Classroom Teachers' Attitude and Perceived Barriers to Implementation of Sport Science Program in Malaysian Secondary Schools

2016 International Journal of Sports and Physical Education  
This study investigated the barriers toward the implementation of a new sport science curriculum in Malaysian secondary schools. This study is significant for the Ministry of Education Malaysia, as previous researchers (e.g. reported numerous barriers in implementing new curriculum which include resource barrier, untrained staff, leadership and management, and lack of teachers' monitoring and guidance. Participants comprised a purposive sample of 135 schools and 94 teachers in Malaysia. Pencil
more » ... nd paper questionnaire was used to gather data relevant to demographics (gender, age, teaching experience, qualification, specialization, preparedness, orientation course), teachers' attitude toward sport science (r=0.89, n=8), teacher related (r=0.93, n=8) and institution related (r=0.73, n=6) perceived barriers to sport science program implementation. The alpha value for the 22 attitude and perception items was 0.73. The sample comprised a majority of male teachers (81%) and 85% of all respondents were under 40. Half of the respondents were trained in sport science, 30% in physical education (PE) and 20% in other subjects. A third of the Sports Science teachers have less than 1 year teaching experience, majority (57.4%) had 1 -2 years teaching experience and 13.9% taught 3 years and above. Almost 69% of SS teachers have attended SS Orientation Course. In terms of teaching preparedness, almost 65% was poorly prepared and 35% was prepared and averagely prepared to teach SS. Results identified the key factors inhibiting SS teachers, which were categorized as teacher-related (TR) or institutional related (IR). TR barriers revealed that inability to complete the syllabus and inability to prepare exam papers as substantial while IR showed the suitability of SS reference books was the main barrier. Attitude domain was significant in terms of preparedness. This research findings provide invaluable feedbacks to the ministry of education to improve sport science teachers' attitude toward teaching of sport science and to overcome teacher related and institutional related barriers in improving sport science programme implementation.
doi:10.20431/2454-6380.0202006 fatcat:doqrqmf6wjfkdetsogeh3walyi