Administrators’ Attitude towards the Implementation of Physical Education in Selangor Primary Schools

Abstract

Despite considerable investments in transforming the physical education (PE) curriculum and improving PE quality in primary schools, reports indicate that quality implementation is mostly impeded by systemic barriers, especially at the administrative level. It is suggested that the vision of propelling quality PE is in the hands of administrators, especially principals. However, this role has been previously overlooked. This study explores the principals’ attitude towards PE implementation, specifically by examining four implementation domains: a) supervision and monitoring (S&M); b) professional development (PD); c) support & allocation (S&A); and d) resource and curriculum (R&C). Seven personal variables (e.g., gender, years of teaching experience, working experience as a principal, type of school, academic qualification, professional qualification, physical activity level) were used to compare attitudes among groups across implementation domains. The ratio of 3:1:1 stratified random sampling was carried out to determine the sample size of 250 schools out of a total of 372 schools from five randomly selected districts in Selangor. Descriptive statistics showed that administrators generally had a low positive attitude towards the implementation of PE (mean= 3.88, SD= .604) but still being in a favourable range. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the attitude in carrying out PE implementation was significantly different (p < .05) among personal variable groups: a) type of schools; b) academic qualification; c) professional qualification; and d) physical level activity. The school leaders’ attitude towards PE implementation may be dependent on the investigated variables which influence the development and sustainability of quality PE programme.