The Theoretical Model Construction of the Identity of Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers ——Based on the Grounded Theory

The Theoretical Model Construction of the Identity of Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers ——Based on the Grounded Theory | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The Theoretical Model Construction of the Identity of Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers ——Based on the Grounded Theory ShuSheng Zhu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose Cultivating the professional identity of preservice physical education teachers (PPETs) is crucial for their career development. However, the factors that influence their professional identity are still unclear. Method We reviewed the literature on the identity of PPETs and conducted interviews with 15 PPETs. The data collected was analysed using the grounded theory and Nvivo12. Results There are three categories of influencing factors that affect the identity of PPETs: (a) preconcept identify, which contains the anticipation for the image of teachers, impression of PE Teachers, social and cultural influence and personal characters and preferences; (b) professional learning identity, which includes curricular knowledge, counselors’ guidance and self-efficacy; (c) educational practice identity, which includes internship guidance, internship environment and internship evaluation. Conclusion This research result can help the education department understand the influencing factors of PPETs' identity and help PPETs obtain a good identity. Biological sciences/Psychology Health sciences/Health care preservice physical education teachers identity grounded Theory China Figures Figure 1 1. Introduction As the quality of teachers determines the quality of education, all countries in the world regard teachers' professional development as one of the important tasks of education work. Teachers' professional development includes three stages: pre-service, in-service and post-service, among which the pre-service stage, as the starting point of professional development and student teacher in physical education as its main focus, plays a fundamental and crucial role in determining the sustainability of teachers' professional development (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2007). In China, the professional development of pre-service PE teachers has received increasing academic attention, and the cultivation of outstanding pre-service PE teachers has become a consensus in the field of physical education. The change of identity from student to teacher brings new feelings and challenges (Margarida et al., 2012). According to the existing research, only 30% of the students majoring in physical education in China have been engaged in physical education after graduation, and there is a shortage of PE teachers in most areas of China (Yin et al., 2012). The reason for such a big contrast is that pre-service PE teachers lack the identity of teachers. Identity is playing an increasingly important role in people's life. an As an individual's identity label, professional identity is an important part of an individual's overall identity (Sutherland et al., 2010). Like traditional professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers, teachers are considered professionals whose professional identity provides a guiding framework for teachers to carry out practical activities. Beijaard believes that identity is teachers' perception of themselves as teachers, and it is the core for teachers to perceive working situations, endow meanings and take actions(Beijaard et al., 2000). Hammond and Bransford argue that identity is an important guarantee for teachers to keep their commitment to their work and to follow professional norms (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2007). Day and Kington believe that identity would have important impacts on teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, work efficiency and satisfaction (Day et al., 2008).According to Zhang Xiaobo, the perception of a pre-service physical education teacher's identity is closely linked to several factors, including their motivation for entering the profession, their role awareness, their commitment to the occupation, and their teaching beliefs (Zhang, 2016). These identity perceptions are characterized by social networks, diversity, and emotional interaction. Based on this analysis, this study asserts that the construction of pre-service physical education teachers' identities is helping them develop a correct understanding of their professional characteristics, form accurate professional cognitions, and invest in positive emotions through reasonable means, thereby strengthening their commitment to teaching in the future. To gain a more profound insight into the issues surrounding pre-service physical education teachers' identities, various studies have employed qualitative research methods based on the grounded theory approach. Examples of such studies include Magnus Ferry's exploration of the development of pre-service physical education teachers' understanding of subject specialization from 2005–2016 (Ferry & Pedagogy, 2018). André Moura et al.'s discovery that providing teaching practical opportunities for pre-service physical education teachers can effectively promote their development (Moura et al., 2023). These studies indicate that research on various aspects of pre-service physical education teachers is becoming increasingly comprehensive. However, research on pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception is scarce, with a lack of representation from Eastern countries. Previous research and data collection primarily originate from the United States and Portugal, followed by Sweden and Ireland, with only two studies related to pre-service physical education teachers conducted in developing countries. Regarding research content, the majority of studies in the physical education teacher field focus on the current status, influencing factors, and development pathways of physical education teacher professional development. However, research on pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception is limited. If pre-service physical education teachers lack identity recognition, it may negatively affect their professional development as teachers and even impact their willingness to work. To address this issue, the present study employs the grounded theory qualitative research method to gain a deeper understanding of pre-service physical education teachers' attitudes towards identity perception and explore the factors influencing Chinese pre-service physical education teachers' identities. Additionally, the study aims to construct a model of pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception and provide an effective basis for the professional development of physical education teachers. 2. Materials and Methods As mentioned above, how PPETs perceive their professional identity largely determines whether they are willing to stay in their job. Therefore, it is crucial to help PPETs develop a better perception of their professional identity. This paper focuses on the factors which influence how PPETs in China perceive their professional identity. By adopting the grounded theory-based research method, which is most effective for establishing a theoretical model for identity, this paper is intended to develop a theoretical model centered on Chinese PPETs’ identity. Specifically, the grounded theory-based research method is essentially based on using empirical raw materials, which, in this case, are PPETs’ knowledge and understanding of their own professional identity. These materials serve as data for inductive analysis by researchers who have developed a deeper understanding of the data as they collected more data. The grounded theory emphasizes bottom-up collection and analysis of data for building a theoretical model. Researchers made an inductive analysis of the data without making prior assumptions. Therefore, it is important to maintain the relevance and validity of data while they are collected. Some of the data shown in this paper come from 52 Chinese and 89 English articles accessed from online literature databases, such as CNKI, Web of Science, and EBSCO, providing valuable information as to how preservice teachers, including PPETs, perceive their professional identity. The other data come from our semi-structured interviews with 15 PPETs. The details of the interviews are as follows. 2.1 Participants It is worth noting that in a grounded theory-based study, an appropriate sample size is determined by data instead of the number of participants. The sample size must be big enough to provide sufficient data for researchers to support their theory. The sample size is measured by theoretical saturation (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). In this case, the sample size depends on whether a new category or relation can be reasonably deduced from the data related to PPETs’ professional identity. If not, then the theoretical model for PPETs’ professional identity proposed in this paper is theoretically saturated. Relevant studies have shown that a grounded theory-based study in the field of PE education requires only 10 to 20 participants, (Lowe et al., 2020) which is especially the case with interviews with PPETs. As a result, our interview involving 15 participants is theoretically justified. Having gained ethical approval, we recruited participants in a random but statistically controlled manner. Participants were selected from different types of universities in varied education levels located in different parts of China (North-East, South-East, North-West and South-West), studying in the final year as an PE undergraduate or a postgraduate, who have interned as a PE teacher before the interview. These requirements ensured that participants involved in our interview would make up a convincing sample. The participants are referred to as No. 1 to No. 15 hereinafter to remain anonymous (see Table 1 ). Table 1 Demographics for the sample of participants (N = 15). No. Gender Parts Type of University Educational level Whether to be a PE teacher after graduation 1 Male South-East Normal College Undergraduate Y 2 Female North-East Normal College Postgraduate Y 3 Male South-West Normal College Postgraduate N 4 Male North-East Normal College Undergraduate Y 5 Female North Sports College Undergraduate Y 6 Female South-East Sports College Undergraduate Y 7 Male East Sports College Postgraduate N 8 Male East Sports College Undergraduate Y 9 Male South-East Normal College Undergraduate Y 10 Female South-East Normal College Postgraduate N 11 Male North-East Comprehensive University Undergraduate Y 12 Female North-West Sports College Postgraduate Y 13 Female North-West Sports College Undergraduate Y 14 Male North Comprehensive University Postgraduate Y 15 Female South Comprehensive University Undergraduate N 2.2 Interview Having gained ethical approval from the Ethnics Study Committee of the institution we worked for, we asked the participants the following six open-ended questions (see Table 2 ). These questions were selected from the aforementioned literature and were carefully revised with the professional advice from three professors specialized in PE education. Some interviewees were interviewed on the phone and others face-to face, during which the interviewer managed to establish rapport with them at the very beginning to make sure they feel comfortable enough to freely share their ideas and opinions. During the interview, we were able to collect a large amount of data, which greatly facilitated our understanding of how PPETs perceive their professional identity. To help the interviewers relax, we had casual conversations with them over their motives of being a PE teacher, how well they identify with their job as a PE teacher, how well they perform in their professional learning, and how helpful their instructor and intern supervisor are to their PE career. The interview for each interviewer lasted for nearly one hour, which was recorded with their consent, giving us a full and accurate understanding of the participants’ ideas and opinions, which are significant to our research. Table 2 Interview Questions. No. Interview Questions 1 What’s your reason or motive for aiming to be a PE teacher? 2 What’s your reason for identifying(or not identifying)with the profession of PE teachers? 3 What is your reason for chossing physical education as your major? Please talk about it in detail combining your circumstance. 4 Do you think your major counts a lot in your future career as a PE teacher? Please talk about it combining your studies specifically. 5 Are you going to be a PE teacher after graduation? Why do (don’t) you want to be a PE teacher? 6 Do you feel equal to the job as a PE teacher during your internship? Please talk about it combining your feeling of being a student PE teacher. 2.3 Data Analysis After the interview, we transcribed the recorded conversations, stored and managed the transcriptions using Nvivo 12 software. Grounded theory-based coding is comprised of three procedures, namely open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, by which we qualitatively categorized the data in a bottom-up way that helps us to identify the key concepts and their categories (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), enabling us to have a deeper understanding of the theory framework for PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. Some of the data shown in this paper come from literature related to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity, while the others come from our semi-structured interviews with PPETs. All these data were processed for coding analysis to determine the key concepts and their categories, providing a comprehensive picture of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. This paper concludes with the factors that influence how PPETs perceive their professional identity and with some suggestions on the training of PPETs in the future. 