Awareness and knowledge of developmental coordination disorder among physical education teachers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) among qualified PE teachers based in one locality of the United Kingdom. A questionnaire was designed for the purpose of the study and was distributed to sixty comprehensive schools across the South Wales region. The results of the study indicated a general lack of awareness of DCD among PE teachers (N=31). The majority of PE teachers had not heard of the term DCD, demonstrated a limited knowledge of the condition and restricted ability to recognise adaptable inclusion strategies in PE for children with DCD. The study also revealed that no PE teachers had ever received training relating to DCD or received any special educational needs (SEN) training throughout the duration of one school year. Results indicated that an ability to adapt PE activity for children with DCD was dependent upon a good knowledge of DCD. An independent t-test identified that PE teachers with an awareness of DCD (n=5) demonstrated better knowledge of DCD and ability to adapt PE for children with DCD compared to PE teachers without an awareness of the condition (n=26). The conclusion drawn from the study was that PE teachers lacked an awareness of DCD which may have been caused by a lack of SEN training to prepare PE teachers educate children with DCD. The study proposed that in order to fulfil the Governments objective of an inclusive educational environment for children with DCD, amendments made to the curriculum in teacher training programmes could accommodate PE teacher knowledge and awareness of DCD