ABSTRACT
As the authors in this edited volume illustrate, the breadth and depth of research related to the recruitment, training, and ongoing organizational socialization of physical education (PE) teachers has greatly expanded since the seminal works of Lawson (1983a, 1983b). What started as theoretical inquiry into the teacher socialization process based primarily on a US conceptualization of what it means to teach PE has developed into a multinational research agenda. A survey of the chapters in this book illustrates the international nature of scholarly interest on teacher socialization. In addition to expanding across the globe, the breadth of topics investigated by socialization scholars has diversified with scholars applying the occupational socialization theory framework to faculty development, culturally responsive pedagogy, feminist studies, and the study of teacher burnout, to name a few. The body of scholarship related to occupational socialization theory has at least two interrelated purposes. First, it serves to deepen our understanding of what it means to engage in the continual process of becoming a physical educator. It helps us understand why teachers think how they think and do what they do in their practice. This has empirical importance in terms of identifying issues with the current construction and delivery of physical education and plans for remediation or, in CurtnerSmith’s (2009) words, breaking the cycle of non-teaching PE teachers.
