The effect of a cross‐curricular study programme in physical education on the attitudes and perceptions of Greek children towards traditional (folk) dance in the first year of secondary school

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of a cross‐curricular programme for the teaching of traditional dances on the attitudes and perceptions of Greek pupils in the First Year of Secondary School. At the outset we anticipated that the programme would have positive results in terms of: (a) the pupils’ enjoyment of the activity; (b) Their perceived value of their participation; (c) their perceived ability to be able to dance; and (d) their satisfaction with the way in which it was taught. The sample comprised 91 thirteen‐year‐old students from the First Year (four mixed classes) of the second Secondary School at Agia Paraskevi Athens – Greece. A cross‐curricular programme for the teaching of traditional Greek dances was developed and implemented. The programme lasted five months. A weighted questionnaire of attitudes (Likert‐type), was used, adapted to Greek with reliability (α = 0.93). From the results of the statistical analyses it was found that the application of the cross‐curricular programme had a positive influence on all of the above‐mentioned factors.