Students' attitudes towards participation in physical education: a case of secondary schools in Nairobi province, Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated secondary school students' attitudes towards participation in physical education. The relationship between the students' attitudes and their performance in the subject was also investigated.

The study was carried out in Nairobi Province. Descriptive survey research design was used. Stratified random sampling was used to select twelve secondary schools that were included in the study, while simple random sampling was used to select two hundred and forty students who were involved in the study.

Questionnaires, interviews guide and performance test were the instruments used to collect data. Descriptive statistics that included: frequencies, percentages and tabular representation were used to analyze and present the data. Spearman rank order correlation coefficient (Rho-P) was utilized to find out the relationship between secondary school students' attitudes and their performance in physical education. The t-test was used to analyze the different among secondary school students.

The study found that there was a small correlation between the students' attitudes and their performance. The study revealed that the students have positive attitudes towards participation in physical education and that their performance is significant above average. The study recommends a study to be carried out to establish factors that hinder performance of students in physical education in girls' day schools.