Abstract
Historically, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) have served as invaluable members of institutions of higher education teaching staff dating back to the 1800s. Currently, GTAs teach an estimated 40% of undergraduate courses offered at most major research institutions. The graduate teaching assistantship provides not only financial support for graduate studies but also allows graduate students opportunities to gain valuable and relevant experience as instructors. To date, scant scholarly attention has been paid to examining the organizational culture of graduate academic programs in which GTAs seek to fulfill their instructional tasks and responsibilities (Meyers, 2001). The goal of this research was to examine the organizational culture of a collegiate physical education (CPE) program paying particular attention to the impact of explicit and implicit symbolic messages received by its GTAs as communicated by influential university administrators concerning their role in the overall educational mission of their respective CPE program, academic departments, institution and the greater academic profession in which they were preparing to join upon graduation. Specifically, the research uncovered the participantsˇ¦ perceptions concerning the CPE programˇ¦s ability to effectively provide instructional supervision, socialization, and development processes while preparing their GTAs for future career aspirations.
| Keywords: | graduate teaching assistants, physical education, college teaching |
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