Racket sports teaching implementations in physical education – A status quo analysis of German primary schools

Problem statement: Physical education (PE) and its content as a school subject are often and controversially discussed in public and political debates. Changes of PE in different school forms were reported from authors in different countries. In the turn of the millennium, comprehensive educational reforms changed the task of PE, e.g. in the German federal school systems’ context. However, research examining the actual implementation of specific sports in PE is rare; in particular with a focus on primary schools. Purpose: Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the actual implementation of racket sports (RS) at primary schools’ PE, further addressing parameters that impact practical applied racket sport teaching. Participants and methods: 498 teachers volunteered to participate in this study (age: 44.58 ± 10.56 years, work experience: 16.998 ± 10.86 years). All participants were teaching PE at German primary schools. A standardized questionnaire, including closed and open questions in four thematic fields, was designed and sent using EvaSys®. Results: Results showed that 69.88% of the teachers teach racket sports in their primary school PE classes. The questionnaire’s item “Teaching racket sport in PE” was significantly related to “RS in school’s internal sport curriculum” (P=0.000), “work experience” (p= 0.001), “PE specialist” (p=0.000) as well as “practicing racket sports during leisure time” (p= 0.000). Conclusion: In line with the respective syllabus and school internal sports curricula, the work experience, university degree, and leisure time activities have an impact on a teachers’ implementation of racket sports in PE. Based on the present findings, changes in study regulations may be suggested to benefit the implementation of racket sports in primary school PE.