Physical Education Teachers’ Experiences With Remote Instruction During the Initial Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study investigated physical education (PE) teachers’ experiences with remote instruction in the United States during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. PE teachers (n = 4,362) from all 50 states completed a survey identifying their experiences with remote instruction in May, 2020. Survey responses were analyzed by geographic region, district type, and school level. Teachers reported having students submit assignments (51% yes), using video instruction (37% yes), being less effective when instructing remotely (20% yes), and emphasizing student outcomes focused on health-related fitness (32% yes), and physical activity value/enjoyment (43% yes). Access to technology (40% yes) and required student assignments (43% yes) were lowest among teachers from the South. Rural teachers reported the least access to technology (37% yes) and rated themselves as least effective (24% yes). Secondary level teachers reported the highest percentage of required assignments (84% yes). Teachers’ responses identify unique challenges to delivering equitable and effective remote PE instruction.

The Success and Struggles of Physical Education Teachers While Teaching Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…As this is a secondary analysis of data, the survey was designed for professional development (PD) and to gather information to guide resource development. In addition to multiple choice questions that focused on planning for next year (Mercier et al, 2021), the survey included four open-ended questions that were the focus of this research. The open-ended questions focused on teachers' successes, barriers, PD, and concerns.…”

“…Quantitative survey results from this survey have been reported elsewhere (Mercier et al, 2021). Open-ended survey responses constitute the qualitative data for this study.…”

Análisis de propuestas de Educación Física en casa durante la suspensión de clases por la COVID-19 y orientaciones para su diseño en Educación Primaria (Analysis of Physical Education at home proposals during the suspension of face-to-face classes due to

“…Las acciones motrices predominantes presentes en estas propuestas de EF en casa son las acciones motrices individuales en entornos estables centradas en la preparación física de forma individual, a veces en formato de circuito o como retos independientes a superar. Este dato sintoniza con los resultados de encuestas previas pasadas docentes de EF durante la cuarentena por la COVID-19, en las que insistían en el protagonismo que habían tenido los contenidos relacionados con la condición física y la salud (Baena- Morales et al, 2021;Mercier et al, 2021).…”

“…La dimensión lúdica contribuye también a mitigar la monotonía derivada del entorno en el que desarrolla la EF (la propia casa) y de las limitaciones del tipo de acciones motrices propuestas en las experiencias de EF en casa (Jeong & So, 2020). De acuerdo con los resultados de una encuesta en la que participaron más de 4000 docentes estadounidenses, conseguir que el alumnado valore y se divierta haciendo actividad física ha sido uno de los objetivos que han priorizado durante la enseñanza no presencial de EF (Mercier et al, 2021).…”

Primary School Physical Education at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Could Online Teaching Undermine Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Work Engagement?

“…Looking at the highly disrupting situation imposed by the challenge of teaching online PE [27,28], the present study aimed to evaluate whether SE-PE and WE have changed from before to during the lockdown among primary school classroom teachers, hypothesizing that this group of teachers could have been particularly vulnerable to the situation. Within this background, information and communication technologies (ICT) attained high relevance.…”