Professional identity of physical education teacher candidates and the role of mentor teachers

In this research, it was aimed to examine the perceptions of physical education and sports teacher candidates regarding their professional identities during the 12-weeks teaching practice process and to reveal the role played by mentor teachers in this process. It is a qualitative research and designed as a case study. In the research, easily accessible case sampling strategy, one of the purposeful sampling types, was used. 22 volunteer teacher candidates who were studying in the 4th grade of Ankara University's Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching and taking the teaching practice course in the 2022-2023 academic year participated in the research. Observation, interview and document review techniques were used during the data collection process. The data obtained was analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the analysis of the data, three themes emerged. These themes; The professional identity perceptions of physical education and sports teacher candidates, the role of the mentor teacher, problems and suggestions were determined. Teacher candidates' perceptions of their professional identity; They defined teacher approaches in terms of motivation for the profession, duties and responsibilities, and teaching skills and competencies. The roles of mentor teachers in shaping prospective teachers' professional identity perceptions were revealed as the emotional and psychological support they provide, their role as a model, professional development, and communication and sharing. According to the participants' experiences, important points such as insufficient lesson observations, lack of feedback, reflecting personal problems to teacher candidates and not giving sample lessons were identified as the main problems encountered with mentor teachers. The solution suggestions offered by teacher candidates based on their experiences are listed as increasing out-of-school lessons, conducting lesson observations, including more drama and educational games, ensuring the balance of theory and practice, creating a communication course with children, and making university education more practice-oriented.