Introduction

The context and purpose of physical education (PE) teaching can be considered unique because it takes place in very different locations such as sport fields, gyms, classrooms, swimming pools and other places. Moreover, the content taught is situated within a specific context, connected to various fields of knowledge including psychology, sociology, physiology, and more. Additionally, these contents are influenced by social practices that serve as points of reference [1].

According to [2], the objective of PE teaching is to bring about targeted transformations in students, for which the PE teacher prepares environments conducive to learning. The effective preparation of spatiotemporal and material setups lies at the core of their professional activity [3]. Emphasize the significance of temporal and spatial organization as a foundation for lessons. The dynamics of social interactions within the classroom are influenced by the physical layout. The architectural configuration, spatial arrangement of students, and presence of objects can shape the nature of activities conducted in the class. Increasingly, classroom management is recognized as a central aspect of a teacher’s effectiveness [4]. Class management competence is a complex and multidimensional activity [5.6] asserts that classroom management strongly influences academic success by optimizing learning time and ensuring the smooth functioning of educational activities [7]. Suggests that adopting professional routines and identifying their characteristics are essential for teachers seeking a reflective approach to class management. Once established and successful, these routines enable teachers to focus their attention on constructing knowledge with their students. In their work, [8] as well as [9] argue that improvisation is a form of “creative action” and advocate for training in improvisation or adaptive approaches to deal with unexpected situations, as proposed by [10]. These authors contend that teachers should prioritize adaptability, adjustment, and evaluation during professional action, while addressing the essential aspects of teaching situations, rather than solely relying on comprehensive planning. The role of a PE teacher encompasses both didactic and pedagogical objectives [11-15]. It involves building knowledge and skills among students, as well as managing and organizing the class. Coordination and complementarity between these two objectives are essential [15]. In addition to pedagogical and didactic management, interpersonal proxemics management during practical sessions [16] and the display of the PE teacher’s emotions [17] are also important considerations. The PE teacher’s body becomes a means of conveying information during interactions with students. Effective communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is crucial for facilitating student learning [18,19] highlights that, apart from improving students’ motor skills through physical contact, PE teachers also influence the students’ development based on complex spatiotemporal configurations that influence interpersonal categorizations. The perception of distance in the teaching environment involves not only Euclidean distance but also factors like body orientation and gaze orientation, which collectively contribute to the notion of didactic distance [20,21].

The educational environment, characterized by interpersonal interactions, fosters the emergence and development of emotions [22,23]. Emotions are integral to teaching practice [24], influencing learning processes and interpersonal relationships [22-25] regard emotions as the hidden facet of the didactic triangle, acknowledging that both positive and negative emotions respectively facilitate or hinder learning [22] and impact the development of interpersonal relationships [23]. Several authors [22-30] affirm that teachers’ emotions influence students’ outcomes [31]. Emphasizes the importance of authentic presence in teaching, where the cognitive, affective, and bodily aspects of the teacher are articulated and practically manifested to oneself and others [29]. Confirms that effective management of teachers’ and students’ emotions promotes a positive learning climate, captures students’ attention, fosters their engagement, manages their behaviour, and enhances their understanding of the subject matter. Numerous studies [32-38] have explored the emotional dynamics of teachers in the field of physical education, underscoring the pervasive and dynamic nature of emotions and their role in shaping teachers’ daily professional actions [37]. Confirm that PE lessons provide a favourable environment for the emergence, development, and exchange of positive and negative emotions between teachers and students. Physical engagement in PE classes often heightens emotions, making them an important consideration during teaching sessions.

According to the framework presented regarding the professional role of PE teachers, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the level of professional experience can serve as a differentiating factor in teaching quality. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the impact of professional experience on the teaching practices of Tunisian PE teachers during gymnastics sessions. The research aims to elucidate the disparities in teaching practices among experienced teachers, beginners, and trainee students.

