Attitudes of austrian high-school students towards selected aspects of school physical education in light of gender and environmental conditions

Abstract

Problem Statement and Approach. Physical education is a compulsory subject in Austria’s educational system and it makes a major contribution to the general educational process at primary and secondary schools in this country. The main goal of physical education is to support the psychophysical development of school students as well as to introduce them to physical activity in adult life. The aim of the article is to examine the attitudes of Austrian high school students towards selected aspects of physical education at school, such as: the importance of the physical education as a subject, declarations regarding marks obtained in this subject, as well as students' opinions regarding the current number of PE hours and the intention to practice recreational sport after graduation. Material and Methods. In the study, gender and the size of the surveyed students’ place of residence was considered. The study involved 391 high-school students living in a large city and small town in Austria. In the first part of the study, the significance of physical education was examined compared to other subjects using a “scale of values”. In the second part of the study, the aim of which was to examine selected attitudes of students towards physical education, the Attitudes and Behaviours Questionnaire Towards Sports Activity was applied. Results. The results of the author’s research show the great interest of students from both environments, especially boys, in the subject of physical education. The surveyed boys, more often than girls, received very good marks in physical education and would like the number of hours devoted to this subject to be increased. Additionally, the vast majority of respondents from both environments declared their intention to practice sport after completing school education. Conclusions. The research results indicate that the surveyed students have positive attitudes towards school physical education. For this reason, they should be taken into account to better organise and conduct physical education lessons by teachers.