A comparative study on the physical education teacher education program between the United States and Taiwan

A global phenomenon in teaching and teacher education is its joint tendency toward marketization. The way in which this virtual market of education operates or is driven is usually attributed to the underlying philosophy of... [ view full abstract ]

A global phenomenon in teaching and teacher education is its joint tendency toward marketization. The way in which this virtual market of education operates or is driven is usually attributed to the underlying philosophy of neoliberalism. While in the common marketizing and neoliberal agenda, the teacher education programs among institutions relatively display a certain degree of diversity, rather than follow the unified neoliberal trend. This study aims to analyze and compare the teacher education programs of two institutions in the United States and Taiwan. The comparative methodology and a framework for comparison are adopted to deepen our understanding of each program and to distinguish the differences between analyzed programs. The data analyzed in present study consist of program archives, curriculum syllabi, and interview transcripts of both program director and teacher educators. Our analysis will indicate there are multiple interpretations of neoliberalism of teacher education and the process of interpretation is inevitably related to the local historical development of physical education and teacher education and the complicated controversies about teaching and learning in physical education. The selection and sequence of learning experiences in any teacher education program are not only influenced by the released governmental power and rigorous performance standards but also determined by the forces coming from professional communities of education as well as the others who own specific ideological discourses for advancing teaching efficiency. This study will highlight that there is no one teacher education program in line with complete neoliberalism or professionalism. Of crucial importance for teacher educators and administrators of an institution are the questions of what kinds of physical educators we want to prepare and what would be the ideal image for our citizens in a rapidly changing society and a highly competitive world.

Keywords: globalization, marketization, neoliberalism, efficiency, comparative education