Students' Constructs of Elementary School Physical Education

Abstract

The constructivist educational orientation acknowledges that students construct their own learning as they experience and make meaning from their schooling. An elementary school physical education master teacher and 10 of her former students participated in a naturalistic study designed to answer two research questions: (a) How did 10 students at the time of their high school graduation construct the meaning of elementary school physical education? and (b) What factors associated with their elementary school physical education experiences influenced the ways they constructed meaning? Participants were asked to reminisce in a semistructured, open-ended interview format specifically designed to enhance the recall of their physical education experiences during the 7-year, K-6 time frame. Data were inductively analyzed using the constant comparative analytic strategy. The meanings constructed by the students from their elementary school physical education experiences were defined by the teacher's value orientation and her invitational teaching style. Gender was the only factor evidenced in influencing the construction of meaning, with females recalling more variety and greater detail in the sport curricular area.