2.3.1 Open Coding Open coding in this paper refers to labeling, conceptualization, and categorization of the raw materials related to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity so as to determine the concepts thereof and their categories. To do that, open coding selects and saves relevant content from a large amount of text materials to form nodes that, if connected, reveal PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. These nodes give us a clear view of the key concepts and their categories that form a theory framework for our research. Step 1: Labeling and conceptualization . We used open coding to identify 172 labels related to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity, and then we analyzed these labels to determine the key subjects and concepts. Guided by the grounded theory, we narrowed down the labels to produce 40 mutually exclusive concepts which reveal the essence of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. These concepts helped us develop the theory model and facilitated our understanding of the collected data (see Tables 3 and 4 ). Table 3 Labeling results. No. Tagged Labels No. Tagged Labels E1 Professional ideal is the key factor of pre-service PE teacher's identity E94 Physical education professional courses can make pre-service physical education teachers enter the role of teachers quickly. E2 The State attaches great importance to the health level of adolescents E95 I often get along with students of equal professional level. E3 My tutor taught me how to teach students in PE and health class in a professional way E96 Mentors can help PPETs and students maintain a good relationship. E4 The professional identity of college tutors also affects the identity of pre-service PE teachers E97 China's social and cultural environment is increasingly recognizing the profession of physical education teachers. …… …… E88 The degree of difficulty of curriculum knowledge in physical education will affect the professional identity of pre-service physical education teachers. E170 Evaluation of Practicum Tutors as a Key Factor in PPETs' Identities E89 I learned how to present a good personal image in the sports major course in the university. E171 Practice schools regularly organize scientific research activities to help pre-service physical education teachers improve their physical education teaching level E90 The personal image of physical education teachers is a key factor in shaping the identity of pre-service physical education teachers. E172 PPETs' Identity is Influenced by Students' Performance in Class During Internship (Notes: Reported codes are the conceptual labels applied to the transcribed data. For specific data, see Table A1) Table 4 Conceptualization results of 172 tagged labels. Total 172 articles 606 20 (Notes: Articles are the results from the first coding; the participants mean the people referred to the code and the materials mean the interview and literature referred to the code. For specific data, see Table A2.) Step 2: Categorization . We analyzed the 40 concepts and divided them into ten categories, namely anticipation for being a teacher, impressions of PE teachers, social and cultural impacts, personal characters and preferences, curricular knowledge, supervisor’s guidance, self-efficacy, internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation. These categories enabled a deeper and more accurate understanding of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity and the development of a comprehensive theory framework for our research (see Table 5 ). Table 5 Results of categorization of 40 concepts. No. Subsidiary Categories Concepts C1 Teacher identity pre-imagination D1 Being a PE teacher is an ideal career for pre-service PE teachers D12 Pre-service PE teachers think that PE teachers' work is relatively easy and free D8 Pre-service PE teachers think PE teachers have a good personal image D9 Pre-service PE teachers think that being a PE teacher pays well and is a challenging job …… C10 Practice evaluation D19 Intership results will affect the professional confidence of pre-service PE teachers D38 The evaluation of students during intership will affect the professional beliefs of pre-service PE teachers D39 The evaluation of the instructor during the intership will affect the professional confidence of the pre-service PE teachers D37 Self-evaluation during intership will affect the identity of pre-service physical education teachers (Notes: For specific data, see Table A3.) 2.3.2 Axial Coding The final procedure of the grounded theory-based coding is axial coding, where we decomposed and reorganized the nodes related to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity produced in the open coding procedure so as to extract key concepts and their categories. While doing this, we analyzed and conceptualized PPETs’ perception of their professional identity to determine the key concepts in the data and their categories, which helped us develop a more convincing and detailed theory framework. In our analysis, we further divided the ten categories produced in the open coding procedure into three major categories, namely preconcept identity, professional learning identity, and educational practice identity. The preconcept identity covers anticipations for being a teacher, impressions of PE teachers, social and cultural impacts, and personal characters and preferences. Professional learning identity covers curricular knowledge, supervisor’s guidance, and self-efficacy. Educational practice identity covers internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation. (See Table 6 ). Table 6 Results of the main axis coding for 10 categories. Sub-Categories Subsidiary Categories B1 Pre-concept identification C1 Teacher identity pre-imagination C2 Impression of PE teachers C3 Social and cultural impact C4 Personal character and preference B2 Professional learning identification C5 course knowledge C6 Tutor Guidance C7 Self-efficacy B3 Educational practice identification C8 Practice guidance C9 Practice atmosphere C10 Practice evaluation 2.2.3 Selective Coding Selective coding is used to analyze and compare the relationships between different concepts and their categories related to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity with a view to identifying superordinate categories into which these concepts and categories can be divided. In the selecting coding procedure as the final phase of the grounded theory-based analysis, data is analyzed in accordance with the key concepts and categories. Specifically, data will be associated with the concepts and categories. Memo and other analytical tools are used to make the theory framework more comprehensive. In our research, selective coding helped us to find out the factors that influence PPETs’ perception of their professional identity, and to develop a theory model to process the complicated and intertwined perceptions. Based on the raw materials, the ten categorized nodes and three major categories, we narrowed the focus of our research down on a core category -- PPETs’ perception of their professional identity -- which covers all the other categories, concepts, and labels, providing a comprehensive and holistic picture of our research theme. The core category enables us to develop a theory framework under which we can identify key concepts and patterns, and which justifies our analysis and interpretation of the results. In conclusion, this paper contains a large number of data derived from literature and interviews. These data were labeled, conceptualized and categorized in the open coding procedure, producing key subjects and their categories, and these categories were categorized in the axial coding procedure. Finally, the selective coding procedure produced a comprehensive theory framework focused on the core category (PPETs’ perception of their professional identity), three subcategories (preconcept identify, professional learning identity and educational practice identity), ten categorized nodes, 40 concepts, and 172 labels. This theory framework provides a solid foundation for our analysis and interpretation of the data, enabling us to make better sense of the complicated PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. The data collected were labeled, conceptualized, categorized, and finally developed into a theory model through the grounded theory-based analysis. This enabled us to determine the key themes and patterns in the data and have a better understanding of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. This theory model paves the way for related research and provides suggestions for PPETs training in the future. 2.4 Trustworthiness We tested the trustworthiness and saturation of the grounded theory. To ensure the trustworthiness and validity of the coding procedures, we ran a number of tests, including a coding consistency test, to minimize the impact of subjective factors and maximize the confidence in the coding results. In the coding consistency test, we invited two Nvivo12-savvy research assistants to simultaneously code five copies of the data randomly selected from the raw materials. Then we calculated the repetition rates of the five copies and compared them with the original coding repetition rate. This test proved that no other categories and relationships can be identified from the concepts we have shown. In addition, we ran a theoretical saturation test on another five copies of data, which proved that the theory framework is theoretically saturated. As it turns out, these tests have ensured that our coding procedures and the theory framework are trustworthy and valid. 3. Results From our analysis of data, we have determined three major categories with regards to PPETs’ perception of their professional identity (see Fig. 1 ): (1) preconcept identity , (2) professional learning identity , and (3) educational practice identity . The three categories present a comprehensive picture of the nuances and complex nature of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity from different dimensions. Each category contains many sub-categories which clarify the key concepts in the data and their categories. These sub-categories provide a new angle for us to understand PPETs’ perception of their professional identity so that we can better understand the factors that influence their perception. 3.1 Preconcept Identity: Affirmation of Pre-concept of being a Teacher Flores and Day pointed out that the development of teachers’ identity begins as a “preteaching identity”, which means PPETs’ anticipations for the image of being a teacher (Flores et al., 2006). As PPETs transition their role as a student towards a teacher, they seek to strike a balance in the transitional phase of their role, with affirmation, adjustment and reconstruction of the preconcept of being a teacher (Zhang et al., 2015). The preconcept identity refers to affirmation of preconcept of being a teacher. That is to say, PPETs have developed subconsciousness of working as a teacher, even though they may be unaware of it, before they enter university. The subconsciousness is the basis for development of a professional teacher’s identity. 3.1.1 Anticipation for the Image of Teachers PPETs’ anticipation for the image of teachers plays an important role in shaping how they perceive their professional identity. As children tend to dream of being a lawyer or a doctor when they grow up, PPETs will often envisage what they will be like working as PE teacher before they enter university. For example, some of them admitted having the stereotyped idea that a PE teacher has to be tall and handsome, and that working as a PE teacher is free and challenging. During our interview, some interviewers said that they would dream of becoming a PE teacher as a child, and that they would imagine the job features, working state, and work content of a PE teacher. That kind of dream has motivated them to pursue a career as a PE teacher, leading to a conclusion that anticipation for the image of being a teacher affects how PPETs perceive their professional identity. “I have longed to become a good PE teacher ever since I was little, who can teach teenage students sports skills and health science, helping them develop a lifelong habit of doing exercise, which in turn makes me feel fulfilled.” (Participant 3) 3.1.2 Impression of PE Teachers PE teachers in primary and middle schools tend to leave a profound impression on their students, who choose to pursue their career as a PPET. Such an impression, which can be good or bad, can influence their decision to find a job as PPET. PE teachers here also include professional PPET trainers. Many PPETs received training when they were in primary and middle schools and they have been influenced by their trainers. For example, if they were punished by trainers, they would be too afraid to become a PPET. In a word, PPETs’ perception of their professional identity is influenced by their impression of their PE teachers in primary and middle schools. “While I was in primary and middle schools, my PE teachers were really earnest. They taught me a lot of sports skills and work-out techniques, as well as health science, from which I have benefited a lot. It was probably during that time that I made up mind to become a PE teacher when I grew up.” (Participant 1) 3.1.3 Social and Cultural Influence The development of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity is subject to social and cultural factors, such as ideology, network information, and national policies. While in middle and high schools, PPETs have immature personal values prone to the influence of ideology. If they live in a society where PE teachers are thought highly of, they will develop a good preconcept of PE teachers; otherwise, they will have a bad impression of PE teachers (Xu, 2021). In fact, stigma against PE teachers is not uncommonly seen in society (Zhang, 2020). When PPETs enter university, they start to develop their professional identity, which is influenced by their preconcept of PPETs. If their perception of PPETs’ identity is consistent with their preconcept, they will build their perception on their preconcept. If their perception is different from their preconcept, they will have to tune their perception. If contradictory, they have to reconstruct their preconcept, which is a suffering process (Zhang, 2016). “In our social and cultural context where PPETs are widely recognized and the government gives top priority to the physical health of teenagers, I have a better chance of pursuing a career as a PPET in the future. However, it is worth noting that many people still hold the traditional belief that all that PE teachers need to do is to teach sports skills, with few challenges to be addressed in their job. But this is a misconception, which makes me feel sorry for it.” (Participant 8) 3.1.4 Personal Characters and Preferences The development of PPETs’ perception of their professional identity is also subject to their personal characters and preferences. Extravert PPETs tend to make more friends and communicate better with strangers while playing sports, which gives them a head start in job hunting because they often come across as more energetic. Some PPETs have been enthusiastic about doing sports ever since they were a child, longing to become a PE teacher when they grow up. Introvert PPETs, however, may not show as much love for doing sports, which to some extent will hinder the development of their professional identity. “I love sports and I am willing to pursue sports as career. I think being a teacher is exciting.” (Participant 9) 3.2 Professional Learning Identity Enhanced by Academic Studies While partially knowing the professional identity of a PE teacher in the preconcept phase, PPETs will receive systematic education after they enter university, which will have an influence on the development of their professional identity. They have to learn public courses and courses on PE theories, PE teaching practice, and sports techniques. Courses on PE theories include exercise anatomy, exercise physiology, exercise health care, school physical education, and sports psychology. PE teaching practice courses include PE teaching simulation, education internship, and education practice. Courses on sports techniques include teaching techniques of basketball, football, volleyball, track and field, and gymnastics. These courses will contribute to the development of their professional identity. Other contributing factors include academic challenges and influences from their counselor and peers. 