Material & Methods

Participants

A total of 30 participants were recruited for the experiment. Ten experienced teachers(5 men and 5 women whose teaching experience ranged between 12 and 30 years; mean experience 21years ± 9years) constituted the first research group (ET - experienced teachers). Ten newly appointed teachers (5 men and 5 women whose seniority ranged between 3 and 5 years; mean experience 4 years± 1year) constituted the second research group (BT - beginner teachers). Ten student trainees (5 men and 5 women) in the initial phase of their training to become teachers constituted the third research group (ST -student trainees). ST participants were at the end of their academic training, in the third year of a fundamental license in physical education and they participate at a pedagogical internship within secondary establishments with a rate of two practical sessions per week. Participation in the research was voluntary, and all participants were provided with prior information regarding the research framework and conditions.

Study procedures

To achieve the research objective, two investigative techniques were employed: 1) video recording of PE sessions and 2) self-confrontation interviews [39].

Video recording of PE sessions was conducted, with each teacher being recorded during two sessions. The sessions were filmed during the second term of the school year. The Tunisian education system divides the school year into three trimesters. The second trimester is during the months of January, February and March. The average duration of each session was 55 minutes. The teachers’ interactions were captured on video in situ using three digital cameras. One camera (Go Pro 4, 1080 x 60), was attached to the teacher’s head, allowing for unrestricted movement and capturing all verbal communications and targeted angles. A second camera (CISCO Flip video, 1280 x 720), operated by the researcher, followed the teacher’s movements from a respectful distance, capturing wide shots of all the teacher’s interactions with the students. The third camera(Canon Digital IXUS 100 IS, 1280 x720), mounted on tripods in a corner of the gymnasium, provided wide framing shots, ensuring continuous visibility of the teacher and all the students.

Self-confrontation interviews were conducted immediately after the practical session to document the teacher’s pre-reflective experience [40]. A laptop computer and a video projector were utilized to view the recorded lesson. A tape recorder was used to audio record the post-lesson interviews. The playback of the videotape could be paused, advanced, or rewound at any time, as requested by the teacher or the researcher. The teacher was engaged in a semi-structured dialogue, prompted by open-ended questions based on the video, to explain their actions, thoughts, considerations, perceptions, and feelings during the session [41], without seeking justifications, the teacher expresses himself freely and he justifies himself by explaining his gestures his emotions his placement and movement without asking him.

Data collection and statistical analysis

The self-confrontation interviews were transcribed. The practical sessions were transcribed in a two-part table, with the first part focusing on the actions of the teacher and students, and the second part containing the verbatim of the teacher. Next, the written lesson plans were analysed, and a comparison was made between their content and the actual teaching content implemented in the field. Finally, the Mb ruler pro-5.1, software developed by Markus Bader, which is a tool for measuring distances on video and images, was used to measure the interpersonal distance according to the different placements of the teacher in relation to the student during four separated moments of intervention: 1) explanation, 2) demonstration, 3) correction, 4) observation.

In a second step, we submitted the verbatim of the recordings as well as the answers of the self-confrontation interviews to the technique of content analysis in the form of grids. We calculate the times when teachers, for example, have changed the grouping of students or they have moved equipment. The grids contained the pedagogical, didactic, and emotional managements according to the seniority of the teacher. Pedagogical management refers to: handing of pedagogical material, student training, and breach of the social contract, student motivation and security measures. Didactic managements refer to: presentation and explanation of stains, didactic regulation, technical didactic regulation, breach on didactic contract, demonstration, handing didactic material. Simulated emotional management refers to: postures, gestures, mimics, voice prosody, and dry language.

In the last step, we submitted the collected data to statistical processing using the SPSS software where we applied the square K test and we also used the calculation of the percentages for welldetermined data, as well as the calculation of the average for the interpersonal distances. We also calculated the success rates of the sessions (session success percentages) with the following formula (rule of three): Session success rate= (Number of students who have achieved the objective of the lesson) ×100)/ (Total number of students per class).A successful student is a student who has fulfilled the success criteria of the reference situation, which directly relates to the objective of the practical session. The teacher is responsible for evaluating the success of the student since he set the criteria for success.

A detailed framework of the procedures and data collection is shown in (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Detail of the procedures and data collection. Please change the term regularity by the expression components of pedagogical, didactic and emotional management in figure 1.

