A comparison of attitudes of first-graders toward physical activity and perceived physical self-esteem based on type of physical education experience

The purpose of the study was to determine if (a) children's attitudes toward physical activity and (b) children's perceived physical self-esteem were influenced by the type of physical education program and the level of professional preparation of the teacher. The relationship between parental attitudes toward physical activity and children's attitudes was also examined.;First grade students from these schools participated in the study. Subjects were grouped by: type of physical education program (structured (91) or nonstructured (46)) and by teacher (specialist (51), nonspecialist (40), or classroom teacher (46)). Parents (127) of student participants also responded to an inventory. The children completed two inventories: (1) Perceived Physical Self-Esteem inventory (PPSE) and (2) a revision of the Revised Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity (R;The data were analyzed via a computer program with the significance level set at.05. Analyses included t-tests of data grouped by program, one-way ANOVA grouped by teacher and Pearson's correlation of parental and children data. There were significant t-values in the (V) subdomain of the R...