The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between parents’ past experience as
Physical Education (PE) students and the importance they give to PE within the school curriculum.
Parents of 1834 teenagers from Spain and Portugal participated in the study (1834
fathers and 1834 mothers). An 11 item questionnaire was used for data collection. The measures
studied were: socio-demographic characteristics, parent´s past experience as PE students,
and importance that parents gave to PE in the school curriculum. The results suggest
that parents’ past experiences as PE student condition their evaluation of the importance
that PE should have in the school curriculum. As the past experience as PE student deteriorated
and as age increased, there was an increase in the probability that parents evaluate
PE as deserving a less important status in their children’s curriculum. These findings can
contribute to understanding how the parents’ past experiences as PE students seem to partially
model the value judgements that they make later in life regarding the importance of the
subject.
IntroductionThe present study was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain with the project: "Diseño y desarrollo de un software para el análisis del rendimiento en fútbol" (DEP2016-75785-R)S