The aims of physical education in Ghana include developing personal qualities
such as competence in students and generating interest in physical education and sports
(Ghana Education Service, [GES], 1987). The GES has also reiterated the need to have
competent teachers in the implementation of the school physical education syllabus;
therefore few primary schools in Ghana have physical education specialists (detached
teachers). There is the need to assess the impact these specialist teachers have on
students in relation to classroom teachers and the extent to which the aims of physical
education are being achieved. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if
differences existed between students taught by physical education specialists and those
taught by classroom teachers in their perceptions of competence, affect, and persistence
in sports. It was hypothesized that students who were taught by physical education
specialists would be significantly different from those taught by non-specialist teachers in
their perceptions of competence, affect, and persistence.
A sample of 483 class six boys and girls from four regions in Ghana completed items measuring perceptions of competence, affect, and persistence in sports. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant main effects for category (p<.001) and gender (p<.05) in each of the four regions examined. Students taught by specialist teachers differed significantly from those taught by classroom teachers in their perceptions of affect and persistence in sports. Findings also showed that students in specialist teacher and non-specialist teacher categories did not differ significantly in their perceptions of competence. Furthermore, results indicated that the significant gender effect was minimal and not meaningful.
Overall, the present study provided further evidence of the influence of physical education specialists on amount of enjoyment students derive from sports. Findings also suggest the need for Ghanaian physical education teachers to improve upon their modes of teaching in order to enhance their students' competence perceptions. Attempts should also be made to validate Harter's (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children for use within the Ghanaian culture and to find those specific areas on which students base their competence judgments. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33849 |
| Date | 02 March 1998 |
| Creators | Feddy, Beatrice Aku Dzifa |
| Contributors | Suttie, Sandra J. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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