3.2.1 Curricular Knowledge As mentioned before, PPETs have to learn a wide range of lessons in university, including public lessons, lessons on PE theories, lessons on teaching and education, and lessons on sports techniques. These lessons give PPETs a comprehensive glimpse into the PE major and help them adapt to the role of a teacher. For instance, lessons on sports techniques help PPETs acquire a variety of sports techniques. Aside from learning all these techniques, they have to write lesson plans and do teaching simulation. Another example is that lessons on teaching and education help PPETs learn teaching methods and theories and learn from experts specialized in education theories, which will contribute significantly to the development of their professional identity. However. PPETs are also faced with many challenges in their study. If they fail to pass the final exams, their passion for becoming a PE teacher will be dampened. In summary, PPETs must pass all the exams, which is no easy task, before they successfully graduate. “I felt really upset about the courses for PE majors. We had to learn many courses, each one with a high passing score. I failed some of them, which made me discouraged. I had to study very hard to pass the exams, just like my classmates did. But we have gained a lot of help from these lessons, especially those of us who have chosen to work as a PE teacher. It is safe to say that how well we learn these courses determines how professional we are as a PE teacher.” (Participant 1) 3.2.2 Counselors’ Guidance While PPETs are constantly deconstructing and reconstructing their professional identity, they will be influenced by their counselors’ professional value, knowledge, and practice capability. Just as teacher educators’ behavior-shaping role will have a profound influence on how PPETs perceive their professional identity, counselors’ professional guidance and academic assistance will contribute to the reconstruction of PPETs’ professional identity, too. Xie Shuhai argues that PPETs can gain help from their teachers with their professional discourse, teaching practice and teaching theory, which can release PPETs’ potential and motivate them to become a good PE teacher (Xie & Xiong, 2014). In a word, counselors’ understanding of PE and their professional capabilities are central to the development of PPETs’ professional identity, leading the fledgling PPETs to become more professionally capable. “When I was in university, my counselor gave me a lot of help. First, my career orientation changed. At first, I did not want to become a PE teacher because I thought that would be a tiring job, but my counselor told me that PE teachers can help students build up their body, which is really meaningful. Second, I did not think a short person could be a good PE teacher until my counselor told me a PE teacher does not need to be tall to teach students professional skills and health science. You need to have a fine figure and can use standard classroom language.” (Participant 6) 3.2.3 Self-efficacy Self-efficacy is a key concept of social learning theory proposed by a well-known American behaviorist, referring to individuals’ judgement, faith, confidence, and feelings over whether they can finish a certain task within their capabilities, which means individuals’ evaluation of their own confidence in finishing a certain task with their skills (Liu & Yin, 2004). The efficacy of PPETs is often influenced by the following factors. First, direct experiences. For example, a successful teaching simulation will boost their self-efficacy, while a failed one will dampen their self-efficacy. Second, vicarious experience or simulation. For example, seeing their peers do a successful teaching simulation will increase their own self-efficacy. Third, verbal persuasion. Encouragement from parents, peers, and counselors will give them confidence in their ability to overcome the challenges arising in their learning and teaching practice, thus increasing their self-efficacy. Fourth, situational context. By repetition of teaching simulation, they will get the hang of it and adapt to teaching environment, which will boost their self-efficacy. “At first, I was afraid of PE teaching practice. I looked far from proficient and I was greatly discouraged. My parents and teachers often encouraged me and they thought I could make it. I think self-efficacy is very important, because it will help me overcome the terror in my heart. While in university, I was engaged in a number of teaching practice activities and became familiarized with teaching procedures and environment. Now I look natural and professional during my teaching practice.” (Participant 5) 3.3 Education Practice Identity Enhanced During Education Internship During education internship, a PPET becomes a more competent teacher, which is the most important phase during the development of PPETs’ professional identity after they enter university. Feimen and Buchmann have shown that young teachers who have just started their job will handle complicated teaching situations using their experience as a student and their intern teaching experience as an undergraduate who has benefited from the advice and guidance from their counselor during their internship in primary and middle schools (Feiman-Nemser et al., 1987). It can be concluded that education practice has had a more profound influence on the development of PPETs’ professionalism and teaching values than their undergraduate learning. During education practice, the development of PPETs’ professional identity is influenced by internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation. 3.3.1 Internship Guidance In China, every intern teacher is assigned to a counselor, with whose guidance and support interns will apply what they have learned in university to their teaching practice, developing towards the role of a real teacher during their internship. PPETs as interns will learn from their counselor and solve teaching problems as their counselor does. Counselors have a subtle yet profound influence on shaping interns’ professionalism. In other words, how counselors demonstrate their professional capacity will play a significant role in shaping how PPETs understand the job of a teacher. For example, if PPETs have a friendly relationship with their counselor during internship, they are more likely to establish a friendly relationship with their students in their own teaching practice. Generally, counselors will help interns establish a positive image as a teacher through instructions on how to design a PE and health lesson and how to carry out teaching activities. “My internship counselor gave me a lot of help, which has made me more determined to become a PE teacher. During my internship, I learned how to design a PE and health lesson, how to adopt appropriate teaching strategies to have good interactions with my students, and how to design PE teaching activities. Thanks to my counselor, I could have effective interactions with my students and give well-designed PE lessons. My internship was a really valuable experience for me.” (Participant 7) “My counselor taught me a lot. He asked me to give lessons for his students. I was nervous at first, but I felt more capable of having interactions with the students and gave a successful lesson thanks to his guidance. I have gained invaluable experience from him.” (Participant 3) 3.3.2 Internship Environment Education internship environment refers to a school’s physical education atmosphere, teaching communication atmosphere in teaching and research groups, and students’ learning atmosphere in class. PPETs often experience different internship environments during their internship in primary and middle schools. The physical education atmosphere, teaching communication atmosphere in teaching and research groups, and students’ learning atmosphere in class will impact intern PPETs’ understanding of their professional identity. In terms of physical education atmosphere, some schools will hold sports meetings on a regular basis. The atmosphere at the sports meeting will play a positive role in developing PPETs’ professional identity. In terms of teaching communication atmosphere, some schools will organize teaching and research activities on a regular basis to improve teaching proficiency, which can also help interns improve their teaching methods, thus contributing to the development of their professional identity. If sexism and traditional culture against women teachers are felt by intern teachers, their understanding of and their commitment to being a PE teacher might be impacted. Students’ learning atmosphere in class is also central to the development of PPETs’ professional identity. If they think students are cooperative in class, they will feel a sense of accomplishment, and they can also reflect on their own teaching process according to the performance and feedback of the students. “The school where I interned holds a sports meeting annually, where students can display their sports talent. During the meeting the school suspends all the lessons to make time for students to have fun while attending sports events. The atmosphere at sprots meetings really made me excited at the thought that I would also be an organizer of such events when I become a PE teacher.” (Participant 11) 3.3.3 Internship Evaluation In China, PE education majors have to work as intern teachers. At the end of their internship, they are required to write a internship report. They have to evaluate their own internship performance and receive evaluations from instructors in primary and middle schools and from their counselor. These evaluations will have a profound influence on PPETs’ belief in their major and their confidence in becoming a PE teacher in the future. “My internship thought highly of me, which gave me greater confidence in becoming a PE teacher. The internship evaluation will be included as part of our GPA. I could reflect on my teaching practice during internship.” (Participant 14) 4. Discussion In this study, we used Nvivo 12 software to process data from our interview with 15 PPETs from different types of universities located in different parts of China with a view to finding out what factors influence PPETs’ perception of their professional identity. This paper responds to three questions: (1) how PPETs perceive PE teachers’ professional identity before they enter university; (2) how PPETs perceive their professional identity during undergraduate years; and (3) how PPETs perceive their professional identity during education internship. This paper also discusses the relationship between these factors and proposes how to develop PPETs’ professional identity. 4.1 Relationships among Three Categories In terms of time, pre-conceptual identity, professional learning identity, and educational internship identity together form the various stages of the transformation of pre-service physical education teachers from students to teachers. Pre-conceptual identity refers to the perception of identity as a physical education teacher before entering university. These perceptions may be influenced by the individual's former physical education teacher or by the social and cultural environment. Pre-conceptual identity and professional learning identity are progressive, and if a pre-service physical education teacher does not have a good pre-conceptual identity, they may not prepare to become a physical education teacher after entering university, leading to a lack of effort in professional learning and, ultimately, failure to become a physical education teacher. Professional learning identity and educational internship identity are integrated, and in China, educational internship is part of professional learning. Without a good professional learning identity, pre-service physical education teachers will not be able to engage effectively in educational internships. Finally, professional learning identity and educational internship identity also affect pre-conceptual identity and can deconstruct and restructure pre-service physical education teachers' pre-conceptual identities. Some pre-service physical education teachers may have certain subjective assumptions about the occupational image, personal characteristics, and working style of physical education teachers before entering university. However, after professional learning and educational internships, they may find that the working characteristics of physical education teachers are different from their previous fantasies, which will lead to changes in pre-conceptual identity 4.2 The structural system of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition has a scientific theoretical basis The theories of self-development, social construction, and critical discourse analysis provide a theoretical foundation for constructing the structural system of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition. These three theories provide a framework for constructing a model of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition. The self-development theory suggests that an individual's self-awareness goes through three stages: physiological self, social self, and psychological self. The formation of social and psychological selves is achieved through social norms and interpersonal communication mediated by the media. Through information dissemination and social interaction, individuals continuously improve their understanding of their identity, including their identity as a pre-service physical education teacher. This theory suggests that as pre-service physical education teachers grow, they continuously receive information from the outside world to understand the profession and to perfect their cognitive understanding of physical education teachers. They then form independent identity recognition of physical education teachers, which is matured through social interactions with others. The social construction theory challenges the traditional essentialist viewpoint and emphasizes the importance of education in shaping and constructing an individual's development. Burr pointed out that the social construction theory advocates a critical attitude towards common knowledge, which is linked to social processes and social behavior (Burr & Mackay, 1997). This theory suggests that individuals should abandon the view of "identity determinism" and possess a strong critical consciousness, recognizing that identity is not fixed but formed through an individual's constant social experiences. The change of identity is a discourse construction process, which changes with social changes. People construct their identity recognition through mutual communication. For pre-service physical education teachers, most of them are not born as teachers, and they must go through a process of construction. Physical education teacher educators must realize this and actively help them construct a professional identity recognition. Providing a good internal and external environment for the construction of their professional identity, and enhancing their professional identity consciousness is essential. Critical discourse analysis is a research perspective that views social reality as being constructed by social beliefs, and that reality is a social construction mediated by discourse (Wang, 2008). This theory suggests that the beliefs held by pre-service physical education teachers as teachers can construct their professional identity through discourse, via specific channels. In this process, discourse plays a crucial role. Critical discourse analysis includes three different types of discourse: social discourse, institutional discourse, and personal discourse. Social discourse refers to the media's description of individuals or social groups at the societal level. For instance, various media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, and television describe physical education teachers, some of which are positive and optimistic, such as "promoters of youth physical and mental health," while others are negative, such as "physically strong but mentally simple." Pre-service physical education teachers can be influenced by these discourses, which can unconsciously affect their understanding of the teaching profession and their identity construction. Institutional discourse refers to the government's description of teacher identity, which is closely related to its ideology and usually presents a positive image of the profession. For example, physical education teachers are often described as "hard-working gardeners" and "guardians of youth health," and pre-service physical education teachers' individual identity construction can usually be positively guided by institutional discourse. Personal discourse typically refers to the self-narratives of physical education teachers, who often recall their sports training or athletic experiences, and individual discourses often differ. 