Perceptions of factors influencing feelings in physical and sports education classes of boys and girls with disabilities

Abstract

The research is aimed to analyze and compare the perceptions of factors that influence the feelings of pupils with disabilities during physical and sports education (PE) lessons from a gender perspective. Three factors were investigated, namely the pupil's personality, classmates, and teacher. The pupil personality factor focused on the individual experiences during PE lessons, the classmate reflected on the quality of social relationships in the group, and the teacher factor ascertained pupils' perceptions of the PE teacher. Our research sample consisted of 182 pupils with disabilities in lower secondary education (111 boys and 71 girls). The results of the research showed that overall, boys with D rated all factors slightly more positively than girls, with both genders rating the classmate factor slightly more positively. Consequently, girls emphasized the teacher while boys emphasized their personality. Our research findings confirm that the social environment, particularly the relational bonds in the classroom with classmates, plays a key role in the positive emotional experience of PE in students with D.