Comparison of physical education and sports teachers' levels of affection towards children and professional effectiveness

Aim: It is aimed to determine whether physical education and sports teachers' levels of affection towards children affect their effectiveness in the profession. Material and Methods: The research consists of 201 physical education and sports teachers working in secondary, high school and special education schools in the province of Manisa/Türkiye in the 2021-2022 academic year. A relational screening model and convenience sampling method were used in the research. Personal information form, Barnett Liking of Children Scale and Questionnaire for Self-Evaluation of Teacher Effectiveness in Physical Education (SETEQ-PE) Scale were used to collect the study's quantitative data. Results: The participants' self-assessment scores of liking children and professional effectiveness were found to be high. There was a difference between the level of liking of children and the variables of gender and number of children. A significant difference was found between professional effectiveness and the number of children variable. A positive but low correlation was found between liking children and professional effectiveness. Conclusion: Except for gender and the number of children, which are among the features affecting the level of affection for children, no significance was found in other variables. This difference is in favor of female teachers and teachers with children. Apart from the number of children, which is one of the features affecting the professional effectiveness self-evaluation level, no significance was found in other variables. In the student-teacher evaluation sub-dimension, it was determined that teachers with one child consider themselves more effective than teachers with two or more children. Key words: Physical Education, Teaching, Sport, Children Towards Affection, Professional Effectiveness