The Effect of Anxiety for Safety on Teachers-Candidate's Approach to Swimming Education in the Schools

INTRODUCTION: The main objective of swimming education in the schools is to teach children to swim well enough to reduce their risk of drowning. All of the German State Curricula for Primary Schools (16), focus on this goal. AIMS: The aims of this study were to evaluate aims and attitudes of future teachers towards their future engagement in teaching swimming in the primary schools. METHODS: Student teacher-candidates (48) were surveyed for their attitudes and goals regarding their future role as teacher/swimming instructor in the schools. They were surveyed after completing their swimming education during their university teacher training. Their written responses were examined by qualitative content analysis (1). RESULTS: When identifying clusters of the responses, the most common response was a concern for safety during the teaching process. They stressed the avoidance of drowning during teaching. Their recommended assessment process included conducting testing for a 25 meter swim, retrieving an object from shoulder deep water, and jumping from the edge of the pool. CONCLUSIONS: The focus of these teacher candidates seems to reflect a negative attitude expressed as anxiety for a worst-case-scenario. Their responses reflect a lack of self- confidence. Their under-estimation of children in their suggested assessment process suggests lack of confidence in their ability to teach children well enough to raise them to the level of their otherwise normal potential. REFERENCES: [1] Mayring, P. (2016). Einführung in die qualitative Sozialforschung. Eine Anleitung zu qualitativen Denken (6., überarb. Aufl.). Weinheim und Basel: Beltz. [2] Stallman, R. K., Moran Dr, K., Quan, L., & Langendorfer, S. (2017). From swimming skill to water competence: Towards a more inclusive drowning prevention future. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 10(2), 3.