The professional readiness of student-teachers in physical education in Ukraine's war-torn areas

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. Military conflicts present unique educational challenges and complexities for students specializing in physical education. These conditions can profoundly impact their professional preparedness and alter their educational priorities. Thus, this study aims to assess the level of professional preparedness of physical education student-teachers living in areas of military conflict. Materials and Methods. Three Ukrainian universities contributed students to the study, two from the eastern conflict zones (including Kharkiv) and one from the western shelling-prone area (Ivano-Frankivsk), with a total of 157 participants (61 male, 96 female). The survey 'Level of Professional Preparedness of Physical Education Student-Teachers', containing 39 questions, was used. For statistical analysis, the PyCharm CE development environment and various Python programming language libraries were utilized. Results. Statistical evaluation using the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed notable differences in student responses among the university groups.  Further analysis using the Mann-Whitney test for each pair of universities revealed differences between pairs of groups. However, there are no statistically significant differences between universities 1 and 2 from Kharkiv (war zone). The fewest correct answers were received on the question about the influence of a teacher's professional qualities on the overall growth of a student and the question about the atmosphere for learning. Conclusions. The professional competencies of physical education teachers play an important role in the educational process. It is noted that there is a need to improve teacher training in various aspects, including the impact of their professional qualities on student success.