Abstract
Sport education is a curriculum and instructional model designed to offer authentic, educationally rich sport experiences for girls and boys in the context of school physical education (Siedentop, 1994; Siedentop, Hastie, & Van der Mars, 2004). The literature on sport education suggests that most of the studies examining its effectiveness are within middle or secondary schools and there are fewer studies on the perceptions or representations of the model by students in primary settings (Hastie, Ojeba, & Luquin, 2011; Kinchin, 2006; Wallhead & O’Sullivan, 2005). This study presents findings related to primary students’ representations and practices of sport education. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to explore and describe Greek-Cypriot students’ perceptions and experiences of a basketball season that followed a sport education format. Twenty-two (22) year—6 students (11- to 12-year-old), 12 boys and 10 girls, from a public primary school in Cyprus, participated in the sport education unit which lasted thirteen (13) lessons. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, observations, and documents (unit and lesson plans) and were later analysed inductively (Patton, 2001). Results suggested that students in this study were successfully affiliated within their teams and appropriate opportunities were created for autonomous and meaningful learning. In addition, findings revealed that during the lessons there was a joyful and positive atmosphere which enabled all members to work hard as a whole in order to achieve their goals. Based on our results we have drawn the following two conclusions: first, the model of sport education enhanced the level of participation and motivation of students towards physical education; se- cond, the participants in this study encountered meaningful learning experiences during the implementation of the sport education model.
Highlights
During the last two decades researchers have underlined the importance of rethinking and reorganizing the way of delivering instruction in physical education (Kulinna, 2008; Rink, 2010; Rink & Hall, 2008)
Given the potential of the sport education model to provide meaningful learning experiences to school students and having in mind the limited account of this model at the elementary level, especially in non English-speaking countries in the European Union; this study presents findings related to Year-6 students’ (11- to 12-year-old) representations and practices of sport education in Cyprus
This study makes a contribution to the literature of sport education due to the fact that it is one of the few studies that have been conducted at the elementary level in a non-native English-speaking country in the European Union
Summary
During the last two decades researchers have underlined the importance of rethinking and reorganizing the way of delivering instruction in physical education (Kulinna, 2008; Rink, 2010; Rink & Hall, 2008). Scholars have pointed out that instructional models are considered as more inclusive and suitable approaches that can be used by physical education teachers in providing effective instruction to all students (Kulinna, 2008; Lund & Tannehill, 2010; Metzler, 2011). Sport education is a curriculum and instructional model designed to offer authentic, educationally rich sport experiences for girls and boys within the context of school physical education. The innovation of the model stems from the fact that the experiences which are offered, are well-rounded and authentic rather than the typical events in physical education; since students learn to play games, and learn to coordinate and manage their sport experiences (Siedentop, 1994; Siedentop et al, 2004).
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