Physical Education and Covid-19. Student perceptions and lessons for the future

Abstract

In September 2020, classes were resumed with a multitude of measures and recommendations for the Covid-19, but a lot of uncertainty. The few existing scientific documents on the topic reflect the opinion of teachers, but what about students? How have they lived this new physical education? The objective of the present study was to know the impressions of a large group of students after experiencing a full term of physical education class under the restrictions caused by the pandemic. A total of 153 students from 3rd to 6th grade of primary education (eight -12 years old) agreed to participate. His teacher organized the class based on the published recommendations: safety distance, not sharing material and disinfection. The study followed a phenomenological, ethnographic, and qualitative research design. At the end of the quarter, all participants answered a series of anonymous open-ended questions. From the joint analysis of the extracted data, four positive aspects emerged: novelty, adaptation, teaching, and transfer, and five negative aspects: socialization, mask, facilities, loss of time and fear of contagion. In conclusion, it is possible to develop a quality, varied, innovative physical education and to the taste of the students, respecting the measures against Covid-19 proposed, but it is necessary to listen to the students and make the necessary modifications.