Case study of Hispanic students' physical education experiences

Abstract Hispanic children and youth have higher rates of obesity and are less physically active than their Caucasian peers. Although there is an evident need to promote physically active lifestyle among this population and school physical education has been identified as one of the venues to do so, little is known about Hispanic students’ experiences in this context. Utilizing Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and Critical Race Theory in Education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) as a grounding framework, this investigation sought to explore the experiences of Hispanic students regarding the cultural competence of their PE teacher and the school environment. After obtaining IRB approval, adult participant consents and student participants and their parents consent, direct observations of fourth and fifth grade physical education classes were conducted in one Midwestern intermediate level school, documenting teacher and student behaviors and interactions. Student physical activity data were collected using accelerometry. Hispanic children participated in a focus group and an opinionnaire and filled out an acculturation survey. The PE teacher and principal were interviewed individually and filled out surveys. Interview transcripts, observation notes and surveys were analyzed inductively. Triangulation, prolonged engagement, persistent observation, peer debriefing, and negative case searches were employed. Quantitative physical activity data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results indicate that experiences of Hispanic students in PE are unique and need to be considered in provision of quality programming. Further it was found that PE teachers traditionally considered highly effective may not be culturally competent in the delivery of quality instruction to ethnically diverse learners in today’s schools. Further research that explores effective teaching in physical education of Hispanic children especially girls is warranted.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Sanogo, Veronika

Contributors dc:contributor

• Castelli, Darla M.
• Woods, Amelia M.
• Graber, Kim C.
• Stodolska, Monika

• Hispanic children
• Physical Education
• culturally relevant pedagogy
• teacher cultural competence

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Veronika Sanogo

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49608

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/49608