Physical Education and Sport Sciences

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    The Importance of Play during Childhood: The Lesson for Care Givers, Parents and Pre-schools in Tanzania
    (Open University of Tanzania, 2007) Mabagala, Stephen; Mabagala, D. L.
    As early as infancy, children immerse themselves in playful activities withthe purpose of making sense of the world around them. However, their effort toachieve this is most frequently halted by parents, care givers and teachers whowork around with them. There have been questions surrounding the importance ofplay for children in Tanzania. The major question has been what children learnwhen they play. Lack of knowledge on the importance of play for children has ledparents, care givers and pre-school teachers deny children their rights to play,instead they have placed more emphasis on reading and arithmetic. This paper isbased on literature review, and presents the developmental stages of childhood anddiscusses the importance of play for cognitive, social, emotional and physicaldevelopment of children. The paper suggests that parents, community and preschools,and society as a whole should create conducive and safe environment forchildren to play, so as to help children to develop their capabilities to their fullpotentials.
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    The Working Conditions of Primary School Teachers in Tabora Municipality
    (2015) Mambo, Michael S.; Mabagala, Stephen
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    Physical Education Teachers' Compliance With Professional Codes of Ethics and Conduct
    (Taylor & Francis, 2013-03-27) Mabagala, Stephen
    Background/Purpose: Every profession considers the development and application of a Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct (PCEC) as a means of maintaining professional standards. As for the teaching profession, PE teachers are supposed to exhibit a high level of professionalism, responsibility, integrity, competence, character, respect and honesty. Such moral virtues are imperative since PE teachers' work involves close interactions with students. The purpose of this study was to determine the compliance level of PE teachers with the PCEC in Tanzania. Method: The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers' colleges. Purposive sampling was adopted to select respondents. Participants were 52 PE teachers, 21 heads of institutions, 720 students and 16 Teachers' Service Department officials. Analysis/Results: PE teachers complied with the PCEC at high level (M = 4.11, SD = .53). There were no significant differences in compliance across age (p = .868), gender (p = .502), marital status (p = .208) and teaching experience (p = .469). However, significant differences in compliance were observed across educational levels (p = .002) and across institutional variables (p < .05) Conclusions and Recommendations: PE teachers comply accordingly with PCEC; and the level of education and religiosity influence their compliance level. There is a need to strengthen professional development courses for teachers and emphasize the teaching of moral and professional ethics in the teacher education program.
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    Physical Education Teachers' Knowledge on the Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct in Tanzania
    (Scholarlink Resource Centre Ltd, 2013-08-01) Mabagala, Stephen; Mwisukha, Andanje; Wanderi, Mwangi P.; Muindi, Daniel M.
    Every profession considers the development and application of a Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct (PCEC) as a means of maintaining acceptable professional standards. As for the teaching profession, teachers are supposed to exhibit a high level of professionalism, responsibility, integrity, competence, character, respect and honesty. Such moral virtues are imperative for Physical Education (PE) teachers since their work involves close interactions with students in and outside the classroom and school contexts. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of PE teachers on PCEC in Tanzania. The study explored whether PE teachers were knowledgeable on PCEC and whether their knowledge differed according to their demographic and institutional characteristics. The study was significant in that knowledge on PCEC could help teachers to understand the nature of their work, the values they transmit and the implication of those values for those with whom they are engaged. The study could also help PE teachers to improve and sustain the standards and reputation of the teaching profession by upholding the best practices and conduct. The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers’ colleges that had PE and sport programs. Purposive sampling was adopted to select PE teachers and data were collected through questionnaire. Results revealed that PE teachers had high knowledge on PCEC (M =4.41, SD = .317). However, knowledge on PCEC differed significantly across educational levels (p = .001), institutional ownership (p =. 011) and institutional level (p = .019). There were no significant differences across age categories (p = .056), gender (p = .926), marital status (p = .153), teaching experience (p =.258) and location (p = .252). It was concluded that PE teachers possess adequate knowledge on PCEC; and the level of education and religiosity are determinant factors for the knowledge on PCEC. It was recommended that there is a need to strengthen professional development courses for teachers and emphasize the teaching of moral and professional ethics in the teacher education programs. Teachers should also be encouraged to obtain copies of professional code of ethics and conduct, and they should be emphasized to implement the professional code of ethics and conduct. Moreover, studies should be conducted to understand the level of compliance with PCEC among teachers in other specialized subjects.