4.3 Pre-Service Physical Education Teacher Training Should Pay Sufficient Attention to Identity Development In the past, our education for pre-service physical education teachers has mainly focused on their professional learning in subject knowledge and athletic skills. However, as pointed out by UNESCO, teaching is a profession of learning, and lifelong learning is an essential requirement for teachers to realize their professionalism. In other words, whether the cultivation of pre-service physical education teachers helps future teachers form appropriate role cognitions and basic career commitments to engage in lifelong practice learning is the core issue we should focus on. As European teacher education researcher Korthagen said, the primary goal of teacher education should be to provide pre-service teachers with learning experiences that have identity-building significance (Korthagen & education, 2010). Therefore, pre-service physical education teacher training needs to pay sufficient attention to identity development, mainly through the following four aspects to create a path for cultivating pre-service physical education teacher identity. Firstly, cultivate pre-service physical education teachers' professional beliefs. Zhao Changmu pointed out that teachers' professional beliefs are their internal spiritual states and inner guidance for carrying out teaching activities, which constitute the core of teachers' professional qualities (Zhao, 2004). It can be seen that teachers' professional beliefs are internal, so cultivating pre-service physical education teachers should understand their inner selves. Before entering university, pre-service physical education teachers have already gained some professional beliefs through their physical education and health classes in primary and secondary schools, and they have preliminary perceptions of the role and tasks of physical education teachers, but these are all external and only vague perceptions of their identity. This sense of identity is fleeting and can change at any time. To cultivate pre-service physical education teachers' professional beliefs, guidance is needed for students who have just entered physical education majors. Excellent physical education teachers from primary and secondary schools can be invited to give them speeches, using real cases to inspire pre-service physical education teachers and encourage them to develop a deep commitment to the cause of physical education from their hearts. Secondly, create teaching courses for physical education teachers. Studies suggest that a teacher's professional identity includes three roles: educational expert, subject expert, and teaching expert, with each role having its own emphasis. Among them, the teaching expert role is crucial for cultivating pre-service physical education teachers because a good physical education teacher should know how to teach, rather than just possessing advanced theoretical knowledge. However, the key to constructing the teaching expert role lies in whether pre-service teachers have undergone teaching courses for physical education teachers. Currently, the curriculum for physical education in China places too much emphasis on movement skills and the arrangement of public courses, with very few courses for teacher education. In contrast, some universities in the United States attach great importance to teacher education courses for physical education majors. For example, West Virginia University in the United States has 43.2% of its courses devoted to teacher education for physical education majors (Zhang, 2016). Through a high proportion of teacher education courses, students can delve deeply into the study and research of physical education teaching. Only in this way can pre-service physical education teachers understand students, understand the teaching profession, and construct their professional identity. The creation of a negotiation platform for professional identity recognition is the third approach. The professional identity recognition of pre-service physical education teachers is a process of confirmation, adjustment, or reconstruction based on prior conceptual recognition. Before entering the educational practice, pre-service physical education teachers often expect everything to go according to their own expectations. However, after participating in professional courses and educational internships, they may find that their teaching expectations cannot be applied in actual situations. This process involves continuous negotiation between the reality of the teaching environment and their expectations, requiring a negotiation platform for pre-service physical education teachers. This negotiation platform includes the following two aspects: (1) psychological platform. Many pre-service physical education teachers experience difficult psychological changes in adjusting and reconstructing their recognition of the physical education teacher identity. This requires the physical education major and internship supervisors to provide them with a psychological negotiation platform. (2) Environmental platform. The construction of the physical education teacher identity of pre-service physical education teachers requires a supportive external environment with a positive atmosphere to guide them. For example, experienced mentors should provide a platform for pre-service physical education teachers to communicate, learn, and practice. They should regularly encourage pre-service physical education teachers and help them develop career development plans. 4.4 Limitations and Research Outlook Overall, this study shows that professional identity recognition is crucial for the career development of pre-service physical education teachers. However, the sample size of this study is limited, and it is recommended that future research use a larger sample size to validate and expand these findings. In addition, it is also possible to explore the identity recognition of primary and secondary school physical education teachers and university physical education teachers. Such research will provide more comprehensive understanding of the identity recognition situation of pre-service and in-service physical education teachers and provide effective reference information for the cultivation of physical education teachers in the field of physical education. 5. Conclusions A theoretical model of preservice physical education teachers' identity was explored using rooting theory. The results of this research on preservice physical education teachers' identity can help physical education teacher educators, physical education teacher professional training schools, and education departments understand the factors influencing preservice physical education teachers' identity and then take targeted educational measures as a way to help preservice physical education teachers obtain a good identity. Specifically, identity gives preservice physical education teachers an intrinsic symbol of being a professional, and preservice physical education teachers' development is relatively passive throughout their career development, and their perceptions about identity require not only their own efforts but also outside help. This study shows that pre-service physical education teachers' identity is influenced by three main stages, including the pre-conceptual identity stage, professional learning identity stage, and educational internship identity stage, and these three stages contain many different influencing factors. These three stages include many different influencing factors. Declarations Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the valuable time and insightful feedback provided by all the participants that took part in the grounded theory study. Funding This research was supported by Establishment of the Anhui Province Scientific Research Project Plan (No. 2022AH050136). Ethics approval and consent to participate The Ethics Committee of Anhui Normal University, ID number: AHNU-ET2023002. The researchers obtained informed consent after understanding the purpose, procedure, and voluntary nature. Confidentiality and anonymity have been maintained in the collection and submission of results. Research method statement All research was performed in accordance with relevant regulations. Informed Consent Statement Prior to data collection, interviewers and experts have been informed of research ethics and protocols. Data Availability Statement Data can be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests References Beijaard, D., Verloop, N., Vermunt, J. D. J. T., & education, t. (2000). Teachers’ perceptions of professional identity: An exploratory study from a personal knowledge perspective. 16 (7), 749-764. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00023-8 Burr, V., & Mackay, R. J. C. J. o. S. (1997). An introduction to social constructionism. 22 (4), 526. Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2007). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do . John Wiley & Sons. Day, C., Kington, A. J. P., culture, & society. (2008). Identity, well‐being and effectiveness: The emotional contexts of teaching. 16 (1), 7-23. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14681360701877743 Feiman-Nemser, S., Buchmann, M. J. T., & education, t. (1987). When is student teaching teacher education? , 3 (4), 255-273. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0742-051X(87)90019-9 Ferry, M. J. P. E., & Pedagogy, S. (2018). 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(2020). Activity and advanced cancer: A grounded theory. 34 (2), 231-244. Margarida, A., Ana, P., Amandio, G., & Paula, B. J. O. S. (2012). Practicum as a Space and Time of Transformation: Self-Narrative of a Physical Education Pre-Service Teacher. Moura, A., MacPhail, A., Graça, A., & Batista, P. J. E. P. E. R. (2023). Providing physical education preservice teachers with opportunities to interrogate their conceptions and practices of assessment. 29 (1), 162-179. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X221129057 Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research : Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428108324514 Sutherland, L., Howard, S., Markauskaite, L. J. T., & education, t. (2010). Professional identity creation: Examining the development of beginning preservice teachers' understanding of their work as teachers. 26 (3), 455-465. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.06.006 Wang, P. (2008). Critical Discourse Analysis: A New Perspective on Contemporary Educational Research. Journal of Capital Normal University(Social Sciences Edition) (5), 81-86. Xie, S., & Xiong, M. (2014). Theoretical Developments and Research Perspective in Professional Identification of the Pre-Service Teachers. Journal of Teacher Education , 1 (6), 10-17. Xu, J. (2021). Stigmatization on P.E. Teachers: Realistic Dilemma and Identity. Journal of Hebei Sport University , 35 (2), 67-71. Yin, Z., Mao, L., Wang, X., Kong, L., Yang, Y., & Ji, L. (2012). An Survey Study about the Construction of New Physical Education Teachers' Professional Standards. Journal of Shanghai University of Sport , 36 (5), 86-90. Zhang, S., Chen, X., & Qiu, x. (2015). The Construction of Professional Identities of Student Teachers. Teacher Education Research , 27 (4), 74-79. Zhang, X. (2016). Approaches to Construct Pre － service Physical Education Teachers’Professional Identity. Journal of Chengdu Sport University , 42 (4), 115-121. Zhang, Z. (2020). The Cause,Logic and Self-redemption of Physical Education Teacher’s Stigma. Sports & Science , 41 (3), 66-71. Zhao, C. (2004). On the Beliefs of Teachers. Contemporary Education Sciences (9), 11-14. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix1.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5840367","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":407831251,"identity":"c6b9e9a5-9a8d-4df7-b96b-70c20b65eba7","order_by":0,"name":"ShuSheng Zhu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9klEQVRIie3QsWoCQRCA4VkW1mbOa/e4YF5hgmCjcK+yIMRmBX2ENGsTsT3fIsHG0rAQm30AIc2BoE2KC2kiEcwFW73TzmL/cuFjdgbA57vNWKZIYMj5gh8fVCXhlA/qd9HIqIuJiNK80SHn6DJyP1lmMVILYaW/vodzC2FNE+zm5wlLNTWRHpGl/Vk8dRai509iY1eyiEToIr0jl/2XODAWaKWJM1OySLjMLNIBhdTr33+SVBEE9fCUFkdGdOI4RVYQKXUT8oLImmm1A9ND6TaDt3EJKS62/VF7kSSWrz8C026Eo+5rtishJ35atLgC+Hw+n+9EfzvTSeU224t8AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Anhui Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"ShuSheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-16 09:08:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":75310276,"identity":"60dde0fb-b1de-4b38-b69b-49ccbabc3bad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-03 09:00:59","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":347263,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eIdentity model of pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5840367/v1/6e151b4f1ba410efd54f4cbb.png"},{"id":75313782,"identity":"b1230972-a06b-42a7-929e-1b9a80a88922","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-03 09:25:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1562897,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5840367/v1/5e9e53db-6b9c-4307-a284-3e7584fe914b.pdf"},{"id":75310273,"identity":"4cb82886-1891-435c-bca6-ea1181f88fdc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-03 09:00:59","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":37523,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix1.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5840367/v1/ceb13fc5d8f0055f5f5be88b.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Theoretical Model Construction of the Identity of Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers ——Based on the Grounded Theory","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAs the quality of teachers determines the quality of education, all countries in the world regard teachers' professional development as one of the important tasks of education work. Teachers' professional development includes three stages: pre-service, in-service and post-service, among which the pre-service stage, as the starting point of professional development and student teacher in physical education as its main focus, plays a fundamental and crucial role in determining the sustainability of teachers' professional development (Darling-Hammond \u0026amp; Bransford, 2007). In China, the professional development of pre-service PE teachers has received increasing academic attention, and the cultivation of outstanding pre-service PE teachers has become a consensus in the field of physical education. The change of identity from student to teacher brings new feelings and challenges (Margarida et al., 2012). According to the existing research, only 30% of the students majoring in physical education in China have been engaged in physical education after graduation, and there is a shortage of PE teachers in most areas of China (Yin et al., 2012). The reason for such a big contrast is that pre-service PE teachers lack the identity of teachers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIdentity is playing an increasingly important role in people's life. an As an individual's identity label, professional identity is an important part of an individual's overall identity (Sutherland et al., 2010). Like traditional professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers, teachers are considered professionals whose professional identity provides a guiding framework for teachers to carry out practical activities. Beijaard believes that identity is teachers' perception of themselves as teachers, and it is the core for teachers to perceive working situations, endow meanings and take actions(Beijaard et al., 2000). Hammond and Bransford argue that identity is an important guarantee for teachers to keep their commitment to their work and to follow professional norms (Darling-Hammond \u0026amp; Bransford, 2007). Day and Kington believe that identity would have important impacts on teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, work efficiency and satisfaction (Day et al., 2008).According to Zhang Xiaobo, the perception of a pre-service physical education teacher's identity is closely linked to several factors, including their motivation for entering the profession, their role awareness, their commitment to the occupation, and their teaching beliefs (Zhang, 2016). These identity perceptions are characterized by social networks, diversity, and emotional interaction. Based on this analysis, this study asserts that the construction of pre-service physical education teachers' identities is helping them develop a correct understanding of their professional characteristics, form accurate professional cognitions, and invest in positive emotions through reasonable means, thereby strengthening their commitment to teaching in the future.