Analysis of the variables related to interest in Physical Education in secondary school students: how to foster it?

Abstract

One of the main goals of Physical Education (PE) is to ensure that children and adolescents acquire physical and sporting habits. The variable interest and, consequently, the enjoyment for PE is related to this objective and, therefore, it is a tool that is of vital interest for teachers of this subject. Therefore, the aims of this study are: (1) to find out students' perceptions of the subject of PE, and (2) to analyse if there are relationships between the enjoyment for PE and different sociodemographic variables related to the perceptions about PE and the students own sporting habits, as well as in their near environment. For this purpose, a questionnaire consisting of different items previously validated in other studies was used. The sample was made by a group of students from the four years of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) in a rural school from Valencia, with a mean age of 13.78 (SD = 1.26) years. The results show that, in general, students have good perceptions of PE, giving this subject considerable importance. In addition, statistically significant relationships were found between the students' enjoyment of PE and their parents' physical-sports practice, the importance given by the students to the subject in the culture of the country, the teacher's behaviour, and their own perceptions to the PE lessons. Therefore, these results may be of interest for PE teachers in order to increase students' interest in these classes and improving their adherence to physical-sports practice.