Professional identity perception of physical education and sports teachers

Aim: The aim of the study is to develop a scale of professional identity perception for physical education and sports teachers and to determine the level of professional identity perception of physical education and sports teachers. Material and Method: During the development of the measurement tool, sequential exploratory design, one of the mixed research methods, was used. In the other parts of the research, scanning and causal comparison models were used. Independent sample t-test and Anova test were used in the analysis of the data. Scheffe Test was used as Post-Hoc test. The sample of the research consists of 668 physical education and sports teachers working in Malatya, Osmaniye and Sivas provinces. Results: As a result of the analysis made with the physical education and sports teacher professional identity scale, it was seen that the professional identity perception levels of physical education and sports teachers were very high (x=4.43). It was observed that there was a significant difference in favor of female teachers in the perception levels of professional identity, self-belonging sub-dimension according to the gender variable, and there was no significant difference in the professional belonging sub-dimension. According to the educational status variable, it was observed that there was a significant difference in the professional identity perception levels in favor of the teachers who graduated from master's and bachelor's degrees in both sub-dimensions. It was observed that there was no significant difference in the professional identity perception levels of physical education and sports teachers according to age, year of employment and marital status variables. Conclusion: A valid and reliable scale was developed to measure the professional identity perception of physical education and sports teachers. It can be said that physical education and sports teachers have a high level of professional identity perception, female physical education and sports teachers are more committed to their profession than male physical education and sports teachers, and educational status affects the perception of professional identity. Key words: Physical education and sports, physical education and sports teacher, professional identity, perception of professional identity.