Physical education teachers' attitudes and understandings about culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching African American male students at urban high schools.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to analyze high school physical education teachers' attitudes and understandings about culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and teaching African American males within urban high schools. The participants were 40 certified physical education teachers randomly sampled from two large urban high school districts. The research design was descriptive survey (Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990). Data were collected with a demographic questionnaire and a Teachers' Attitudes about African American Male Students survey scale, which was developed and validated for this study. The teachers' demographic data were analyzed descriptively. The scale data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential procedures (Shavelson, 1988). The physical education teachers expressed mostly favorable attitudes about teaching African American male students. However, the teachers' attitudes tended to vary as a function of their gender and ethnic status. For example, the female teachers tended to ascribe greater importance to teaching in a culturally relevant manner than did the male teachers. Moreover, the African American teachers had higher mean scores on the scale's dimensions of culture and communities; establishing social relationships; and the importance of using and understanding CRP than did the White teachers. The findings and implications are discussed regarding the teachers' attitudes and understandings about culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching African American males at urban high schools.