Experiences of the novice instructors of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) training program, model and transfer of learning

Abstract

Physical activity and Physical Education are seen as powerful tools to teach life skills for young people. Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model promotes learning essential skills needed in life through physical activity. There is a need to develop and implement professional education programs to train experts on how to integrate life skills into physical activity and Physical Education. Novice physical activity instructors have been seen as a potential target group to learn and implement TPSR program. However, there is a lack of research on how instructors perceive training in the TPSR programs.

The aim of this study was to present the experiences of the novice instructors of the TPSR training program, TPSR model and transfer of learning three years after the training. The experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews (n=5) and analyzed by using abductive data analysis method. The findings of this study suggest, that overall novice instructors experienced TPSR training program and TPSR model positively. All novice instructors understood the ideology of the TPSR model and experienced learning during the TPSR training program. Instructors also experienced transfer of the learning on their leadership and physical activity instruction. However, the level of learning, transfer and understanding of the TPSR model varied between the novice instructors.

The skills and topics covered at the TPSR training were partly forgotten by the novice instructors since the ongoing implementation and adaptation of the TPSR model after the training did not exist. All instructors stated the challenge to remember aspects of the TPSR model after three years of the training and, consequently, a booster session after the training program is recommended. Even though some instructors had sport instructing experience after the TPSR training, instructing was described to be more occasional events rather than consistent opportunities to practice the methods of TPSR model.

The results of this study represent the thorough description of the experiences of one training group after several years of the training program. The results can be used to guide the future development of the TPSR training programs for the novice instructors. Up to date, this is a first study to evaluate the experiences of novice physical activity instructors who have received TPSR-based training.