Institutional Barriers Perceived by Novice Physical Education Teachers in Mainland China
Junyue Wu, Yingwen Cui, Yu Wang, Bei Xiao

Department of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences,The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Abstract

The high probability of leaving the profession among novice teachers, also including PE teachers, is widely regarded as a major concern in the education system. One of the aims of the current study was to examine whether variables, such as school type and gender, affect the novice PE teachers^ perception of institutional barriers in mainland China. Besides, another aim was to identify unrecognized barriers related to the institution during their first teaching year.
A mixed research method (quantitative and qualitative) was adopted through the adapted questionnaire from Morgan & Hansen^s work (2008), and thirty-eight secondary school PE teachers (M=14, F=24) with no more than three years teaching experience in the private or public schools in mainland China participated in the present study. The data from closed-ended questions was analyzed using an independent-samples t-test with the 95% confidence interval for mean, and the constant comparison method was also applied to code data collected from open-ended questions.
The finding showed that statistically significant difference was not found among the gender and school variables, and a new barrier associated with the problem of inclusiveness emerged. The result allowed suggesting that inclusiveness in the PE subject should be given priority by stakeholders.
Furthermore,the policymakers do not need to pay closer attention to tackling the issues related to the school type and gender variables, however novice PE teachers may still face institutional barriers.

Keywords: Physical education teacher- novice physical education teacher- physical education

Topic: Sports policy and development