Analysis of improvements in the attitudes of students and their teacher towards body expression and gender stereotypes following a teaching unit on body expression

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse students’ opinions about body expression and their teacher’s perception of the contents of a corresponding unit of work, as well as to investigate the existence of stereotypes about body expression. In total, 66 students and their teacher participated in this study. Participants completed the questionnaire on attitudes towards body expression before and after studying the teaching unit.The results showed significant differences in the degree of satisfaction, enjoyment, and teachers’ consideration expressed by the students after completing the unit of work. It was concluded that the students’ opinions improved after studying the unit focused on body expression, especially since a large proportion of the students had not studied a unit of this nature before. Our results also highlighted the similarity between the opinions expressed by students and their teacher, and at the end of the unit, almost no indications of stereotypical beliefs associated with notions of body expression were evident among the participants.