Primary School Teachers' Attitudes about Difficulties in Physical Education (PE)

The aim of this research was to assess the views of classroom teachers about the difficulties in the implementation of Physical Education and their suggestions for changes. Research was conducted on a sample of 201 primary school teachers from the Osijek-Baranja County in the Republic of Croatia. Two questionnaires were created for this purpose. The first one contained 12 items and was used to assess the views of classroom teachers on the working conditions and their competences as possible causes of difficulties in teaching Physical Education in primary school. The second questionnaire contained 8 items and it assessed desirable changes in working conditions and teacher competences. Basic descriptive parameters (mean, modal value and standard deviation) and percentages were analysed. A connection was determined between the items of each questionnaire using the Pearson correlation coefficient with a level of statistical significance of p=0.05. Research results indicate diverse views of classroom teachers who are mostly influenced by their level of professional education and sports experience. Teachers believe that the poor material conditions and the low social status of this subject are the greatest difficulties in assessing working conditions. Their kinesiology competences are the reason for the most pronounced difficulties in working with children with health conditions and the teachers' fear of the students' injuries in class. Complicated ways of programming and assessment are additional difficulties. The status of classroom teachers, which is not at a satisfactory level, poor material conditions at schools and an unsatisfactory social status of Physical Education are not adequate incentives for teachers to improve the teaching quality and achieve optimal effects in the educational field. Teachers proposed improving the material, working conditions and ensuring daily physical activity for students at school. Furthermore, they proposed quality basic training for teachers and professional seminars with more kinesiology topics which would enhance their competences, change attitudes towards the subject, and increase the teachers' motivation for a successful implementation of Physical Education.