Results

The data analysis allowed to present the results dividing in 4 main areas: I. Pedagogical and didactic management; II. Management of mobility and travel according to professional seniority; III. Management of simulated emotions according to professional seniority during gymnastics sessions; IV. Success rate of the sessions according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher. Specifically, the first and the second areas were constituted by I.1. Pedagogical and I.2. Didactic management according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher and by II.1. Didactic distance according to professional seniority and II.2. Mobility of the PE teacher according to professional seniority, respectively.

Pedagogical and didactic management

Pedagogical management according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher

We have eliminated the term regularities and replaced it with the term management components

The regularities of interventions are considered the acts and tasks that the PE teacher does on a regular and unavoidable basis several times in each session for pedagogical and didactic management. The pedagogical management is made up of: 1) handing of pedagogical material; 2) student training; 3) breach of the social contract; 4) student motivation; 5) security measures.

Pedagogical management	P-value
Handing of pedagogical material	.41
Student training	.68
Breach of the social contract	.48
Student motivation	.193
Security measures	.34

Table 1: Pedagogical management vs professional seniority

Interpretations: according to Table 1, there are no significant differences between the pedagogical management and the professional seniority of the practitioner. All teachers, including trainee students, use the same components of pedagogical management.

To better explain the influence of professional seniority on pedagogical management, we have calculated the average and the standard deviation

Research group	ET		BT		ST
Pedagogical management	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation
Handing of pedagogical material	14,3	8,63	14,9	9,13	27	13,87
Student training	26	9,72	32,2	11,67	26,8	10,00
Breach of the social contract	17	11,62	27,7	40,71	38,9	34,64
Student motivation	36,6	18,32	39,2	17,20	53,8	29,88
Security measures	13	8,91	10,7	5,96	6,2	5,25

Table 2: Average and standard deviation of pedagogical management vs professional seniority

To better explain the influence of professional seniority on the pedagogical management, we have subjected the latter to percentages. The results are schematized by the following (figure 2).

 

Figure 2: Pedagogical management according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher

According to figure 2, the trainee student manipulates and moves the teaching material more, which shows poor management of space. It also changes the groupings and arrangements of the students a little more. These changes take time to the detriment of learning time, which directly reduces the student’s motor engagement time. He motivates learners more, therefore, he seeks to improve his relationship with the student and encourages him to work. On the other hand, it makes the workplace and the student less secure and it is a weak point to be reinforced to avoid accidents during practice, especially when gymnastics is the activity taught. The trainee student is concerned about the safety of the student, just, under the influence of the recommendations of the educational supervisors. It should also be mentioned that the trainee student is the most confronted with the breach of the social contract, which reveals problems of class control and authority. Thus, the trainee student does not manage to control the students, as a solution, he seeks to change the placement of the teaching materials and that of the student. He seeks to improve and manage his relationship with the student well by motivating him and acting on the work environment. The trainee student takes more time and provides more effort during the pedagogical management.

On the other hand, the experienced teacher and the beginner teacher provide less effort for the same components of pedagogical management except for the security measures which remain a priority during a practical session. The beginner teacher prefers to put the materials in parallel with the warm-up of the students so as not to waste time and to be able to continue the learning content.

The experienced teacher is more strategist. He sets rules of life from the start of the school year. For the sessions, he plans in advance the organization of the teaching materials and the distribution of the grouping of the pupils so once on site he does not take enough time for the teaching management.

TRAInEE STuDEnT	BEGInnER TEAChER	ExPERIEnCED TEAChER
The first sessions are the most difficult. At the beginning, you can’t help but take time to manage the class. If the teacher in each situation changes the material and the arrangement of the students, he will be disturbed and the students too. So each time he will waste time and he will not be able to complete the scheduled content.	As the students work I place the material and the workshops are prepared so I do not find any problem with the time. If you waste a lot of time managing the class and organizing it, you may not be able to execute the situations and give them the time they need.	For class management, it is necessary to give more time at the beginning of the year, to establish rules of life thereafter, it is done gradually, it is necessary to choose the organization of the material and the arrangement of the pupils before the session. More you manage to manage the class properly in addition to the time deprived automatically.

