Differences between students in physical education in teachers’ perceptions: Design of a structural framework based on a quantitative survey of physical education teachers

Abstract

One aim of the project “Schulsport 2020” (number: 01JA1622), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is to support (future) physical education teachers in dealing with student diversity and promoting inclusion in physical education. This paper investigates which differences physical education teachers perceive between students and which of these differences they consider relevant in physical education. For this purpose, existing findings on diversity and differences in physical education were systematised and then, based on this, teachersʼ perceptions of differences between students were surveyed and analyzed within the framework of a questionnaire study with 958 physical education teachers from different types of schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. The respective relevance attributed to 30 items is shown. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 6‑dimensional factor structure. Physical education teachers perceive the following factors, in decreasing relevance, with respect to their students: (1) differences related to personal characteristics (e.g., motivation, self-confidence), (2) special educational needs, (3) physical differences (sex, age), (4) cognitive–linguistic (e.g., intelligence, language comprehension), (5) organizational–structural differences (e.g., affiliation with school sports talent development programs), and (6) sociocultural–economic differences (e.g., culture of origin, socioeconomic status). Overall, the results of this study provide a basis for a systematic framework that can contribute to the sensitization of (future) teachers and to the reflective handling of diversity in physical education.