Browsing by Author "Paajanen, Petteri"

The purpose of this study was to investigate primary school teachers’ views on teaching social functioning in physical education. The theory part of this study is driven by the keywords of this study, which are social functioning and physical education. In this study, social functioning refers to aspects such as emotional skills, co-operation, interaction and responsibility. The focus of my research was on six primary school teachers who teach physical education. Schools physical education classes provide an excellent environment for teaching social functioning, as physical is taught in unique settings compared to other subjects, and physical education classes involve a lot of pair and group activities. The study adopted a phenomenographic approach, aiming to understand the research subjects’ experiences on the chosen topic. I collected data for my study by conducting six theme interviews, each lasting 30-50 minutes. The data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis. The thematic analysis was data-driven, meaning that the themes I identified emerged from the data rather than being driven by theory. Based on the research results, primary school teachers had limited but generally accurate perceptions of the concept of social functioning in the context of physical education. According to teachers, social functioning included interaction and teamwork skills. Teachers considered the emotions generated in physical education to be a fertile ground for teaching social functioning. Teachers perceived giving responsibility to students and collaboration within groups as essential aspects of teaching social functioning. Additionally, the safety of physical education classes was seen as a crucial element of teaching social functioning. The teachers also emphasized the importance of their own example and being a role model in teaching social functioning. Based on the research results of this study, one can consider whether primary school teachers have enough knowledge of social functioning to teach it effectively in physical education classes. However, based on this study, it can be concluded that primary school teachers consider teaching social functioning to be a highly important part of physical education.