Table 3: Testimonies of participants in the course of self-confrontation interviews and viewing of videotapes for the pedagogical management of practical sessions

Didactic management according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher

The didactic management is made up of: 1)presentation and explanation of stains; 2)didactic regulation; 3)technical didactic regulation; 4)breach on didactic contract; 5)demonstration; 6)handing didactic material

We submitted our results to the square K test, table 3 summarizes the results obtained

Didactic management	P- value
Presentation and explanation of stains	.13
Didactic regulation	.00
Technical didactic regulation	.19
Breach on didactic contract	.27
Demonstration	.15
Handing didactic material	.22

Table 4: Didactic management vs professional seniority

Interpretations: according to Table 4, there are no significant differences between the didactic management and the professional seniority of the practitioner except at the level of didactic regulation. All teachers, including trainee students, use the same components of didactic management. While for the didactic regulation is used differently between the participants.

To better explain the influence of professional seniority on the didactic management, we have calculated the average and the standard deviation.

Research group	ET		BT		ST
Didactic management	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation
Presentation and explanation of stains	309,00	130,21	332,60	123,02	236,10	73,64
Didactic regulation	4,40	3,47	1,60	1,71	0,30	0,67
Technical didactic regulation	332,00	159,55	239,50	97,83	112,00	41,93
Breach on didactic contract	18,40	7,40	26,80	12,66	121,30	56,24
Demonstration	85,70	24,33	73,00	30,06	63,10	19,21
Handing didactic material	0,80	0,92	1,33	1,00	2,00	0,00

Table 5: Average and standard deviation of didactic management vs professional seniority

To better explain the influence of professional seniority on the didactic management, we have subjected the latter to percentages. The results are schematized by the following (Figure 3).

 

Figure 3: Didactic management according to professional seniority

According to figure 3, the trainee student does not present and explain the tasks enough, he rarely regulates didactically and corrects little technically and he does not invest too much in the demonstration of technical gestures which can be explained either by an inability to reproduce the technical gesture or by ignorance of the importance of the demonstration of the gesture and its impact on the student during the act of teaching. Automatically thereafter, he is confronted with the breach of the didactic contract in an abundant way. This problem can be caused mainly by two reasons, either by a lack of theoretical preparation which induces a non-lucid presentation of the learning content, or that it presents a learning content not adapted to the levels of the students. So, the trainee student, for lack of experience and good planning, does not yet manage to pass on the information properly to the student, he does not explain precisely the task to be learned, he almost does not improvise in along the way and he does not make enough technical didactic adjustments, he limits himself to what he has already planned. He believes that he has taken everything into consideration during the theoretical preparation of the lesson and he has identified all the details of the learning situation and he does not adapt to the reality of teaching practice.

On the other hand, he is often helped by didactic material (media sheet, overhead projector) as a support for explaining the learning content. This does not replace the physical intervention and the verbal and non-verbal communication of the actor during the teaching practice. On the didactic level, the efforts of the student trainee are misdirected and not measured out, he gets stuck by becoming more and more attached to his initial theoretical planning and he is confronted with an embarrassing and uncomfortable situation. Loss of the speaker’s energy without improving the student’s performance.

On the other hand, the experienced teacher brings more technical regulations and didactic adjustments. He physically

demonstrates more technical gestures during educational interventions for the explanation and correction of stains. The experienced teacher plays more on the quality than on the quantity of intervention.

It should also be noted that the percentages of the components of didactic management, of the beginner teacher, swing to approach, sometimes, those of the experienced teacher, sometimes, of the trainee student and even exceed them by time. The beginner teacher is halfway there.

