Teaching adapted physical education in the primary years – Taiwanese teachers’ attitudes

Abstract

This purpose of this study was to investigate primary teachers’ attitudes towards adapted physical education (APE) in New Taipei City in Taiwan. It was hypothesized that positive attitudes would be found within this group of teachers. The research adopts a quantitative approach, conducting surveys. The results of this study fall into three parts. First, physical educators’ attitudes towards APE tend to be positive in the primary schools surveyed. Second, variables such as gender, age, length of teaching, background, teaching style and so forth have no effect on physical educators’ views on APE, although significant difference was found regarding grade. Finally, factors such as professional training and governmental policy are found to influence physical educators’ attitudes towards APE. In its conclusion, this study manifests its value in several ways. It provides recommendable suggestions for improving the policy and implementation of APE and future research on this subject in Taiwan.

Keywords:

• Adapted physical education
• PE teachers’ attitudes
• primary schools
• sport
• taiwan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term ‘inclusion’ (or ‘inclusive education’) is open to several dimensions of interpretation (Winnick 2000): first, it is literally the way in which students with disabilities are educated in regular educational settings with children without disabilities, stressing the integration of different students in a learning environment in relation to others; second, it is not only integration, but also a set of attitudes that together provide a welcoming and supportive social setting, one that respects and appreciates individual differences. Winnick (2000) also states that a key foundation of inclusion is the philosophy and belief that a separate education is not equal. Therefore, the label of ‘inclusive physical education’ per se is considered to be multilayered, because utilizing just one interpretation would run the risk of a short fall in understanding of what is actually occurring in a specific social and educational context.

2. Although the new laws do not contain the word ‘inclusion’, they still reflect many ideas around and the spirit of inclusion. For instance, Regulation 13 stipulates that the educational placement of students with disabilities must meet individual students’ satisfaction under the least restricted principle.

3. The Special Education Act, which was amended in 2014, can be seen via the following website, https://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=H0080027.

4. The paper (Chinese version only) is accessible to the public, https://www.sa.gov.tw/wSite/public/Data/f1523504131578.pdf