, while for Ireland they are more focused on the centre itself with comments such as:

I have not done most practical sessions because from the beginning my tutor did not know that she had to evaluate me.

(B, Spain)

The teacher I was with only taught PE classes, he had graduated only 2 years ago and gave only PE. There were other teachers, but they were not PE specialists, who taught classes when the PE teacher could not and lacked experience.

(C, Ireland)

5. Discussion

The present study aimed to find out about the experiences of Spanish and Irish students during their internship in the PE itinerary and the use of TPSR, as well as the differences that may exist when belonging to two different contexts, analysing the impact that their previous training has had on the use of TPSR as well as the influence of the different socialising agents.

In obtaining the opinions of the interns, the students interviewed agreed that TPSR is one of the most appropriate models to promote personal and social values, but that it is necessary to know how to apply it and to have mastery of its methodology. Studies developed in populations at risk of poverty observed that, as the phases of TPSR were implemented, the teachers showed more empathy and care towards the students [3]. Teachers who at the beginning of the internship felt that there was a lack of progression in positive behaviour, over the course of the programme were able to empower their pupils and felt that the model was culturally relevant [3]. Likewise, in both contexts, they coincide in pointing out that there are difficulties in the application of TPSR, although the reasons given are different: while in Spain the pandemic is mentioned, in the case of Ireland the existence of some content being more appropriate than others is mentioned. In this sense, Llopis-Goig [40] indicates that TPSR has, as its main drawback, the difficulties in reflection with some students and the temporal sequencing, not alluding to the fact that some content is more applicable than others. However, Manzano-Sánchez and Valero-Valenzuela [30] state that TPSR can be applicable regardless of the content and even the educational area or subject.

On the other hand, in both contexts, the preservice teachers agreed that the implementation of TPSR is conditioned by the teacher-tutor’s prior knowledge of this methodology. Consistent with these findings, a study whose aim was to examine the acculturation of 10 German PPET students suggested that effective teachers combined pedagogical skills and knowledge with positive personal and social qualities, rather than prioritising the latter over the former [2]. Thus, teacher-tutors have a determining role in that their intervention serves as an example so that teachers in training know how to transfer positive behaviour and attitudes, which are worked on in TPSR, and which will have an impact on the integral health (physical, psychological and social) on their future students [41]. Teacher-tutors or teacher educators must have the appropriate resources and knowledge to promote TPSR, as well as the motivation and intention to apply it in their PE classes [42,43]. In this line of research, the study by Escartí [44] stands out, where in the record of the strategies used by four teachers, it was found that all of them were an example of respect and provided opportunities for success to students. Another aspect revealed is that curricular practices are really important, since the lack of previous experience during their academic training could generate great stress in the students who have to intervene. The passage of future teachers through university allows them to build a professional knowledge based on disciplinary and pedagogical aspects, but it is through their experience in an educational centre when all this learned knowledge is put into practice [45].

With respect to previous experience (acculturation) and the training received during their university studies (professional socialisation), it is noteworthy that both Ireland and Spain point out the importance of the experiences lived during the first years (elementary education stage) when choosing to study PE. It should be noted that the negative experiences also served as a reason for them to try to change the way in which they were taught. In the case of Spain, it is also detailed that the positive experiences lived in the school context had a great influence. In this sense, studies such as that of Merrem and Curtner-Smith [2], carried out in the German educational context, found that family, peers, previous learning and the type of youth sport practiced contributed to shape the values and beliefs of German PPET with respect to PE, findings that are consistent with previous research conducted in other countries concerning PPET perspectives [46]. Moreover, in that study, emphasis is placed on the formative and non-competitive orientation of PE teaching models, a fact frequently found in the United States [46]. While this is true, PPET or teachers in training need time to learn and gain experience in applying TPSR pedagogical strategies [47] and reconcile inconsistencies between this model and their own subjective theories developed through acculturation [48].

Regarding professional socialisation, the trainees from both countries agree in affirming that previous experience in TPSR is more important than the training received during the degree, indicating that this university training is insufficient for its implementation. These statements are in line with those collected by [38], who states that an educator who has no teaching experience, and who has not applied TPSR, will find it difficult to integrate the values and principles of TPSR in the context of physical activity. Similarly, Ibairriaga and Tejero [49] address the opinion of teachers who are trained in TPSR, indicating in their results that an extensive training programme is required and that it is essential to maintain continuous training. These same results can be seen stated in the study of Camerino [50], indicating the importance of continuous training and follow-up to achieve adequate results with four teachers who applied TPSR, two in PE and two in other subjects. It can therefore be indicated that prior teacher training is essential for a positive development of TPSR in PE [3], and teacher training programmes should include cooperative learning skills and skills based on the transfer of autonomy and responsibility in practice to prepare teachers during the practicum [51,52].

Finally, in reference to future organisational socialisation, both countries coincide in emphasizing the importance of the teacher-tutor due to the fact that the internship tutors who used TPSR (even if only occasionally) had a decisive influence on the decision making of the internship student to use it in their classes. In the case of Spain, in addition, the internship tutor also had negative connotations that could be associated with bad experiences during their time in the educational centre, motivated by the lack of knowledge of the internship tutor. Several studies show the importance of the interaction of trainee teachers with internship tutors in the current educational context [53]. In this sense, according to Romero and Ortinz [54], the figure of the tutor is fundamental for the training of future teachers due to the motivation that the profession instils in them. In this same line of study, González and Díaz [55] confirm the great projection exercised by tutors in the students’ training precisely because of the ideas and suggestions they provide, as well as the evaluation they carry out during their internship period. In this sense, fostering experiential learning with an approach based on the assessment of undergraduate students’ perception of learning in “Conceive–Design–Implement–Operate” activities performed outside the classroom, could help with students’ knowledge acquisition and formative preferences, thus, constructively aligning learning activities with future work needs [56].

Consequently, analysing the meaning that individuals derive from their personal and collective experiences in the educational setting could contribute to enhancing the integrative purpose of the educational process [57]. This includes understanding how socialisation experiences influence individuals’ values and perceptions of personal and social reality [58].

Regarding the limitations of the study, the small size of the students [59,60] was due to the choice of the sample for accessibility and convenience and the freedom of participation of the students. On the other hand, the teacher educators had not included the TPSR model in their pedagogical programmes, which made it difficult to adequately transfer the practical knowledge of its implementation to the practicum students, as well as its evaluation. It is necessary to develop and implement professional training programmes to instruct teacher educators on how to integrate the strategies of the TPSR programme for teaching PE.

6. Conclusions

The physical-sports experiences lived by the students before entering university studies, together with their internship tutors during the practicum, are the main socialising agents which have a decisive influence on the students when they choose to study PE and Sports Sciences and the methodology to be used with their future students, respectively.

In general, students interviewed agreed that TPSR in both socio-cultural and educational contexts (Spain and Ireland) is one of the most appropriate models to promote personal and social values. However, it is necessary to have some prior knowledge before applying it. In addition, both Irish and Spanish students give great importance to experiences (acculturation) during the early years (primary or elementary education) when choosing to study PE, even if these experiences are perceived as negative. Finally, students in both countries emphasise the influence the pupils’ teacher-tutors have when they apply TPSR in their lessons (organisational socialisation).

The university training and the knowledge provided by the degree in PE and Sports Sciences have contributed to a lesser extent, valuing as scarce the practical training on the methodologies they have learned during the degree and insufficient for them to feel confident in their curricular internships.