Middle school students’ views about physical education: A comparative study between four European countries (Opiniones de los estudiantes de secundaria sobre la educación física: Un estudio comparado entre cuatro países europeos)

Abstract

Abstract. Comparable and cross-national research is needed to examine students’ views on the role of physical education (PE) in promoting active and healthy lifestyles, particularly in non-English speaking contexts. Thus, the present study aims to investigate and compare the views of middle school students from four European countries towards PE, considering cross-national and gender variables. In this cross-sectional study, 1244 middle school students (635 boys, 609 girls; Mean age = 14.3±0.9 years) from a public secondary school in Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal, answered to a questionnaire about their: (a) PE attitude, (b) PE importance, (c) PE main aim, and (d) perception of competence in PE. ANOVA and Student t-test were used to compare students’ views across countries, and to compare boys’ and girls’ views within each country. Overall, results show that the students’ views towards PE were mainly positive but important differences were found across the students from the four European countries. In all countries, boys have a more positive attitude, gave more importance to PE and perceived themselves as more competent than girls. Regardless of the sociocultural context, this study suggests that there is a cross-national need to further explore the nature of the differences found and increase young girl’s attitudes towards PE. Additionally, more comparative studies are needed with a broad range of sociocultural contexts to assess the extent to which this type of differences is present. 
 Resumen. Se hace necesaria una investigación de carácter comparada e internacional para contrastar las opiniones de los estudiantes sobre el papel de la Educación Física (EF) en la promoción de estilos de vida activos y saludables, particularmente en contextos no anglófonos. Así, el objetivo del estudio fue examinar las opiniones de los estudiantes de secundaria de cuatro países europeos con respecto a la EF, teniendo en cuenta las variables país y género. En este estudio transversal, 1244 estudiantes de secundaria (635 niños; 14.3±0.9 años) de una escuela secundaria pública en Croacia, Lituania, Polonia y Portugal, respondieron a un cuestionario sobre: (a) la actitud, (b) la importancia (c) objetivo principal, y (d) la percepción de competencia en EF. Se aplicaron las pruebas ANOVA y T-de-Student para comparar las opiniones, entre los países, de los estudiantes, y de los niños y las niñas en cada país. En general, los resultados muestran que las opiniones de los estudiantes hacia la EF fueron principalmente positivas, pero se encontraron diferencias importantes entre los estudiantes de los cuatro países. En todos los países, los niños tienen una actitud más positiva, le dan más importancia a la EF y se perciben a sí mismos como más competentes que las niñas. Independientemente del contexto sociocultural, es necesario explorar más la naturaleza de las diferencias encontradas y mejorar las actitudes de las niñas hacia la EF. Además, se necesitan más estudios comparativos con una amplia gama de contextos socioculturales para evaluar en qué grado este tipo de diferencias está presente.

Physical culture for lifelong healthy participation: Expanding the horizon of individual interest and university engagement in physical education in higher education

“…The undergraduate students of CLSU and CAPSU have a keen interest in physical education and actively participate in various school activities. Prior research has indicated that male students exhibit a greater inclination toward physical education, place a higher level of importance on its content, and possess a more favorable attitude toward the subject in comparison to their female counterparts (Sofi et al 2019, Perić et al 2020. Moreover, in accordance with additional scholarly investigations, it has been shown that female students have a greater grasp of conceptual knowledge in the field of physical education when compared to their male counterparts (Thomas & Ti 2021).…”

“…Furthermore, the presence of sex-based barriers and disparities has been widely observed in several contexts, ranging from the integration of physical activities and organized sports to the cultivation of students' engagement in physical education. Multiple research studies have indicated that male students exhibit higher levels of enthusiasm toward physical education in comparison to their female counterparts (Sofi et al 2019, Perić et al 2020. According to empirical research, it has been observed that male students exhibit a higher tendency to engage in team sports, such as basketball, whilst female students demonstrate a greater inclination toward individual sports, such as dancing and exercising (Cowley et al 2021, Cruz 2022, Ricardo et al 2022).…”

Individual Interest of students in Physical Education and School Engagement in fostering Physical Culture inside the campus: The case of two prominent local colleges in Pampanga, Philippines

“…Moreover, issues of inequalities regarding sex have been predominantly evident worldwide, especially when dealing with the interest of students in Physical Education activities being introduced to them (e.g., physical activities and sports events). Grounded on the findings of various scholars, higher interest and positive perception scores toward Physical Education are predominantly evident for males compared to their counterparts (Perić et al, 2020;Sofi, Waseem and Padder, 2019). Additionally, findings exposed that male students are highly more interested and engaged in organized contact sports (e.g., basketball), while female students are more on into individual sports, dancing, and exercise (Cowley et al, 2021;Cruz, 2022;Deaner, Balish and Lombardo, 2016;Pituk and Cagas, 2019;Ricardo et al, 2022).…”

“…Respondents are free to withdraw or to ask for debriefing anytime. give more importance to the content, and have a more positive attitude towards the subject compared to females (Perić et al, 2020;Sofi et al, 2019). Contrastingly, based on other published scholarly papers, it was found that conceptual knowledge in Physical Education is higher for female students compared to males (Thomas and Ti, 2021).…”

The Nexus between individual interest and school engagement in bolstering Physical Culture for a habitual healthy régime: a case of a state university

“…These findings run counter to a number of scholarly publications in which the scholars emphasize the different ways in which students' interests are piqued when gender is being talked about. Research found that male students are more enthusiastic about PE, place more value on the subject matter, and view it in a positive light than female students [66,67]. To the contrary, previous research in the academic literature reveals that female students have a deeper conceptual understanding of physical education than male students [68].…”