Characterizing Middle School Students' Physical Literacy Development: A Self-Determination Theory-Based Pilot Intervention in Physical Education.

Yang Liu,Senlin Chen

doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.809447

Abstract

Purpose: Positive youth development (PYD) can be achieved through effective and purposeful instructions in physical education (PE) and other relevant experiences both in and beyond schools. Students' PYD is associated with their physical literacy (PL) development, which has become a primary emphasis of PE, especially in the United States, in recent years. This study aimed to (a) characterize middle school students' physical literacy (PL) and (b) capture their PL developing trajectories in light of receiving a self-determination theory (SDT)-based pedagogical workshop, with the long-term vision on PYD.Methods: Participants (N = 226) completed the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL-2) in physical education (PE). A subsample (n = 49) received four workshop sessions over 8 weeks; and completed the CAPL-2 and participated in focus group interviews before and after the workshop.Results: Both boys and girls' CAPL-2 scores were in the “progressing” stage. Significant differences in PL and PL domains were observed by gender, grade, socioeconomic status (SES), body mass index (BMI), and race/ethnicity. The low PL group showed improvements in PL and PL domains. Interview data delineated positive PL developing trajectories for physical activity (PA) type, frequency, and intensity; perceived motives; and participation barriers.Conclusion: PL is a dynamic state that can be improved through purposeful PE. Future work should examine the effect (and implementation) of opportunities in (e.g., PE) and beyond schools (e.g., youth sports programs) to ultimately advance PYD.

Highlights

Positive youth development (PYD) is a strength-based approach to fostering youth to become contributing members of the societies, through emphasizing competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring (Lerner, 2009)
This study addressed aimed: (a) to characterize middle school students’ Physical literacy (PL) development and distribution patterns by sociodemographic factors, and (b) to capture students’ PL journeys in light of receiving a self-determination theory (SDT)-guided pedagogical workshop, with a long-term vision on PYD
Our quantitative results demonstrated significant increases in PL and some PL domains, as students received the SDT-based pedagogical workshop

Summary

Introduction

Positive youth development (PYD) is a strength-based approach to fostering youth to become contributing members of the societies, through emphasizing competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring (Lerner, 2009). School-based programs such as physical education (PE) could contribute to PYD by equipping youth with essential life skills and psychosocial and behavioral attributes, research evidence from the PE setting is limited (Wright and Li, 2009; Weiss, 2011; Santos et al, 2019). PL development is associated with PYD through relevant out-of-school opportunities and school PE experiences (Allan et al, 2017) This present study examined middle school students’ PL development from the perspective of PE with the long-term vision on PYD. Developing PL involves the physical, affective and cognitive domains (Whitehead, 2010), with others including additional domains such as behavioral [CAPL-2; Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), 2017] and social domains [Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), 2019]. Few empirical studies in the U.S have investigated middle school students’ comprehensive PL and fewer have attempted to foster PL using theory-based interventions

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Discussion

Conclusion