BackgroundStudents’ heterogeneity seems to have a special relevance in Physical Education (PE), because of its focus on body and movement. To better prepare (future) PE teachers to deal with this heterogeneity, the following... [ view full abstract ]
Background
Students’ heterogeneity seems to have a special relevance in Physical Education (PE), because of its focus on body and movement. To better prepare (future) PE teachers to deal with this heterogeneity, the following research questions are addressed: (1) Which heterogeneity differences among students are relevant in PE from the point of view of PE teachers and students? (2) What support needs do PE teachers express for dealing with students’ heterogeneity? The study is part of the project "School Sport 2020", which aims at empowering PE teachers to create a sustainable future through supporting heterogeneity.
Methods
Initially, a theoretical framework of possible heterogeneity dimensions and characteristics was developed by reviewing the current state of research (e.g. Gardenswartz & Rowe, 1995). On this foundation individual interviews with 31 PE teachers from various types of schools in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and 16 group interviews with 68 students from grades 7 to 9 were conducted. Additionally, the needs of 858 PE teachers concerning challenges associated with heterogeneity (e.g. Casebolt & Hodge, 2010; Mangope et al., 2013; Morley et al., 2005) were surveyed in an open question of a written questionnaire. The data was analyzed by means of a qualitative content analysis.
Results
The results confirm the high relevance of various differences. In particular, body- and behavioral-oriented heterogeneity differences among students are considered to be of great importance for PE. For dealing with those differences, PE teachers mainly express personnel and knowledge support needs.
Conclusions
Based on the results it appears necessary to further refine the developed heterogeneity dimensions while also considering the subjective construction processes of differences. To address related personnel and knowledge support needs, potentials of multi-professional teams consisting of PE teachers and special education teachers could be explored in future research.
• Empowering practitioners and supporting professional learning , • Transformative learning and teaching in physical education and sports pedagogy