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo gain a more profound insight into the issues surrounding pre-service physical education teachers' identities, various studies have employed qualitative research methods based on the grounded theory approach. Examples of such studies include Magnus Ferry's exploration of the development of pre-service physical education teachers' understanding of subject specialization from 2005\u0026ndash;2016 (Ferry \u0026amp; Pedagogy, 2018). Andr\u0026eacute; Moura et al.'s discovery that providing teaching practical opportunities for pre-service physical education teachers can effectively promote their development (Moura et al., 2023). These studies indicate that research on various aspects of pre-service physical education teachers is becoming increasingly comprehensive. However, research on pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception is scarce, with a lack of representation from Eastern countries. Previous research and data collection primarily originate from the United States and Portugal, followed by Sweden and Ireland, with only two studies related to pre-service physical education teachers conducted in developing countries. Regarding research content, the majority of studies in the physical education teacher field focus on the current status, influencing factors, and development pathways of physical education teacher professional development. However, research on pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception is limited. If pre-service physical education teachers lack identity recognition, it may negatively affect their professional development as teachers and even impact their willingness to work. To address this issue, the present study employs the grounded theory qualitative research method to gain a deeper understanding of pre-service physical education teachers' attitudes towards identity perception and explore the factors influencing Chinese pre-service physical education teachers' identities. Additionally, the study aims to construct a model of pre-service physical education teachers' identity perception and provide an effective basis for the professional development of physical education teachers.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eAs mentioned above, how PPETs perceive their professional identity largely determines whether they are willing to stay in their job. Therefore, it is crucial to help PPETs develop a better perception of their professional identity. This paper focuses on the factors which influence how PPETs in China perceive their professional identity. By adopting the grounded theory-based research method, which is most effective for establishing a theoretical model for identity, this paper is intended to develop a theoretical model centered on Chinese PPETs\u0026rsquo; identity. Specifically, the grounded theory-based research method is essentially based on using empirical raw materials, which, in this case, are PPETs\u0026rsquo; knowledge and understanding of their own professional identity. These materials serve as data for inductive analysis by researchers who have developed a deeper understanding of the data as they collected more data. The grounded theory emphasizes bottom-up collection and analysis of data for building a theoretical model. Researchers made an inductive analysis of the data without making prior assumptions. Therefore, it is important to maintain the relevance and validity of data while they are collected.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSome of the data shown in this paper come from 52 Chinese and 89 English articles accessed from online literature databases, such as CNKI, Web of Science, and EBSCO, providing valuable information as to how preservice teachers, including PPETs, perceive their professional identity. The other data come from our semi-structured interviews with 15 PPETs. The details of the interviews are as follows.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Participants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is worth noting that in a grounded theory-based study, an appropriate sample size is determined by data instead of the number of participants. The sample size must be big enough to provide sufficient data for researchers to support their theory. The sample size is measured by theoretical saturation (Strauss \u0026amp; Corbin, 1998). In this case, the sample size depends on whether a new category or relation can be reasonably deduced from the data related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity. If not, then the theoretical model for PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity proposed in this paper is theoretically saturated. Relevant studies have shown that a grounded theory-based study in the field of PE education requires only 10 to 20 participants, (Lowe et al., 2020) which is especially the case with interviews with PPETs. As a result, our interview involving 15 participants is theoretically justified.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Having gained ethical approval, we recruited participants in a random but statistically controlled manner. Participants were selected from different types of universities in varied education levels located in different parts of China (North-East, South-East, North-West and South-West), studying in the final year as an PE undergraduate or a postgraduate, who have interned as a PE teacher before the interview. These requirements ensured that participants involved in our interview would make up a convincing sample. The participants are referred to as No. 1 to No. 15 hereinafter to remain anonymous (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographics for the sample of participants (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;15).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eParts\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eType of University\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducational level\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhether to be a PE teacher after graduation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth-West\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEast\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEast\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth-East\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComprehensive University\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth-West\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth-West\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSports College\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNorth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComprehensive University\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostgraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSouth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComprehensive University\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Interview\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHaving gained ethical approval from the Ethnics Study Committee of the institution we worked for, we asked the participants the following six open-ended questions (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). These questions were selected from the aforementioned literature and were carefully revised with the professional advice from three professors specialized in PE education. Some interviewees were interviewed on the phone and others face-to face, during which the interviewer managed to establish rapport with them at the very beginning to make sure they feel comfortable enough to freely share their ideas and opinions. During the interview, we were able to collect a large amount of data, which greatly facilitated our understanding of how PPETs perceive their professional identity. To help the interviewers relax, we had casual conversations with them over their motives of being a PE teacher, how well they identify with their job as a PE teacher, how well they perform in their professional learning, and how helpful their instructor and intern supervisor are to their PE career. The interview for each interviewer lasted for nearly one hour, which was recorded with their consent, giving us a full and accurate understanding of the participants\u0026rsquo; ideas and opinions, which are significant to our research.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterview Questions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterview Questions\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat\u0026rsquo;s your reason or motive for aiming to be a PE teacher?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat\u0026rsquo;s your reason for identifying(or not identifying)with the profession of PE teachers?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat is your reason for chossing physical education as your major? Please talk about it in detail combining your circumstance.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo you think your major counts a lot in your future career as a PE teacher? Please talk about it combining your studies specifically.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAre you going to be a PE teacher after graduation? Why do (don\u0026rsquo;t) you want to be a PE teacher?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo you feel equal to the job as a PE teacher during your internship? Please talk about it combining your feeling of being a student PE teacher.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3 Data Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter the interview, we transcribed the recorded conversations, stored and managed the transcriptions using Nvivo 12 software. Grounded theory-based coding is comprised of three procedures, namely open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, by which we qualitatively categorized the data in a bottom-up way that helps us to identify the key concepts and their categories (Glaser \u0026amp; Strauss, 1967), enabling us to have a deeper understanding of the theory framework for PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. Some of the data shown in this paper come from literature related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity, while the others come from our semi-structured interviews with PPETs. All these data were processed for coding analysis to determine the key concepts and their categories, providing a comprehensive picture of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. This paper concludes with the factors that influence how PPETs perceive their professional identity and with some suggestions on the training of PPETs in the future.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.1 Open Coding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOpen coding in this paper refers to labeling, conceptualization, and categorization of the raw materials related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity so as to determine the concepts thereof and their categories. To do that, open coding selects and saves relevant content from a large amount of text materials to form nodes that, if connected, reveal PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. These nodes give us a clear view of the key concepts and their categories that form a theory framework for our research.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStep 1: \u003cb\u003eLabeling\u003c/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003econceptualization\u003c/b\u003e. We used open coding to identify 172 labels related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity, and then we analyzed these labels to determine the key subjects and concepts. Guided by the grounded theory, we narrowed down the labels to produce 40 mutually exclusive concepts which reveal the essence of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. These concepts helped us develop the theory model and facilitated our understanding of the collected data (see Tables\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLabeling results.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTagged Labels\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTagged Labels\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProfessional ideal is the key factor of pre-service PE teacher's identity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhysical education professional courses can make pre-service physical education teachers enter the role of teachers quickly.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe State attaches great importance to the health level of adolescents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE95\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eI often get along with students of equal professional level.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMy tutor taught me how to teach students in PE and health class in a professional way\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE96\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMentors can help PPETs and students maintain a good relationship.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe professional identity of college tutors also affects the identity of pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChina's social and cultural environment is increasingly recognizing the profession of physical education teachers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe degree of difficulty of curriculum knowledge in physical education will affect the professional identity of pre-service physical education teachers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE170\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEvaluation of Practicum Tutors as a Key Factor in PPETs' Identities\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eI learned how to present a good personal image in the sports major course in the university.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE171\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePractice schools regularly organize scientific research activities to help pre-service physical education teachers improve their physical education teaching level\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe personal image of physical education teachers is a key factor in shaping the identity of pre-service physical education teachers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eE172\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePPETs' Identity is Influenced by Students' Performance in Class During Internship\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"6\"\u003e(Notes: Reported codes are the conceptual labels applied to the transcribed data. For specific data, see Table A1)\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable 4 Conceptualization results of 172 tagged labels.\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"No\" id=\"Taba\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e172 articles\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e606\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"4\"\u003e(Notes: Articles are the results from the first coding; the participants mean the people referred to the code and the materials mean the interview and literature referred to the code. For specific data, see Table A2.)