Self-perception of competences in physical education teachers with different working conditions in North-Eastern Italy

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research that investigated differences in self-perceptions of specific competences of Physical Education (PE) teachers in relation to the work environment. Participants (484 EF teachers from Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia) were given a questionnaire for the self-assessment of competences, in relation to different characteristics of the working environment (size of sports facilities and relative equipment). The Mann-Whitney test for independent samples was used to identify the differences in the teachers’ self-perception regarding their subject-specific competencies between those working in good conditions and those working in poorer conditions, whereas Cliff’s delta was used to estimate the size of the above-mentioned differences. The results show that higher perceptions of subject-specific competencies of PE teachers are mainly affected by the quality of the equipment of sports facilities, not by their size.