The Gender and Education of Parents as Factors That Influence Their Views on Physical Education

Abstract

(1) The aim of this paper was to explore the views of primary and secondary school children’s parents on physical education (PE) and to subsequently analyse the differences in their views. The gender of the parent and child was taken into consideration as well as the parents’ levels of education. (2) The research sample consisted of 821 participants 668 of which were female (81.4%) and 153 of which were male (18.6%). The views of the children’s parents were collected through a non-standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four areas (1—attitudes towards the physical education teaching process, 2—physical activity as part of lifestyle, 3—physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic, 4—social capital), with a total of 18 items in the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was analysed using Cronbach’s coefficient reached 0.835. Confirmatory factor analysis was also used to test the predicted factor structure. (3) In general, this research found that parents were more likely to express dissatisfaction if their child was only provided with 2 PE classes per week and would accept an increase in this number. Those parents whose children do not participate in organized physical activities were shown to be unsatisfied with their children’s physical fitness. A more significant limitation of children’s physical activity (PA) was observed among parents with secondary education. Parents with secondary education also feel that their child partaking in PA when they have free time is not so important, whereas parents with a higher level of education feel that it is. (4) Parents expressed positive evaluations of PE and recognized the importance it has in their child’s education. In the questionnaire, questions were related to physical fitness and PA specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic and this research observes the differences in opinions of parents depending on the level of education they attained and the gender of their child.