Schoolchildren’s Thinking on the Subject and Teachers of Physical Education According to Gender and Educational Grade

Abstract

The objective of this study was to understand the perceptions of Primary (PrE) and Secondary Education (SE) students in Cantabria about the subject of physical education (PE) and their teachers. A descriptive, comparative relational analytical cross-sectional design was used. A total of 1164 students (387 from PrE and 777 from SE) answered an ad hoc questionnaire on their satisfaction with their PE classes (eight items) and teachers (nine items). The results indicate that the PrE students were more satisfied than the SE students regarding the following statements about PE: more hours per week (p p p p p p = 0.006). The boys’ responses reflected higher values than the girls’ on all the previous items (p p = 0.006); stimulates and encourages participation (p = 0.050); cares and is interested in the students (p = 0.031); treat boys and girls the same (p p = 0.021). Therefore, the male and primary-stage students showed more positive attitudes towards PE. In general, there was a favorable disposition towards PE and towards teachers, which must be taken into account to achieve SDG 4.

Keywords

• perception
• attitude
• physical education
• primary education
• secondary education