Abstract
The purpose of the study was to identify the behavioral patterns of students diagnosed with ADHD in Physical Education (PE) classes in primary schools of Barcelona, Spain. Six students and their PE teachers were observed during 42 entire lessons. After the observations, teachers were interviewed for 65 minutes on average. Students with ADHD displayed three categories of desirable behavior and four categories of undesirable behavior; 18.65% of behaviors registered were desirable and 81.35% were undesirable. The results suggest that teachers should not only focus on the difficulties posed by the disorder (i.e., undesirable behaviors), but also enhance the positive aspects of students with ADHD. The way to manage sections, give sports lessons and encourage creative activities enhance desirable behaviors in PE lessons.
Keywords:
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; Physical Education and Training; Observation; Interview