Association between the hierarchy of physical education goals and preferred profiles of physical education classes among students attending middle and high schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the hierarchy of physical education (PE) goals and preferred profiles of PE classes among adolescent students from public middle and high schools. Participants. A total of 1340 students (50% of each school type), including 50% of girls, participated in the survey study. Materials and methods. Students assessed the validity of PE goals by giving each goal a rank form 1 to 13, and the students also chose the preferred profile of PE classes. Results. The most important PE goal in the opinion of students was to encourage the adoption of active and healthy lifestyles. Students' hierarchy of PE goals differed according to gender and school level. The majority (n = 845, 63%) of students participated in PE for ‘fun – pleasure – entertainment’, whereas only one third of students (n = 419, 31%) preferred the ‘exercise – sweat – fitness’ profile. The likelihood of ‘exercise – sweat – fitness’ preference increased to approximately 56% for boys and 31% for high school students. Conclusions. The theory of PE goals should comply with student’s current preference for participation in physical activity with regard to age and gender. To fully realize the most important PE goals, teachers should organize PE classes in a more fun-related forms for girls and in more exercise-related forms for boys. Moreover, the proportion of this two preferred profiles of PE classes should change by age by increasing exercise-related and decreasing fun-related forms.