Abstract

Teacher orientation is an integrated set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of teachers along with the alignment of their ideas with a specific context or situation (Eslami et al., 2020). Orientation is an important concept that plays a decisive role in understanding teacher thoughts about the subject and classroom and is considered as a set of beliefs about curriculum elements, goals, content, teaching strategies, and educational assessment. Researchers believe that among the factors affecting the teaching-learning process, teachers' attitudes and beliefs are of great importance, so that they are considered one of the most important factors affecting the success and failure of educational programs and are related to teaching behavior, implementation, and learning goals. Based on a review of the literature on value orientation studies and considering the French physical education curriculum and the limitations of existing instruments for value orientations, Drouet et al. (2021) designed a new version of the value orientation questionnaire that indicated three distinct priorities (motor skills, self-awareness, and social knowledge) of the physical education teacher instead of five values. The first value orientation, motor skills in physical education, was created by linking the value orientation of disciplinary mastery and the learning process. The basis of this value orientation is based on the main mission of physical education to teach students academic understanding and knowledge in physical education (Giujoen, 2013). This value orientation focuses on the development and mastery of scientific, tactical, technical, strategic knowledge, and motor skills (performance and mastery of execution) in physical activities. Taking this value orientation into account, teachers strive to have students “learn how to learn” new knowledge skills and apply their current knowledge to new learning tasks. The second value orientation, self-awareness, was created by linking the value orientations of self-actualization and ecological integration. In this value orientation, the main mission of physical education is to achieve the individual development of students. “Self-awareness” focuses on the independent realization of students in their (social and learning) environment. Teachers design learning tasks in which students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge themselves using their own resources in the best possible way (individual implementation). The third value orientation, social knowledge, is based on the social development of the student and the value orientation of social responsibility. This value orientation represents the cultivation of a citizen through increased social interactions among students. Educational content is defined in terms of cooperation, teamwork, and respect among students. In this value orientation, teachers believe that social needs should take precedence over individual needs. Due to the lack of appropriate tools in the field of value orientation of physical education teachers, there is no specific research in the field of physical education. Although the initial concept and measurement of the Physical Education Teachers' Value Orientation Questionnaire has been investigated as a reliable tool, this construct should be examined according to the type of cultural context (Ahar et al., 2024). By examining the validity of this valuable tool among Iranian physical education teachers, research gaps in the field of teachers' value orientation can be filled to some extent. As a result, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Physical Education Value Orientation Questionnaire (OVEPS) based on three value orientations (i.e., social knowledge, motor skills, and self-awareness). In order to conduct the study, the questionnaire was first translated into Persian by the researchers and the translations were matched in a joint session. Then, the translation was reviewed by an English language expert who is a member of the university faculty and problems related to the translation of the items were reviewed and approved after being resolved. In the next stage, in a preliminary study, the initial version of the questionnaire was provided to 12 school sports specialists and physical education experts from education departments, and ambiguous terms were identified, equated, and ambiguities were resolved. Subsequently, the final and revised questionnaire was provided to 267 physical education teachers and male and female physical education teachers from public and private schools with at least 3 years of service. To perform the aforementioned statistical calculations, two software packages, SPSS version 26 and LISREL version 8.8, were used.
The Cronbach's alpha coefficient in the Physical Education Value Orientations Questionnaire and its dimensions is above 0.7 (acceptability index value), and it can be said that the research tool has acceptable reliability. The results obtained showed that the t-coefficients are greater than the desired value of 1.96; therefore, factor analysis and coefficients show that the implemented model has a good fit. RMSEA values were 0.074 and CFI was 0.94, which confirmed the validity of the questionnaire and the factor analysis model.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Teachers' Value Orientation Questionnaire in Physical Education. The results obtained from 267 Iranian physical education and sports teachers showed that this questionnaire has appropriate validity and reliability and that the Persian version of the questionnaire can be used as a valid tool. The value orientation of physical education teachers can be used as a basis for designing educational programs and evaluating their professional performance. For example, education can use valid questionnaires such as the Persian version of the Value Orientation Questionnaire to identify the educational needs of teachers. Also, future research can investigate the effect of educational interventions on changing value orientation or comparing teachers' values in different cultures.
The conclusion of the present study is that this questionnaire can be used as an efficient, valid and reliable tool to assess the value orientations of physical education teachers in Iran and help improve their educational programs and professional development. Considering the role of this variable in work productivity and motivation, the study and evaluation of value orientation in teachers plays a significant role; accordingly, fundamental research and studies in this field seem essential and effective for the education system of each country. The construction and validation of questionnaires have been of interest to experts and researchers for many years. Given that very few studies have been conducted focusing on the value orientation of physical education teachers in Iran, it was essential to create a platform for accessing a valid and complete tool that could accurately measure this variable, which was addressed in the present study. The value orientation of physical education teachers, influenced by value theories and cultural contexts, plays an important role in the quality of teaching and educational interactions. The use of valid tools such as the value orientation questionnaire can help improve educational programs and professional development of teachers.