Teachers' and Students' Perceptions of the Implementation of Elective Courses in Physical Education and Health: Evidence from a School in Santiago, Chile
Keywords:
Elective Courses, Physical Education, Perceptions, Public Policies, Secondary EducationAbstract
The implementation of elective courses in Physical Education and Health (PE&H) presents a significant challenge in Chilean secondary education. The general objective was to explore the perceptions of teachers and students in the third and fourth years of secondary school (grades 11 and 12) regarding the implementation of elective courses in PE&H at a school in Santiago, Chile. A qualitative approach was used, employing a case study design. The sample consisted of two PE&H teachers and 11 third- and fourth-year students from a school in Santiago. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used as data collection techniques, and the data were analyzed using thematic coding. The results show differences in the perceptions of both groups regarding the pedagogical benefits, academic workload, and available resources for implementing these courses. Factors such as student motivation, institutional support, and teacher training were identified as key elements in the process. The study's findings contribute to understanding the challenges in implementing elective courses in Physical Education and Social Sciences and provide recommendations to optimize this process in similar educational contexts.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Elizabeth Flores Ferro, Jordi Crespo Sánchez, Yennyffer Garay Ancan, Ignacio Messina Messina, Angelo Soto Muñoz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
