Optimization Paths for Talent Cultivation in Physical Education Programs from the Perspective of Teacher Education Accreditation in China

Abstract

Drawing on the connotation and requirements of Teacher Education Accreditation in China, this study examines its impact on physical education programs, emphasizing its deep structuring effects on program positioning, training objectives, curriculum design, and practice-based learning systems. It then identifies several persistent challenges in talent cultivation within physical education programs, including overly generalized training objectives, structural imbalance in the curriculum system, the marginalization and postponement of practice teaching, and the formalization of quality assurance into a mere documentation exercise. In response, the paper proposes four pathways for optimization: redefining training objectives, restructuring the curriculum system, integrating practice-based learning throughout the training process, strengthening quality assurance, and making teacher ethics education substantive rather than symbolic. The goal is to promote a shift in physical education talent cultivation from a “technique-oriented sports training model” toward the cultivation of “high-quality physical education teachers,” thereby contributing a morally grounded and professionally competent cohort of physical education teachers to basic education, in support of national strategies for strengthening education, building a strong sporting nation, and advancing Healthy China.