\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStep 2: \u003cb\u003eCategorization\u003c/b\u003e. We analyzed the 40 concepts and divided them into ten categories, namely anticipation for being a teacher, impressions of PE teachers, social and cultural impacts, personal characters and preferences, curricular knowledge, supervisor\u0026rsquo;s guidance, self-efficacy, internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation. These categories enabled a deeper and more accurate understanding of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity and the development of a comprehensive theory framework for our research (see Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults of categorization of 40 concepts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSubsidiary Categories\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConcepts\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTeacher identity pre-imagination\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD1 Being a PE teacher is an ideal career for pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD12 Pre-service PE teachers think that PE teachers' work is relatively easy and free\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD8 Pre-service PE teachers think PE teachers have a good personal image\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD9 Pre-service PE teachers think that being a PE teacher pays well and is a challenging job\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePractice evaluation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD19 Intership results will affect the professional confidence of pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD38 The evaluation of students during intership will affect the professional beliefs of pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD39 The evaluation of the instructor during the intership will affect the professional confidence of the pre-service PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eD37 Self-evaluation during intership will affect the identity of pre-service physical education teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"3\"\u003e(Notes: For specific data, see Table A3.)\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3.2 Axial Coding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe final procedure of the grounded theory-based coding is axial coding, where we decomposed and reorganized the nodes related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity produced in the open coding procedure so as to extract key concepts and their categories. While doing this, we analyzed and conceptualized PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity to determine the key concepts in the data and their categories, which helped us develop a more convincing and detailed theory framework.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn our analysis, we further divided the ten categories produced in the open coding procedure into three major categories, namely preconcept identity, professional learning identity, and educational practice identity. The preconcept identity covers anticipations for being a teacher, impressions of PE teachers, social and cultural impacts, and personal characters and preferences. Professional learning identity covers curricular knowledge, supervisor\u0026rsquo;s guidance, and self-efficacy. Educational practice identity covers internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation. (See Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults of the main axis coding for 10 categories.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSub-Categories\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSubsidiary Categories\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eB1 Pre-concept identification\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC1 Teacher identity pre-imagination\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC2 Impression of PE teachers\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC3 Social and cultural impact\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC4 Personal character and preference\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eB2 Professional learning identification\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC5 course knowledge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC6 Tutor Guidance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC7 Self-efficacy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eB3 Educational practice identification\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC8 Practice guidance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC9 Practice atmosphere\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eC10 Practice evaluation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.3 Selective Coding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelective coding is used to analyze and compare the relationships between different concepts and their categories related to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity with a view to identifying superordinate categories into which these concepts and categories can be divided. In the selecting coding procedure as the final phase of the grounded theory-based analysis, data is analyzed in accordance with the key concepts and categories. Specifically, data will be associated with the concepts and categories. Memo and other analytical tools are used to make the theory framework more comprehensive. In our research, selective coding helped us to find out the factors that influence PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity, and to develop a theory model to process the complicated and intertwined perceptions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on the raw materials, the ten categorized nodes and three major categories, we narrowed the focus of our research down on a core category -- PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity -- which covers all the other categories, concepts, and labels, providing a comprehensive and holistic picture of our research theme. The core category enables us to develop a theory framework under which we can identify key concepts and patterns, and which justifies our analysis and interpretation of the results.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, this paper contains a large number of data derived from literature and interviews. These data were labeled, conceptualized and categorized in the open coding procedure, producing key subjects and their categories, and these categories were categorized in the axial coding procedure. Finally, the selective coding procedure produced a comprehensive theory framework focused on the core category (PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity), three subcategories (preconcept identify, professional learning identity and educational practice identity), ten categorized nodes, 40 concepts, and 172 labels. This theory framework provides a solid foundation for our analysis and interpretation of the data, enabling us to make better sense of the complicated PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe data collected were labeled, conceptualized, categorized, and finally developed into a theory model through the grounded theory-based analysis. This enabled us to determine the key themes and patterns in the data and have a better understanding of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. This theory model paves the way for related research and provides suggestions for PPETs training in the future.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4 Trustworthiness\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe tested the trustworthiness and saturation of the grounded theory. To ensure the trustworthiness and validity of the coding procedures, we ran a number of tests, including a coding consistency test, to minimize the impact of subjective factors and maximize the confidence in the coding results. In the coding consistency test, we invited two Nvivo12-savvy research assistants to simultaneously code five copies of the data randomly selected from the raw materials. Then we calculated the repetition rates of the five copies and compared them with the original coding repetition rate. This test proved that no other categories and relationships can be identified from the concepts we have shown. In addition, we ran a theoretical saturation test on another five copies of data, which proved that the theory framework is theoretically saturated. As it turns out, these tests have ensured that our coding procedures and the theory framework are trustworthy and valid.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eFrom our analysis of data, we have determined three major categories with regards to PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e): (1) \u003cb\u003epreconcept identity\u003c/b\u003e, (2) \u003cb\u003eprofessional learning identity\u003c/b\u003e, and (3) \u003cb\u003eeducational practice identity\u003c/b\u003e. The three categories present a comprehensive picture of the nuances and complex nature of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity from different dimensions. Each category contains many sub-categories which clarify the key concepts in the data and their categories. These sub-categories provide a new angle for us to understand PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity so that we can better understand the factors that influence their perception.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Preconcept Identity: Affirmation of Pre-concept of being a Teacher\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFlores and Day pointed out that the development of teachers\u0026rsquo; identity begins as a \u0026ldquo;preteaching identity\u0026rdquo;, which means PPETs\u0026rsquo; anticipations for the image of being a teacher (Flores et al., 2006). As PPETs transition their role as a student towards a teacher, they seek to strike a balance in the transitional phase of their role, with affirmation, adjustment and reconstruction of the preconcept of being a teacher (Zhang et al., 2015). The preconcept identity refers to affirmation of preconcept of being a teacher. That is to say, PPETs have developed subconsciousness of working as a teacher, even though they may be unaware of it, before they enter university. The subconsciousness is the basis for development of a professional teacher\u0026rsquo;s identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1.1 Anticipation for the Image of Teachers\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePPETs\u0026rsquo; anticipation for the image of teachers plays an important role in shaping how they perceive their professional identity. As children tend to dream of being a lawyer or a doctor when they grow up, PPETs will often envisage what they will be like working as PE teacher before they enter university. For example, some of them admitted having the stereotyped idea that a PE teacher has to be tall and handsome, and that working as a PE teacher is free and challenging. During our interview, some interviewers said that they would dream of becoming a PE teacher as a child, and that they would imagine the job features, working state, and work content of a PE teacher. That kind of dream has motivated them to pursue a career as a PE teacher, leading to a conclusion that anticipation for the image of being a teacher affects how PPETs perceive their professional identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;I have longed to become a good PE teacher ever since I was little, who can teach teenage students sports skills and health science, helping them develop a lifelong habit of doing exercise, which in turn makes me feel fulfilled.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 3)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1.2 Impression of PE Teachers\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePE teachers in primary and middle schools tend to leave a profound impression on their students, who choose to pursue their career as a PPET. Such an impression, which can be good or bad, can influence their decision to find a job as PPET. PE teachers here also include professional PPET trainers. Many PPETs received training when they were in primary and middle schools and they have been influenced by their trainers. For example, if they were punished by trainers, they would be too afraid to become a PPET. In a word, PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity is influenced by their impression of their PE teachers in primary and middle schools.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;While I was in primary and middle schools, my PE teachers were really earnest. They taught me a lot of sports skills and work-out techniques, as well as health science, from which I have benefited a lot. It was probably during that time that I made up mind to become a PE teacher when I grew up.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 1)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1.3 Social and Cultural Influence\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity is subject to social and cultural factors, such as ideology, network information, and national policies. While in middle and high schools, PPETs have immature personal values prone to the influence of ideology. If they live in a society where PE teachers are thought highly of, they will develop a good preconcept of PE teachers; otherwise, they will have a bad impression of PE teachers (Xu, 2021). In fact, stigma against PE teachers is not uncommonly seen in society (Zhang, 2020). When PPETs enter university, they start to develop their professional identity, which is influenced by their preconcept of PPETs. If their perception of PPETs\u0026rsquo; identity is consistent with their preconcept, they will build their perception on their preconcept. If their perception is different from their preconcept, they will have to tune their perception. If contradictory, they have to reconstruct their preconcept, which is a suffering process (Zhang, 2016).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;In our social and cultural context where PPETs are widely recognized and the government gives top priority to the physical health of teenagers, I have a better chance of pursuing a career as a PPET in the future. However, it is worth noting that many people still hold the traditional belief that all that PE teachers need to do is to teach sports skills, with few challenges to be addressed in their job. But this is a misconception, which makes me feel sorry for it.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 8)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1.4 Personal Characters and Preferences\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity is also subject to their personal characters and preferences. Extravert PPETs tend to make more friends and communicate better with strangers while playing sports, which gives them a head start in job hunting because they often come across as more energetic. Some PPETs have been enthusiastic about doing sports ever since they were a child, longing to become a PE teacher when they grow up. Introvert PPETs, however, may not show as much love for doing sports, which to some extent will hinder the development of their professional identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;I love sports and I am willing to pursue sports as career. I think being a teacher is exciting.