Exploring Principals’ Physical Education Perceptions and Views from Elementary and Middle Schools of Shanghai

Abstract

This study examined the status of principals’ physical education (PE) perceptions, the differences between genderand school-levels of these principals’ PE perceptions; and what they have to say about the opportunities, challengesand solutions on their school PE. Participants were 92 principals (37 Males, 55 Females) from 12 different schooldistricts of Shanghai. The Adapt Principal Perception on PE Questionnaire Chinese Version (APPPEQC.V.) was employedfor data collection; this questionnaire consists of sixteen items with a 5-points Likert like scale. Key data analysestechnich  technique was a 2 x 2 (Gender x School-levels) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Findingsincluded: The principals’ PE perceptions appear to be very positive evident by scored high on the APPPEQC.V. E.g.Item 5, “Without PE in our school curricula, our students will not be fully developed”; Item 11, “Once PE and dailyPA are valued and supported, children will gradually form their active and healthy lifestyle”. The MANOVAdiscovered that: no significant difference in the ‘Gender’ factor; however, significant differences were found in the‘School-levels’ factor: Elementary-school principals scored higher than middle-school principals in 5 items; e.g. Item3, “PE is an academic discipline and just as important as English, Math and Sciences to our students”. Whileprincipals at middle-school scored higher than those of the elementary-school in other 5 items; e.g. Items 14, “Safeenvironment, necessary facilities and equipment is the key for kids to . . .” The challenges, opportunities andsolutions in their school PE do existed and were analyzed and discussed.