Health-related fitness instructional practices among Maltese physical educators

Abstract

A European study by Nikitara et al. (2021) unveiled Malta’s alarming rates of physical inactivity, positioning it among the highest across Europe. Fang et al. (2017) emphasised the significant connection between physical activity (PA) and fitness, underscoring the importance of Health-Related Fitness (HRF) in physical education (PE) programmes to promote lifelong PA. Despite its recognised importance, there remains a gap in information regarding the status, structure, organisation, and implementation of HRF within Malta’s PE curriculum, posing a need for further investigation. The objective of this study was to investigate current HRF practices in middle-school PE across state, church, and independent schools, while also uncovering the influences shaping perceptions and the delivery of fitness within local PE programmes. This research employed a mixed-methodology, integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative phase involved a questionnaire which was completed by forty-eight middle-school PE teachers using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. representing state, church and independent institutional sectors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four PE teachers and two Heads of Department (HoDs) of PE for the qualitative phase. Descriptive analysis using data generated through Google Forms was employed for the questionnaire, while thematic analysis was utilized for the interviews. The main findings indicate that the topic of fitness and its assessment lack structure, displaying considerable disparities in practices, with some PE teachers giving it significant attention while others entirely dismiss it. The most influential factors affecting the instruction of HRF components were teacher perspectives and training, student attitudes and fitness levels, available resources and facilities, and time constraints. Consolidating the outcomes of this study with prior research suggests a pressing need for clearer guidance to PE teachers regarding the objectives, content, organisation, and delivery of HRF to ensure the provision of effective and engaging fitness lessons. Other challenges, such as a lack of resources and facilities, and limited PE lessons should be addressed through a multi-faceted approach involving key stakeholders, such as senior leadership teams (SLT) and governing education authorities.