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 9)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Professional Learning Identity Enhanced by Academic Studies\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile partially knowing the professional identity of a PE teacher in the preconcept phase, PPETs will receive systematic education after they enter university, which will have an influence on the development of their professional identity. They have to learn public courses and courses on PE theories, PE teaching practice, and sports techniques. Courses on PE theories include exercise anatomy, exercise physiology, exercise health care, school physical education, and sports psychology. PE teaching practice courses include PE teaching simulation, education internship, and education practice. Courses on sports techniques include teaching techniques of basketball, football, volleyball, track and field, and gymnastics. These courses will contribute to the development of their professional identity. Other contributing factors include academic challenges and influences from their counselor and peers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2.1 Curricular Knowledge\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs mentioned before, PPETs have to learn a wide range of lessons in university, including public lessons, lessons on PE theories, lessons on teaching and education, and lessons on sports techniques. These lessons give PPETs a comprehensive glimpse into the PE major and help them adapt to the role of a teacher. For instance, lessons on sports techniques help PPETs acquire a variety of sports techniques. Aside from learning all these techniques, they have to write lesson plans and do teaching simulation. Another example is that lessons on teaching and education help PPETs learn teaching methods and theories and learn from experts specialized in education theories, which will contribute significantly to the development of their professional identity. However. PPETs are also faced with many challenges in their study. If they fail to pass the final exams, their passion for becoming a PE teacher will be dampened. In summary, PPETs must pass all the exams, which is no easy task, before they successfully graduate.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;I felt really upset about the courses for PE majors. We had to learn many courses, each one with a high passing score. I failed some of them, which made me discouraged. I had to study very hard to pass the exams, just like my classmates did. But we have gained a lot of help from these lessons, especially those of us who have chosen to work as a PE teacher. It is safe to say that how well we learn these courses determines how professional we are as a PE teacher.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 1)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2.2 Counselors\u0026rsquo; Guidance\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile PPETs are constantly deconstructing and reconstructing their professional identity, they will be influenced by their counselors\u0026rsquo; professional value, knowledge, and practice capability. Just as teacher educators\u0026rsquo; behavior-shaping role will have a profound influence on how PPETs perceive their professional identity, counselors\u0026rsquo; professional guidance and academic assistance will contribute to the reconstruction of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity, too.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eXie Shuhai argues that PPETs can gain help from their teachers with their professional discourse, teaching practice and teaching theory, which can release PPETs\u0026rsquo; potential and motivate them to become a good PE teacher (Xie \u0026amp; Xiong, 2014). In a word, counselors\u0026rsquo; understanding of PE and their professional capabilities are central to the development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity, leading the fledgling PPETs to become more professionally capable.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;When I was in university, my counselor gave me a lot of help. First, my career orientation changed. At first, I did not want to become a PE teacher because I thought that would be a tiring job, but my counselor told me that PE teachers can help students build up their body, which is really meaningful. Second, I did not think a short person could be a good PE teacher until my counselor told me a PE teacher does not need to be tall to teach students professional skills and health science. You need to have a fine figure and can use standard classroom language.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 6)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2.3 Self-efficacy\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-efficacy is a key concept of social learning theory proposed by a well-known American behaviorist, referring to individuals\u0026rsquo; judgement, faith, confidence, and feelings over whether they can finish a certain task within their capabilities, which means individuals\u0026rsquo; evaluation of their own confidence in finishing a certain task with their skills (Liu \u0026amp; Yin, 2004). The efficacy of PPETs is often influenced by the following factors. First, direct experiences. For example, a successful teaching simulation will boost their self-efficacy, while a failed one will dampen their self-efficacy. Second, vicarious experience or simulation. For example, seeing their peers do a successful teaching simulation will increase their own self-efficacy. Third, verbal persuasion. Encouragement from parents, peers, and counselors will give them confidence in their ability to overcome the challenges arising in their learning and teaching practice, thus increasing their self-efficacy. Fourth, situational context. By repetition of teaching simulation, they will get the hang of it and adapt to teaching environment, which will boost their self-efficacy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;At first, I was afraid of PE teaching practice. I looked far from proficient and I was greatly discouraged. My parents and teachers often encouraged me and they thought I could make it. I think self-efficacy is very important, because it will help me overcome the terror in my heart. While in university, I was engaged in a number of teaching practice activities and became familiarized with teaching procedures and environment. Now I look natural and professional during my teaching practice.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 5)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Education Practice Identity Enhanced During Education Internship\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring education internship, a PPET becomes a more competent teacher, which is the most important phase during the development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity after they enter university. Feimen and Buchmann have shown that young teachers who have just started their job will handle complicated teaching situations using their experience as a student and their intern teaching experience as an undergraduate who has benefited from the advice and guidance from their counselor during their internship in primary and middle schools (Feiman-Nemser et al., 1987). It can be concluded that education practice has had a more profound influence on the development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professionalism and teaching values than their undergraduate learning. During education practice, the development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity is influenced by internship guidance, internship environment, and internship evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3.1 Internship Guidance\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn China, every intern teacher is assigned to a counselor, with whose guidance and support interns will apply what they have learned in university to their teaching practice, developing towards the role of a real teacher during their internship. PPETs as interns will learn from their counselor and solve teaching problems as their counselor does. Counselors have a subtle yet profound influence on shaping interns\u0026rsquo; professionalism. In other words, how counselors demonstrate their professional capacity will play a significant role in shaping how PPETs understand the job of a teacher. For example, if PPETs have a friendly relationship with their counselor during internship, they are more likely to establish a friendly relationship with their students in their own teaching practice. Generally, counselors will help interns establish a positive image as a teacher through instructions on how to design a PE and health lesson and how to carry out teaching activities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;My internship counselor gave me a lot of help, which has made me more determined to become a PE teacher. During my internship, I learned how to design a PE and health lesson, how to adopt appropriate teaching strategies to have good interactions with my students, and how to design PE teaching activities. Thanks to my counselor, I could have effective interactions with my students and give well-designed PE lessons. My internship was a really valuable experience for me.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 7)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;My counselor taught me a lot. He asked me to give lessons for his students. I was nervous at first, but I felt more capable of having interactions with the students and gave a successful lesson thanks to his guidance. I have gained invaluable experience from him.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 3)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3.2 Internship Environment\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducation internship environment refers to a school\u0026rsquo;s physical education atmosphere, teaching communication atmosphere in teaching and research groups, and students\u0026rsquo; learning atmosphere in class. PPETs often experience different internship environments during their internship in primary and middle schools. The physical education atmosphere, teaching communication atmosphere in teaching and research groups, and students\u0026rsquo; learning atmosphere in class will impact intern PPETs\u0026rsquo; understanding of their professional identity. In terms of physical education atmosphere, some schools will hold sports meetings on a regular basis. The atmosphere at the sports meeting will play a positive role in developing PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity. In terms of teaching communication atmosphere, some schools will organize teaching and research activities on a regular basis to improve teaching proficiency, which can also help interns improve their teaching methods, thus contributing to the development of their professional identity. If sexism and traditional culture against women teachers are felt by intern teachers, their understanding of and their commitment to being a PE teacher might be impacted. Students\u0026rsquo; learning atmosphere in class is also central to the development of PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity. If they think students are cooperative in class, they will feel a sense of accomplishment, and they can also reflect on their own teaching process according to the performance and feedback of the students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;The school where I interned holds a sports meeting annually, where students can display their sports talent. During the meeting the school suspends all the lessons to make time for students to have fun while attending sports events. The atmosphere at sprots meetings really made me excited at the thought that I would also be an organizer of such events when I become a PE teacher.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 11)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3.3 Internship Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn China, PE education majors have to work as intern teachers. At the end of their internship, they are required to write a internship report. They have to evaluate their own internship performance and receive evaluations from instructors in primary and middle schools and from their counselor. These evaluations will have a profound influence on PPETs\u0026rsquo; belief in their major and their confidence in becoming a PE teacher in the future.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;My internship thought highly of me, which gave me greater confidence in becoming a PE teacher. The internship evaluation will be included as part of our GPA. I could reflect on my teaching practice during internship.\u0026rdquo; (Participant 14)\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn this study, we used Nvivo 12 software to process data from our interview with 15 PPETs from different types of universities located in different parts of China with a view to finding out what factors influence PPETs\u0026rsquo; perception of their professional identity. This paper responds to three questions: (1) how PPETs perceive PE teachers\u0026rsquo; professional identity before they enter university; (2) how PPETs perceive their professional identity during undergraduate years; and (3) how PPETs perceive their professional identity during education internship. This paper also discusses the relationship between these factors and proposes how to develop PPETs\u0026rsquo; professional identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec25\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Relationships among Three Categories\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of time, pre-conceptual identity, professional learning identity, and educational internship identity together form the various stages of the transformation of pre-service physical education teachers from students to teachers. Pre-conceptual identity refers to the perception of identity as a physical education teacher before entering university. These perceptions may be influenced by the individual's former physical education teacher or by the social and cultural environment. Pre-conceptual identity and professional learning identity are progressive, and if a pre-service physical education teacher does not have a good pre-conceptual identity, they may not prepare to become a physical education teacher after entering university, leading to a lack of effort in professional learning and, ultimately, failure to become a physical education teacher. Professional learning identity and educational internship identity are integrated, and in China, educational internship is part of professional learning.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWithout a good professional learning identity, pre-service physical education teachers will not be able to engage effectively in educational internships. Finally, professional learning identity and educational internship identity also affect pre-conceptual identity and can deconstruct and restructure pre-service physical education teachers' pre-conceptual identities. Some pre-service physical education teachers may have certain subjective assumptions about the occupational image, personal characteristics, and working style of physical education teachers before entering university. However, after professional learning and educational internships, they may find that the working characteristics of physical education teachers are different from their previous fantasies, which will lead to changes in pre-conceptual identity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec26\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.2 The structural system of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition has a scientific theoretical basis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe theories of self-development, social construction, and critical discourse analysis provide a theoretical foundation for constructing the structural system of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition. These three theories provide a framework for constructing a model of pre-service physical education teachers' identity recognition.