Teachers’ perceptions and self-reported practices regarding teaching personal and social skills in primary physical education: A survey study

Personal and social development constitutes an important goal of physical education (PE) curricula worldwide. PE teachers aiming to implement the intended personal and social development goals may benefit from employing specific teaching strategies such as encouraging peer collaboration and creating opportunities to take on different responsibilities. In the Netherlands, PE teachers are encouraged to facilitate opportunities for children to manage PE activities independently. Through different tasks and roles, the teacher transfers responsibility to the students. Students can, for example, divide themselves into groups, count points, decide on how to take turns, act as a referee or coach, or provide help to other students. To date, few studies have explored PE teachers’ perceptions and teaching practices regarding this aspect of the PE curriculum. The current study adds to the literature by exploring PE teachers’ perceptions of the importance of teaching children to manage PE activities as well as their self-reported teaching practices. A total of 137 PE teachers completed an online survey. Findings suggest that PE teachers value and address this learning domain, but a systematic approach seems to be missing. To facilitate a more intentional and systematic focus on personal and social development goals, such as teaching children to manage activities, the development of a learning trajectory across age groups is recommended. Future research should explore how PE teachers in other countries perceive and address these goals. An observational approach is recommended to explore the quality of teaching personal and social development goals.