Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of girls’ participation in physical education(PE) in elementary schools and examine the impacts of a girl-friendly integrated program on children’s participation in PE classes. Methods The participants were 10 fifth graders (5 girls and 5 boys) and their teacher in an elementary school. Data which were collected from in-depth interviews with students, students’ journal entries, field observation, and teacher’s reflective journal entries were analyzed inductively. Results Findings revealed that boys perceived girls’ participation as passive, possessing a low level of skills, and staying at the peripheral position. Meanwhile girls expressed their desire to demonstrate their strengths in PE classes and were afraid of boys’ criticism regarding their lack of skills. There were also misconceptions and misunderstanding on girls’ PE participation between boys and girls. In order to resolve these issues, a girls-friendly integrative program was designed. based on the four guiding principles drawn from students’ perception: (1) from ignorance to interest, (2) from misunderstanding to understanding, (3) from sport skills to sport values, and (4) from competition to cooperation. The program integrated boys and girls for promoting active interaction and also integrated competence, knowledge, and dispositions to accommodate students’ various ways of PE participation. Findings revealed that the program had: (1) diversified students’ perceptions of PE participation, (2) promoted students’ diverse and active participation, and (3) established classroom atmosphere which emphasized positive values.
