Evaluation of parents' perceptions regarding the contribution of physical education lessons to social development: The case of Bartın

Abstract

Objective: Parents' views on the educational process offer a significant perspective for understanding the educational and social functions of physical education classes, which are not reduced solely to physical activity. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of parents of students taking physical education (PE) classes regarding the contributions of these classes to their children's social development and to examine whether these perceptions differ according to the sociodemographic characteristics of the parents. Methods and Materials: The study was planned in two phases. The first phase of the study was carried out in Bartın, Türkiye, and the second phase will be conducted later as a secondary study in Baku, Azerbaijan. In this first phase, 226 participants living in Bartin were administered the Perceived Social Development Scale for Physical Education Lessons (PSDSPEL), a 15-item, 5-point Likert-type scale, with their sociodemographic information. The data obtained were analyzed using the Jamovi 2. Findings: The results of Bartın phase showed that parents generally have a positive perception of PE classes in terms of their contribution to students' social development. The most significant finding is that parent perception scores differed significantly according to educational levels of parents, with parents holding a university degree scoring particularly high. Additionally, parent perception did not differ based on gender or the number of children. Conclusion: The findings revealed that in Bartın, parents consider PE classes an important educational environment for their children's development of their social skills, including adaptation to society, cooperation, responsibility, interpersonal relationships, and social abilities rather than physical development. The findings suggest that parents perceive PE classes as an educational environment that may contribute to their children's social development and that these perceived contributions should be considered in the pedagogical planning of PE classes.