How do physical education students perceive disability training?

Abstract

A key element of social inclusion manifests itself in the difficulty that physical education students have in explaining their training process in the field of disability. However, it is possible to overcome this obstacle and fill the conceptual gap through the theoretical work of describing, explaining, and understanding the circumstances of a given social context. The purpose of this paper is to describe the perceptions of physical education students at a university in Medellín regarding disability training. To this end, a mixed model combining quantitative and qualitative methods was designed. The information was collected using two tools: a questionnaire on academic and social profile and the Natural Semantic Networks technique, which allows the identification of key concepts related to disability education. The results show that disability training focuses primarily on limitation, inclusion, diversity, impairment, and ability. Disability education is often limited to the study of physical impairments, i.e., the absence of a body structure or function and its associated limitations. However, there are also elements that make it easier for physical educators to lead people with disabilities, as social, educational, or athletic inclusion, diversity, and ability are positive aspects to consider when leading this population.