Physical Education Teachers’ Reflection about their Learning in Post-Pandemic Era: A Mixed-Method Study

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was twofold: (1) to explain teachers’ perception on the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching physical education and (2) to explore teachers’ reflexivity, including their post-pandemic teaching possibilities. Mixed-methods research with sequential explanatory design was utilized in this study. A number of 41 physical education teachers were recruited to participate in the study. The first phase was a quantitative method designed to collect survey data about the impacts of the pandemic on their teaching. A descriptive statistic was used to analyze the data. The result of the first phase facilitated the development of the second phase focusing on teachers’ reflection on their teaching. Four teachers were selected to participate in in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed thematically assisted by a computer program for qualitative data analysis, namely ATLAS.ti. Result showed that the pandemic had impacted on students’ motivations, teachers’ workload, learning objectives, face-to-face classrooms, learning process, and assessment. It has also been revealed that teachers identified advantages of getting new learning resources and development. These included teachers’ new skills of using technology for learning, increased creativity in teaching, and close collaboration with parents. The study concluded that the pandemic had impacts on the teaching PE as well as student learning. However, they eventually facilitated reflexivity on how PE learning would be in the future.