ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Teacher Education
This article is part of the Research TopicPhysical Education for Holistic Educational DevelopmentView all 13 articles
Curricular Structure and Pedagogical Approaches in Pre-service Physical Education Teacher Education: A Comparative Case Study of Three Chilean Universities
Provisionally accepted
Francisco Gallardo-Fuentes1,2*
Bastian Carter-Thuillier3,4
Johan Rivas-Valenzuela5
Norma Cardenas-Saldaña3Sebastian Peña-Troncoso6,7Jorge Gallardo-Fuentes8
Luis Añazco-Martinez9- 1Universidad andres bello, Departamento de Salud, Universidad de Los Lagos, Santiago, Chile
- 2Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
- 3Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
- 4Universidad Catolica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile
- 5Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Valparaíso, Chile
- 6Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
- 7Universidad SEK, Santiago, Chile
- 8Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- 9Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile
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Physical Education is recognized as a key discipline within the educational system due to its contribution to students' holistic development across physical, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions. Therefore, Pre-service Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) holds special relevance, as it shapes the pedagogical approach that will guide future teaching practices in the school. The objective of this study was to analyze the curricular structure and pedagogical approach of PETE programs at three Chilean universities. Using a qualitative-descriptive approach, a document analysis was conducted on curricula, graduate profiles, and course syllabi from each institution, considering that these are also key elements evaluated in the accreditation processes of teacher education programs. Grounded Theory supported the analysis, which was systematized using NVivo software through open and axial coding. The information was organized into key categories: subjects, graduate competencies, pedagogical approach, innovation, sociocultural context, and assessment. The results reveal differences in how teacher education is understood. While one university presents a structure focused on technical content, another emphasizes a sociocultural approach, and the third exhibits an innovative orientation with technological integration.
Keywords: Curriculum, Initial Teacher Trainning, initial teacher education, Physicaleducation, pedagogical approach
Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gallardo-Fuentes, Carter-Thuillier, Rivas-Valenzuela, Cardenas-Saldaña, Peña-Troncoso, Gallardo-Fuentes and Añazco-Martinez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Francisco Gallardo-Fuentes, fgallardo@ulagos.cl
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