Elementary Teachers' Perception of Physical Education as a Separated Subject for Lower-Grade Elementary School Students

This article aims to examine elementary teachers' perceptions of physical education as a separated subject for first and second grades. This study as a qualitative study was conducted by selecting 6 elementary teachers working in the Gyeonggi-Do and Incheon-Si. They were asked to engage in individual in-depth interviews using semi-structured interview questions. The inductive category analysis proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) was conducted. Category analysis was performed through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. To improve the validity of the derived research results, among the strategies suggested by Merriam (1998), peer review and member check were completed. The results of this article were classified into two primary themes such as 'positive perceptions of separating physical education' and 'negative perceptions of separating physical education'. The first primary theme consists of the two sub-themes such as 'health promotion caused by increasing an opportunity to engage in physical activity' and 'developing movement competency through curriculum alignment’. The second primary theme was drawn with three sub-themes such as 'limitation of class environmental aspect', 'burden of preparing and implementing physical education', and' teachers' lack of consensus on the changed policy’. In conclusion, this article suggests the directions of elementary teacher education to successfully settle down physical education separated for lower grades.