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    Students’ Perceptions on Physical Education Teachers’ Compliance with the Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct in Tanzania
    (2016-07) Mabagala, Stephen
    The nature of Physical Education (PE) is grounded in movements, games and sports; this lends itself to a high rate of interaction between PE teachers and students. As such, PE teachers need to be aware and comply with their professional code of ethics and conduct (PCEC) in their relationship with students during theory and practical lessons as well as during interschool competitions and outside school contexts. The idea of PE teachers' compliance with PCEC in Tanzania has not been widely investigated, so this study is rare and important to the field. The purpose of the study was to determine the perception of students on PE teachers' compliance with PCEC in Tanzania. The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers’ colleges that had PE and sport programs. Purposive sampling was adopted to select PE students and data were collected through a questionnaire. Participants were 720 students who were either studying PE or participating in school sports. It was concluded that PE students perceive their teachers as having a high level of compliance with the PCEC and their perception is influenced by their level of education. It was recommended that there is a need to improve and sustain PE programs in schools and colleges, emphasize training in the codes for teachers, and moral education for students. There is also a need to improve teacher-student-relationship and school-community partnerships through sports. Further study should be conducted to determine unethical behavior in teacher-student relationships in the context of school sport.
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    The Extent of Physical Education Teachers’compliance with the Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct in Tanzania
    (2013-04) Mabagala, Stephen
    Every profession considers the development and application of the Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct (PCEC) as a means of maintaining acceptable professional standards. As for the teaching profession, teachers are supposed to exhibit high level of professionalism by showing high ethical and moral standards in their relationships with other educational stakeholders. This is also imperative for PE teachers since their work involves close interactions with students in and outside the classroom and school contexts when they double their duties as teachers and coaches. The purpose of this study was to determine the compliance level of PE teachers with PCEC in Tanzania. The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers colleges in Tanzania. The target population was 5,948, which included 54 PE teachers, 5,844 students, 21 heads of institutions and 29 TSD officials. The sample comprised 809 respondents, who were purposively selected depending on their involvement in PE, administrative role as heads of institutions or as officials responsible for teacher conduct and discipline. Instruments for data collection were questionnaires. The instruments were pre-tested in two secondary schools. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; while hypotheses were tested using independent t-test and ANOVA to test the significance difference between variables at p ≤ 0.05 level of significance, with the help of SPSS version 19. Findings revealed that PE teachers had high knowledge on PCEC (M = 4.41, SD= .32). There were significant differences in knowledge on PCEC across educational levels (p = .000), institutional ownership (p =.011), and institutional level (p = .019). There were no significant differences in knowledge on PCEC across age (p=.056), gender (p = .926), marital status (p = .153), teaching experience (p = .258) and location (p =.252). Findings also revealed that PE teachers complied with PCEC at high level (M = 4.11, SD = .53). Compliance with PCEC differed significantly across educational levels (p =.002), and institutional variables (p < .05). There were no significant differences in compliance with PCEC across age (p = .868), gender (p = .502), marital status (p = .208) and teaching experience (p =. 469). Moreover, the findings indicated that ECD were prevalent (M = 3.04, SD = .79) in the implementation of PCEC. There were no significant differences in ECD faced by PE teachers across demographic variables (p > .05). However, there were significant differences in ECD faced by PE teachers across institutional variables (p < .05). It was concluded that PE teachers have adequate knowledge on PCEC and comply with it at high level. It was further concluded that PE teachers encounter ECD in implementing PCEC. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and school administrators should improve PE and sport programmes in schools and colleges, and should encourage and facilitate teachers‟ in-service professional development courses. Moreover, teachers should be encouraged to obtain copies of PCEC. Further studies should be carried out across all teachers in different subject specializations to determine their compliance level with PCEC. Moreover, studies should also be conducted on the role of PE and sport in schools and colleges in enhancing work commitment and collaboration among teachers.
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    Using Sport to Promote HIV/AIDS Education for At-Risk Youths: An Intervention Using Peer Coaches in Football
    (2009) Maro, Cyprian N.; Roberts, Glyn C.; Sørensen, Marit
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an ongoing AIDS education intervention program (EMIMA) using peers in a sport context. A secondary purpose was to determine whether a mastery-based motivational strategy would enhance the effectiveness of the peer coaches. A quasi field experimental study was employed in which at-risk children in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania (N=764) were recruited (average age=13.6 years) and were randomly grouped into two treatment groups and two control groups. The treatment groups were peer coaches conducting the AIDS education to the children within sport, one with mastery coaching strategies and one without. The two control groups were in-school children, who received traditional AIDS education, and out-of-school children, who received no education at all. The intervention lasted for 8 weeks. The results indicated that the intervention using peers in sport was more effective in transmitting HIV prevention knowledge, cognitions and perceived behaviors than the control groups. The mastery-based motivational strategies were effective in influencing some of the variables. Contrary to expectation, the school-based HIV education was no more effective than the informal education obtained by the out-of-school children. The use of peer coaches within the EMIMA program was reliably the most effective means for HIV/AIDS education for these at-risk children.