TRAInEE STuDEnT	BEGInnER TEAChER	ExPERIEnCED TEAChER
I worked with groups of levels I planned everything. the sheet is prepared on bases, the level of the class, the number, situations adapted to the physical and cognitive levels of the pupils, as long as the content of the sheet is adapted with the capacities of the pupils I content to apply it, uh, there the students don’t take the initiative to try the boys are undisciplined and the girls are too weak physically.	We must integrate the spirit of the sequence. the student is not graded on a single element but the whole sequence. For the creative side, I let them choose the technical elements and the connecting elements, their order, of course by executing correctly. a time for the review of the sequence and they go one by one to perform the sequence and see the integration of the wheel in this sequence.	Only ten repetitions left, it’s time for the reminder, to integrate the element of the session into the sequence. I work on the memorization of the sequence. Since my first years of the career, I felt, when leading the session, we focus more on the technique of gestures and when we passed the test, the student gets stuck or is the sequence? If not, I find it very difficult and the students do not coordinate the movements and remain weak, so from the start you have to link everything

Table 6: Testimonies of participants in the course of self-confrontation interviews and viewing of videotapes for the didactic management of gymnastics sessions.

Management of mobility and travel according to professional seniority

Didactic distance according to professional seniority

The average distances observed during the gymnastics sessions to the detriment of the seniority of the teacher are schematized by the following (figure 4).

 

Figure 4: Proxemics’ categorization according to professional seniority during gymnastics sessions

According to figure 4, teachers and student trainees use the same proxemics ’categorizations during practical sessions. The participants in this experiment stand at a great distance from their pupils when observing the progress of the work (on average 394cm). This distance decreases during the explanation (on average by 229cm) and the demonstration (on average by 137cm) to allow the students to listen well and see the teacher well. This distance decreases further during correction (on average 71cm), for experienced teachers this distance narrows until they have the opportunity to correct the student through physical contact and touch. On the other hand, the trainee students correct more from afar than the participating teachers in our study, which is not approved in PE, while they demonstrate more from afar than the other teachers, something that remains an adviser for the visibility of the technical gesture for all the class. When explaining the spots, the participants in our experiment explain from a distance with a difference of half a meter for the student trainees. It should also be noted that the experienced teacher exceeds the average values while the trainee student is far from reaching these averages. On the other hand, the beginner teacher remains the closest to the average measures.

Mobility of the PE teacher according to professional seniority

The mobility of the participants in this study, during the gymnastics sessions, was subjected to the percentages the results are schematized by the following (figure 5)

 

Figure 5: PE teacher mobility according to professional seniority during gymnastics sessions

According to figure 5, the trainee student is more than twice mobile than the beginner teacher and more than four times than the experienced teacher. The trainee student explains his mobility for two reasons, on the one hand, to dissipate and relieve his negative emotional charge, on the other hand, to influence the students through his physical presence. While the mobility of the beginner teacher is twice the mobility of the experienced teacher. The beginner teacher gives a lot of importance to the safety of the student and he anticipates so as not to have accidents.

On the other hand, the experienced teacher limits his movements to let the student act, he makes him responsible, he moves away without losing sight of the whole class and without neglecting safety during the practical session. Once again, the trainee student dissipates his energy by tiring physical effort to control himself and influence the students.

Table 7: Testimonies of participants in the course of the self-confrontation interview for the management of mobility and movement during gymnastics sessions.

Management of simulated emotions according to professional seniority during gymnastics sessions

We submitted the simulated emotional reactions of the participants in our study to the square k test the results are schematized by the following table

Simulated emotional	P-value
Postures	.279
Gestures	.139
Mimics	.156
Voice prosody	.237
Dry language	.115

Table 8: Simulated emotional reactions professional seniority

Interpretations: According to Table 8, there are no significant differences between the simulated emotional attitudes of the teachers participating in our study, including the trainee students, during their teaching practice and the teacher’s experience. So, all teachers mobilize their emotions in the classroom to influence student performance.

To better explain the influence of professional seniority on the simulated emotional management, we have calculated the average and the standard deviation

Research group	ET		BT		ST
Simulated emotional	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation	Average	Standard deviation
Postures	38,40	11,15	26,70	9,99	5,10	1,20
Gestures	46,10	13,43	24,40	11,79	6,20	2,74
Mimics	36,20	11,22	26,40	11,73	6,40	2,63
Voice prosody	58,40	17,42	35,70	16,77	6,20	2,44
Dry language	40,50	12,25	20,80	99,6	4,70	2,41

Table 9: Average and standard deviation of simulated emotional vs professional seniority

The simulated emotional expressions, by teachers and student trainees, to mark their positions in relation to their students during the gymnastics sessions, were subjected to the percentages. The results are schematized by the following (figure 6).

