Students' Membership in School Sports Clubs and Their Attitudes Towards Physical Education and Sport in Various Types of Schools

Abstract

Purpose. The paper discusses the influence of students' membership in school sports clubs (SSCs) on their attitudes towards physical education and sport in various types of schools. The aim of the study was to identify the educational effects of school sports clubs. The variables of attitudes towards physical education and sport were compared between SSC members and non-members in various types of schools. Basic procedures. A questionnaire was sent out to 623 randomly selected school sports clubs in Poland. A covering letter explained the purpose and procedure of the test. Correctly filled questionnaires were obtained from 103 school sports clubs. 2704 (1452 from SSC members and 1252 from other students) questionnaires were selected for statistical analysis. The diagnostic questionnaire had been developed by Strzyżewski. Main findings. The results obtained show that the respondents' attitude towards physical education and sport is positive but reluctant. Despite the strength of the cognitive component (cognitive scores were the highest ones), the actual participation of respondents in extracurricular sports activities turned out to be insufficient (low values of behavioral scores). Conclusions. The analysis of attitudes towards physical education among different school students showed that primary school students scored higher than middle school students, and middle school students scored higher than secondary school students in all attitude indexes except for the cognitive component index. The SSC members display more positive attitudes towards physical education and sport than their non-members in all types of schools.