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    HIV/AIDS Education in Tanzania: The Experience of At-Risk Children in Poorer Communities
    (Taylor & Francis, 2009) Maro, Cyprian N.; Roberts, Glyn C.; Sørensen, Marit
    This study has investigated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) knowledge, attitudes and sexual at-risk behaviours of youths from disadvantaged communities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Participants were 800 youths aged 12–15 years within three youth subgroups in these poorer communities: those children attending school; children who were not attending school but who were still residing within their communities; and children who were street children (more than 50% of them being orphans). Participants responded to questionnaires. In general, all youths showed low levels of HIV knowledge, experience with condom use and intention to use condoms. They exhibited moderate perceived behaviour control in using condom and positive subjective norms about the use of condoms, the value of sexual abstinence and having an exclusive sexual partner. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant differences between those in-school and those out-of-school with regard to HIV knowledge, intended condom use, subjective norms about condom use and abstinence. Indeed, the in-school children were more at risk for HIV infection, in that they reported the lowest condom experience and perceived behavioural control in condom use. There were systematic gender differences, in that girls scored lower than boys on all variables. The policy of basing HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) education within the schools of Tanzania has not been as effective as desired. To be effective in “kicking AIDS out of Africa”, we need to re-evaluate the educational strategies being used.
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    Combating HIV/AIDS in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Effect of Introducing a Mastery Motivational Climate in a Community‐Based Programme
    (Wiley, 2012) Maro, Cyprian N.; Roberts, Glyn C.
    The study investigated whether mastery motivational strategies could enhance the effectiveness of life skills interventions for HIV education through sport. A quasi field experimental study was conducted in Tanzania with at-risk children (n= 564) randomly grouped into two intervention groups and one control group. The intervention groups received AIDS education using trained peer coaches in football, with one group using mastery strategies. Children in the intervention groups all reported significantly greater HIV knowledge, and positive attitudes and safe-sex behavioural intentions. The mastery motivational strategies reliably enhanced risk reduction for some of the variables. Canonical correlation analysis revealed meaningful relationships of mastery strategies with the variables. The life skills intervention through sport for HIV risk reduction was effective, and mastery motivational strategies enhanced that effectiveness
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    Gender Differences in HIV Related Psychological Variables in a Tanzanian Intervention Using Sport
    (Taylor & Francis, 2015) Sørensen, Marit; Maro, Cyprian N.; Roberts, Glyn C.
    Despite the encouraging reduction in new HIV infections in most parts of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 72% of all new infections worldwide in 2011 [UNAIDS (2012). World AIDS day report. Geneva: Author]. Young women are more likely to be infected than young men. However, the possibilities for doing research on development of strategies and interventions for HIV prevention are not well supported in most Sub-Saharan universities. It is therefore important that we in the developed world support our colleagues in finding ways to develop research environments: In this case, on preventive strategies for HIV in the local culture in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Sport is gaining recognition as an effective means to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and reduce vulnerability. We used an HIV/AIDS education intervention through soccer, using peer coaches, to investigate the efficacy of the intervention and in particular to examine gender differences in changes in HIV-related psychological variables of at-risk youth subgroups participating in the intervention. Participants were at-risk children within a community sport programme. Children attending local schools, and a group of street children from the same communities acted as control groups. The intervention lasted eight weeks. The intervention was successful in that both boys and girls improved their scores on the behavioural intention variables. However, gender differences at pre-test were maintained post-test in that girls continued to score lower than boys. The sport intervention was successful, but girls scored reliably lower on most of the variables under study, especially the variables involving the use of a condom.
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    ETHICAL CONFLICTS AND MORAL DILEMMAS EXPERIENCED BY PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN TANZANIA
    (African Journal of Teacher Education (AJOTE), 2013-10-04) Mabagala, Stephen
    The purpose of this study was to explore the ethical conflicts and moral dilemmas (ECMD) experienced by Physical Education (PE) teachers. The study also sought to explore the influence of demographic and institutional characteristics on the ECMD experienced by PE teachers. The experience of PE teachers is unique because of the nature of their duties in and outside the classroom and school environments where there are a lot of interactions. The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers’ colleges that had PE and sport programs. Purposive sampling was adopted to select PE teachers, students and heads of institutions and data were collected through questionnaire. Results revealed that PE teachers faced ethical conflicts and moral dilemmas in their duties (M =3.4, SD = .79). ECD facing PE teachers differed significantly across institutional location [t (411.33) = 2.453, p =.015)], institutional ownership [F (3, 788) = 5.01, p =.002)] and type of institution [(t (50) = -2.45, p = .019)]. There were no significant differences across age categories [F (4, 47) = .500, p = .736)], educational levels [F (3, 48) = 1.648, p = .191)], gender [t (50) = .383, p = .703], marital status [t (50) = .439, p = .663] and teaching experience [F (3, 48 =.638, p =.594]. It was concluded that ECD are prevalent in secondary schools and teachers colleges. PE teachers whose institutions are located in urban areas face more ECD than those located in rural areas. Religious and military-owned institutions face less ECD than government and privately-owned institutions. Moreover, PE teachers in secondary schools face more ECD than those in teachers’ colleges. It was recommended that there is a need to strengthen professional development courses for teachers and emphasize the teaching of moral and professional ethics in the teacher education programs; and improve the teaching and learning environment.