What’s Going on in Physical Education Classes in Turkey? An Insight into Student Attitude Towards Physical Education, Curricular Issues and School Conditions

Abstract

Purpose: Delivering a quality PE class where factors leading to negative experiences are eliminated and student attitude is kept positive plays a crucial role in their involvement of physical activity. The purpose of this study is to understand what kind of experiences and feelings students have lived through in the physical education classes in Turkey; and whether and how some of the identified factors in the literature- ability, gender and curriculum- and potential other factors interplay to one another. Method: The participants of the study were 196 student teachers of varying subject areas (receiving teaching certificate courses in the department of education) who were enrolled in a large-scale university located in one of the large metropolitan cities in Turkey. The study was in descriptive survey methodology; and the data were collected through semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire (n= 196) designed to understand the processes, experiences, the associated feelings in PE classes back in their high and/or middle school years as well as current state of PE classes.  Results: Inductive thematic analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the participants have negative experiences in PE classes in their middle school and high school years. The findings indicate that teaching style of the instructor, curriculum and school infrastructure were the main determinants of student attitude towards physical education classes. Conclusion: It seems that PE class experience is not a joy but a burden for the majority of the participants mostly due to certain external and manipulable conditions.

Keywords: Physical education, gender-segregation, attitude towards PE, teaching style, PE curriculum development