SportLogia
Vol. 7, Issue 1, Jun 2011.
THE SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF PHYSICAL
EDUCATION TEACHERS IN PORTUGAL - A QUALITATIVE APPROACH
Ferreira António Gomes1 and Moreira José António2
1 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Coimbra, Portugal
2 Department of Education and Distance Learning, Porto, Portugal
ORGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER
doi:10.5550/sgia.110701.en.001G
COBISS.BH-ID: 2100504
UDC: 371.124:796(469)
Summary FULL TEXT (.pdf) free of charge
Despite some worth mentioning initiatives, Physical Education teaching in Portugal was only unveiled and recognized at a later stage by others than the ones directly involved in it. In fact, during most of the 20th century, both the subject and the teachers were clearly considered to have a peripheral status, particularly when compared to their professional peers. Considering the changes in the last decades, we found it pertinent to analyse how these teachers perceive the status that is assigned to them by teachers of other subjects, and also by their students. For the purpose of this analysis, we used a qualitative methodology in our study focused on a group of fifteen teachers with varied degrees in Physical Education, and graduated from some of the most distinguished schools in Portugal since the 1940s until the end of the 20th century. We concluded that there could be made a definition to a certain extent, regarding what the other teachers think about the status of Physical Education teachers. Some of the teachers, namely those graduated from institutes, ISEF (College of Physical Education), realise that their fellow teachers do not recognize their true value and treat them as the "poor relatives" of education. Nevertheless, there are those who perceive and recognize their value and treat them as equals. More consensual, however, seem to be their perceptions about the opinion of students and staff, as our study tends to show that Physical Education teachers feel that they assign them anidentical status to that of teachers of other subjects.
Key words:: physical education; teachers, socio-professional status.
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