The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the methods documented in the international English literature on teacher education in physical education focusing on journals specializing in the pedagogy of physical education. The data sources were 102 articles appearing in 5 international journals of physical education pedagogy over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. The research methods described in the methods section of each article were categorized according to the research approach, the attributes of the participants, data collection techniques, data analysis methods, and techniques for establishing validity and reliability. The ratios of these categories and the numbers of types of qualitative data collection techniques used in each article were then compared between the first and the latest 5-year periods. The results revealed that qualitative research had been the major research approach in the entire decade. It was also found that the techniques used for qualitative data collection in each article had diversified from 2007, and that articles employing data triangulation techniques had also increased. The proportion of articles describing approaches for establishing reliability and validity relative to that of articles employing qualitative data had also increased significantly from 2007. It was also suggested that articles focusing on elementary school classroom teachers and preservice teachers in general education courses had been relatively limited. Such shifts in research trends might have resulted from developments in theoretical frameworks of methodology. It is suggested that critical future issues in our research field in Japan will include accumulation of exploratory qualitative studies, appropriate application and description of approaches for establishment of reliability and validity, such as triangulation of data, investigators, and methods, and selection of appropriate research methods for specific research themes.