A Qualitative Investigation of Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Appropriate Instructional Practices in Physical Education

Abstract

Many middle school (MS) students have been exposed to inappropriate instructional practices in physical education (PE). Involvement in and exposure to these inappropriate instructional practices becomes a common occurrence, causing students to believe this is what should take place in their PE class. The purpose of this study was to better understand MS students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward appropriate instructional practices (AIP) in their PE classes. This study generally found from interviews that students perceived dodgeball to be acceptable, that wearing prescribed clothing (school shirt) will earn an easy “A,” and that having captains pick teams in front of the whole class is an appropriate practice for PE class.