Evidence Based Critical Thinking in Pre-Service Physical Education Teacher Education

Abstract

Critical thinking in physical education (PE) teacher education is often described as a general graduate attribute, yet such wording does not specify what a prospective teacher must actually do when movement, safety, inclusion, and limited lesson time create competing demands. This conceptual study synthesizes two author manuscripts, national policy documents, foundational critical-thinking scholarship, and recent international research published through 2026. Qualitative content analysis and pedagogical modelling were used to construct a profession-specific framework. The resulting Evidence-to-Action Cycle comprises five recursive operations: defining a professional problem, collecting and checking evidence, comparing alternatives against explicit criteria, testing a decision in action, and reflecting for self-correction. The framework links cognitive skills with dispositions and observable teaching performance. It is operationalized through problem-based tasks, case analysis, tactical games, video-supported microteaching, peer assessment, and reflective records. A four-level analytic rubric is proposed to evaluate reasoning quality without confusing verbal fluency with professional competence. The study argues that critical thinking becomes educationally meaningful in PE only when a decision is both reasoned and embodied: it must be justified in language, tested through safe pedagogical action, and revised when learner or performance evidence contradicts the initial judgment. The framework offers an empirically testable basis for curriculum design and doctoral research in pre-service PE teacher education.