Abstract

In this study, the continuous education of Spanish physical activity and sport instructors is analyzed, as well as its relationship with initial training, gender, age and experience. The research is framed within the quantitative descriptive methodology through standardized interviews via the PROAFIDE questionnaire: physical activity and sport human resources. A total of 600 Spanish physical activity and sport instructors voluntarily participated in this study; 38% of the interviewees had a university degree, 35.7% were school graduates, 24.2% had earned a vocational education degree, and 2.2% only had primary or basic studies. Their ages ranged between 16 and 70. In terms of gender, 401 were male and 199 were female. With regard to their experience, 406 had less than 10 years and 194 had ten or more years of experience. The results reveal that more than half of the physical activity and sport instructors had undergone no training with in the last 3 years, and that 83.83% stated that their organizations had organized no training activities for them. Diploma courses were the most sought-after kind of training. Generally speaking, the males between the ages of 45 and 59 with 10 years of experience or more participated in more formal learning situations. The training that the Spanish physical activity and sport instructors undergo is not appropriate and is undervalued.