Physical Education Teachers’ Demographic Characteristics and their Pedagogical Skill Preferences and Competences in Teaching Physical Education in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between PE teachers' demographic characteristics and their pedagogical skill preferences and competences in teaching PE in public senior high schools in Kumasi metropolis, Ghana. The study employed convergent parallel mixedmethod design where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, analyzed, compared, related discussed and interpreted simultaneously. The study used Yamane's sample size determination formula to obtain a sample size of 393 participants who were selected from 5 schools using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. It included 372 SHS 3 students, 16 PE teachers and 5 SHS heads. The study adopted interview, questionnaires, Duration Recording (ALT-PE Instrument), Observation and review of documents as data collection instruments. Data collected were analyzed using Rate per minute, chi-square, frequency, mean and standard deviation. It was found that equipment, facilities, teachers' pedagogical skills their demographic characteristics have significant influence on students' skill acquisition. The study concluded that teachers' demographic characteristics such as gender, age, work experience; number of years in teaching PE, academic qualification and the institutions teachers attended influence their pedagogical skill preferences and competencies in teaching PE. It was recommended that the identified academic inadequacies in the schools have to be resolved through adequate resourcing, infrastructure, teacher competency and preferences.