Development of basic psychological need satisfaction in physical education

Abstract

Research shows that sports-active students experience more basic need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, relatedness) in physical education (PE) than their non-sports-active peers, and thus, reap most of the benefits of PE. This study aimed to investigate the role of a two-year PE programme, referred to as Interest-based PE, in contributing to students’ basic need satisfaction in PE, and in particular, to assess potential basic needs-benefits among students who were not involved in leisure-time sport. Among 693 students, 348 were offered a choice of two different PE approaches (“explorative” vs. “sports” approach) for the next two years, while the remaining students continued to receive traditional PE. Girls, non-sports-active students, and students who experienced less need satisfaction in PE at baseline were more likely to choose the explorative approach, thereby signifying a wish for a less sports-centred PE. However, no significant differences in autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfaction were identified between Interest-based PE groups and their respective control groups over the course of the programme. Sports active students experienced more gains in relatedness need satisfaction than non-sports active students over the course of the programme, suggesting that challenges in promoting equal opportunities for learning in PE may require more than “Interest-based PE”.

A relational perspective on students' experiences of participation in an ‘Interest-based physical education’ programme

“…While most would agree that sports are an important part of PE (Annerstedt, 2008), Kirk (2010: 41) has argued that PE is informed by the physical culture of sports in ways that have led to the institutionalisation and reproduction of a PE practice referred to as 'physical education as sport techniques'. Researchers have argued that this approach to PE does not promote positive development and learning equally among adolescents, and that the subject should be more sensitive to adolescent diversity (Erdvik et al, 2019a(Erdvik et al, , 2019b.…”

“…'tag', 'red light green light' and 'hunter hawks') or modified sports (e.g. use multiple balls, play while attached to a fellow student, change emphasis from competing, winning and making goals to cooperating, contributing and making each other better) in their classes to encourage meaningful participation for a group of students that was not necessarily inspired by the logic of sports (for more information, see Erdvik et al, 2019b andTangen andHusebye, 2019).…”

“…During the information meeting, nine students from SA (three boys and six girls) and 11 students from EA (no boys and 11 girls) signed up for interviews. The fact that fewer boys volunteered from EA reflected the fact that most of the boys chose SA rather than EA: in the Interest-based PE study as a whole, 103 boys and 65 girls chose SA, whereas 52 boys and 128 girls chose EA (see Erdvik et al, 2019b). At the school where the qualitative study took place, 22 boys and 13 girls chose SA, whereas five boys and 43 girls chose EA.…”

“…While prior research has applied quantitative methods to assess the effectiveness of Interest-based PE in terms of achieving developmental aims (Erdvik et al, 2019b), we lack important knowledge about students' broader and deeper experiences of the programme (e.g. Tangen and Husebye, 2019).…”

«Ei mil vid og ein tomme djup»? – ei undersøking av innhald og undervisning i kroppsøving på ungdomstrinnet i Noreg

“…Med andre ord, deltaking som laerarar i intervensjonen ser ut til å ha påverka dei som kroppsøvingspedagogar i liten grad. Forsking frå intervensjonen syner også at det skal meir til for å endre undervisningspraksisen i faget enn å gi elvane valet mellom to tilsynelatande ulike former for kroppsøving (Erdvik, Haugen, Ivarsson & Säfvenbom, 2019). Vidare kan ein argumentere for at i eit kvalitativt fokusgruppeintervju er det ikkje eit mål å skape eit representativt bilete, men å forstå kva deltakarane meiner og opplever om eit fenomen, i dette tilfellet laerarar sine synspunkt på undervisning og laering i kroppsøving på ungdomstrinnet.…”