High School Physical Education Teacher Perceptions of Block Scheduling

Abstract

In recent years, the blocked class schedule has replaced the shorter traditional schedule in high schools throughout the United States. In order to study this change, these researchers examined physical education teacher perceptions of their experience teaching on a block schedule compared to the traditional schedule. The views of fifteen physical education teachers from eight high schools located in a southeastern school district in the United States were obtained from individual interviews at their school sites. Teachers reported several changes in their AB class formats including the daily class emphasis on fitness, the use of several class transitions during their 90-95 minute lessons, and the use of a limited variety of teaching strategies in blocked classes. Consistent with previous research findings, teacher perceptions indicated their reduced stress levels, a decline in student absenteeism and tardiness, and reduced student behavior problems after changing to block scheduling from a traditional format. Sixty six percent of teachers perceived that students learned more in blocked versus traditional classes but they had no documented evidence of that conclusion.