Figure 6: Management of simulated emotions by teachers and student trainees during gymnastics sessions

According to figure 6, participants in this study mobilize their emotions during teaching practice, but at different percentages. The experienced teacher exploits the simulated emotions more during the course of his intervention followed by the beginner teacher. All teachers mobilize emotions to renew didactic and social contracts and achieve success on the motor and relational levels. Emotions are harnessed to foster a positive lesson dynamic. This staging of the teacher’s emotions touches and influences the students. The experienced teacher set up more scenarios using oral, bodily and facial expressions to influence the student.

The beginner teacher puts on scenes to influence the student and sends his position to the whole class. He learned how to play with his emotions to have a climate conducive to learning. The beginner teacher follows in the footsteps of the experienced teacher.

On the other hand, the trainee student scores the lowest percentages for the exploitation of simulated emotions during PE sessions. The trainee student does not yet know how to play with his emotions. He uses, most of the time, real emotions by putting more energy and he is morally exhausted.

TRAInEE STuDEnT	BEGInnER TEAChER	ExPERIEnCED TEAChER
When I encourage the student who has worked well, I feel more motivated and when a student hangs around, I change my attitude with him, he resumes work, it’s a way of encouraging students, I’m spontaneous, I express from what I see, I express my own emotions.	there, for this girl who left the workshop, without permission, to go to the locker room, really I wasn’t angry with her but it’s just so that it doesn’t happen again and it’s a signal for the others, a kind of cinema, you see, but just to mark the point.	This student fails to roll forward,  I tried to influence and intimidate him at the same time I encouraged him too, sometimes I pretend that I am satisfied, other times I show him that I am angry, without me being it really, and that’s it. There are a few disruptive elements in this class, every time I call for order and organization most of the time I pretend to be angry, I often remind them of my age I play on this side to let them calm down and get to work believe me it works.

Table 10: Testimonies of participants in the course of self-confrontation interviews and viewing of videotapes for the management of simulated emotions of gymnastics sessions:

Success rate of the sessions according to the professional seniority of the PE teacher

We have calculated the percentages of success of the recorded gymnastics sessions, the results are schematized by the following histogram:

 

Figure7: Average success rate for achieving the operational objective to the detriment of the professional seniority of the PE teacher

According figure 7 we notice that the experienced teacher marks the greatest average of success in achieving the operational objective followed by the beginner teacher while the trainee student marks the lowest average.

Teachers succeed in their session by leading students to achieve the operational objective of the session. The beginner teacher focuses more on the content to be taught and on what he can modify to make his session successful. While the experienced teacher remains focused on the student’s ability to succeed. On the other hand, the trainee student remains stuck to his initial planning and refuses to adapt to the reality of the class, therefore the operational objective of the session will not be achieved.

TRAInEE STuDEnT	BEGInnER TEAChER	ExPERIEnCED TEAChER
The idea is to follow the educational sheet to the letter because we have a program that we did following a competition session. I do not know what went wrong and where exactly except that the students do not reach I do not understand and it annoys me after all this effort.	In gymnastics it is not as easy as that. There are students who are even afraid to try so if half the class succeeds I would be satisfied but of course I try to do better, we work with human beings so we cannot predict everything about their reactions. Fortunately, we have the chance to modify the learning content and help the student to succeed even through motivation.	I will always be up to the individual and collective qualities of the students, I work according to their availability, I invest myself selectively, I do what is necessary when it is necessary. Just detect the problem and I intervene quickly. From experience I know well the abilities of the students. I know if a student will succeed or not so I don’t waste time.

Table 11: Testimonials from participants in the course of the self-confrontation interview and the viewing of videotapes for the success of achieving the operational objective to the detriment of professional seniority