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe self-development theory suggests that an individual's self-awareness goes through three stages: physiological self, social self, and psychological self. The formation of social and psychological selves is achieved through social norms and interpersonal communication mediated by the media. Through information dissemination and social interaction, individuals continuously improve their understanding of their identity, including their identity as a pre-service physical education teacher. This theory suggests that as pre-service physical education teachers grow, they continuously receive information from the outside world to understand the profession and to perfect their cognitive understanding of physical education teachers. They then form independent identity recognition of physical education teachers, which is matured through social interactions with others.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe social construction theory challenges the traditional essentialist viewpoint and emphasizes the importance of education in shaping and constructing an individual's development. Burr pointed out that the social construction theory advocates a critical attitude towards common knowledge, which is linked to social processes and social behavior (Burr \u0026amp; Mackay, 1997). This theory suggests that individuals should abandon the view of \"identity determinism\" and possess a strong critical consciousness, recognizing that identity is not fixed but formed through an individual's constant social experiences. The change of identity is a discourse construction process, which changes with social changes. People construct their identity recognition through mutual communication. For pre-service physical education teachers, most of them are not born as teachers, and they must go through a process of construction. Physical education teacher educators must realize this and actively help them construct a professional identity recognition. Providing a good internal and external environment for the construction of their professional identity, and enhancing their professional identity consciousness is essential. Critical discourse analysis is a research perspective that views social reality as being constructed by social beliefs, and that reality is a social construction mediated by discourse (Wang, 2008). This theory suggests that the beliefs held by pre-service physical education teachers as teachers can construct their professional identity through discourse, via specific channels. In this process, discourse plays a crucial role. Critical discourse analysis includes three different types of discourse: social discourse, institutional discourse, and personal discourse. Social discourse refers to the media's description of individuals or social groups at the societal level. For instance, various media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, and television describe physical education teachers, some of which are positive and optimistic, such as \"promoters of youth physical and mental health,\" while others are negative, such as \"physically strong but mentally simple.\" Pre-service physical education teachers can be influenced by these discourses, which can unconsciously affect their understanding of the teaching profession and their identity construction. Institutional discourse refers to the government's description of teacher identity, which is closely related to its ideology and usually presents a positive image of the profession. For example, physical education teachers are often described as \"hard-working gardeners\" and \"guardians of youth health,\" and pre-service physical education teachers' individual identity construction can usually be positively guided by institutional discourse. Personal discourse typically refers to the self-narratives of physical education teachers, who often recall their sports training or athletic experiences, and individual discourses often differ.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec27\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Pre-Service Physical Education Teacher Training Should Pay Sufficient Attention to Identity Development\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the past, our education for pre-service physical education teachers has mainly focused on their professional learning in subject knowledge and athletic skills. However, as pointed out by UNESCO, teaching is a profession of learning, and lifelong learning is an essential requirement for teachers to realize their professionalism. In other words, whether the cultivation of pre-service physical education teachers helps future teachers form appropriate role cognitions and basic career commitments to engage in lifelong practice learning is the core issue we should focus on. As European teacher education researcher Korthagen said, the primary goal of teacher education should be to provide pre-service teachers with learning experiences that have identity-building significance (Korthagen \u0026amp; education, 2010). Therefore, pre-service physical education teacher training needs to pay sufficient attention to identity development, mainly through the following four aspects to create a path for cultivating pre-service physical education teacher identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirstly, cultivate pre-service physical education teachers' professional beliefs. Zhao Changmu pointed out that teachers' professional beliefs are their internal spiritual states and inner guidance for carrying out teaching activities, which constitute the core of teachers' professional qualities (Zhao, 2004). It can be seen that teachers' professional beliefs are internal, so cultivating pre-service physical education teachers should understand their inner selves. Before entering university, pre-service physical education teachers have already gained some professional beliefs through their physical education and health classes in primary and secondary schools, and they have preliminary perceptions of the role and tasks of physical education teachers, but these are all external and only vague perceptions of their identity. This sense of identity is fleeting and can change at any time. To cultivate pre-service physical education teachers' professional beliefs, guidance is needed for students who have just entered physical education majors. Excellent physical education teachers from primary and secondary schools can be invited to give them speeches, using real cases to inspire pre-service physical education teachers and encourage them to develop a deep commitment to the cause of physical education from their hearts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecondly, create teaching courses for physical education teachers. Studies suggest that a teacher's professional identity includes three roles: educational expert, subject expert, and teaching expert, with each role having its own emphasis. Among them, the teaching expert role is crucial for cultivating pre-service physical education teachers because a good physical education teacher should know how to teach, rather than just possessing advanced theoretical knowledge. However, the key to constructing the teaching expert role lies in whether pre-service teachers have undergone teaching courses for physical education teachers. Currently, the curriculum for physical education in China places too much emphasis on movement skills and the arrangement of public courses, with very few courses for teacher education. In contrast, some universities in the United States attach great importance to teacher education courses for physical education majors. For example, West Virginia University in the United States has 43.2% of its courses devoted to teacher education for physical education majors (Zhang, 2016). Through a high proportion of teacher education courses, students can delve deeply into the study and research of physical education teaching. Only in this way can pre-service physical education teachers understand students, understand the teaching profession, and construct their professional identity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe creation of a negotiation platform for professional identity recognition is the third approach. The professional identity recognition of pre-service physical education teachers is a process of confirmation, adjustment, or reconstruction based on prior conceptual recognition. Before entering the educational practice, pre-service physical education teachers often expect everything to go according to their own expectations. However, after participating in professional courses and educational internships, they may find that their teaching expectations cannot be applied in actual situations. This process involves continuous negotiation between the reality of the teaching environment and their expectations, requiring a negotiation platform for pre-service physical education teachers. This negotiation platform includes the following two aspects: (1) psychological platform. Many pre-service physical education teachers experience difficult psychological changes in adjusting and reconstructing their recognition of the physical education teacher identity. This requires the physical education major and internship supervisors to provide them with a psychological negotiation platform. (2) Environmental platform. The construction of the physical education teacher identity of pre-service physical education teachers requires a supportive external environment with a positive atmosphere to guide them. For example, experienced mentors should provide a platform for pre-service physical education teachers to communicate, learn, and practice. They should regularly encourage pre-service physical education teachers and help them develop career development plans.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec28\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.4 Limitations and Research Outlook\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOverall, this study shows that professional identity recognition is crucial for the career development of pre-service physical education teachers. However, the sample size of this study is limited, and it is recommended that future research use a larger sample size to validate and expand these findings. In addition, it is also possible to explore the identity recognition of primary and secondary school physical education teachers and university physical education teachers. Such research will provide more comprehensive understanding of the identity recognition situation of pre-service and in-service physical education teachers and provide effective reference information for the cultivation of physical education teachers in the field of physical education.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eA theoretical model of preservice physical education teachers' identity was explored using rooting theory. The results of this research on preservice physical education teachers' identity can help physical education teacher educators, physical education teacher professional training schools, and education departments understand the factors influencing preservice physical education teachers' identity and then take targeted educational measures as a way to help preservice physical education teachers obtain a good identity. Specifically, identity gives preservice physical education teachers an intrinsic symbol of being a professional, and preservice physical education teachers' development is relatively passive throughout their career development, and their perceptions about identity require not only their own efforts but also outside help. This study shows that pre-service physical education teachers' identity is influenced by three main stages, including the pre-conceptual identity stage, professional learning identity stage, and educational internship identity stage, and these three stages contain many different influencing factors. These three stages include many different influencing factors.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors acknowledge the valuable time and insightful feedback provided by all the participants that took part in the grounded theory study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was supported by Establishment of the Anhui Province Scientific Research Project Plan (No. 2022AH050136).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ethics Committee of Anhui Normal University, ID number: AHNU-ET2023002. The researchers obtained informed consent after understanding the purpose, procedure, and voluntary nature. Confidentiality and anonymity have been maintained in the collection and submission of results.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResearch method statement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll research was performed in accordance with relevant regulations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed Consent Statement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrior to data collection, interviewers and experts have been informed of research ethics and protocols.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability Statement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData can be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBeijaard, D., Verloop, N., Vermunt, J. 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On the Beliefs of Teachers. \u003cem\u003eContemporary Education Sciences\u003c/em\u003e(9), 11-14.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"preservice physical education teachers, identity, grounded Theory, China","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003ePurpose\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultivating the professional identity of preservice physical education teachers (PPETs) is crucial for their career development. However, the factors that influence their professional identity are still unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethod\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe reviewed the literature on the identity of PPETs and conducted interviews with 15 PPETs. The data collected was analysed using the grounded theory and Nvivo12.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere are three categories of influencing factors that affect the identity of PPETs: (a) preconcept identify, which contains the anticipation for the image of teachers, impression of PE Teachers, social and cultural influence and personal characters and preferences; (b) professional learning identity, which includes curricular knowledge, counselors\u0026rsquo; guidance and self-efficacy; (c) educational practice identity, which includes internship guidance, internship environment and internship evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis research result can help the education department understand the influencing factors of PPETs' identity and help PPETs obtain a good identity.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Theoretical Model Construction of the Identity of Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers ——Based on the Grounded Theory","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-02-03 09:00:54","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5840367/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a2ba1cfa-543a-4973-8c73-af361fbf39bf","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 3rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":43482352,"name":"Biological sciences/Psychology"},{"id":43482353,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-03T09:00:57+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-02-03 09:00:54","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5840367","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5840367","identity":"rs-5840367","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}