The production of knowledge about the building of values in physical education at school: methods, methodology and epistemology

Abstract

Background: There is a wide range of published research analysing the possible influences of physical education at school over the building of values. Some of these studies indicate positive outcomes while others demonstrate that the influence of physical education at school over the values built by students is not as beneficial as believed. When we consider the need to study the theme further, we believe it is important to appraise the quality of the research done; in particular to check the coherence between the theoretical referential adopted and the choice of methodology, which involves the epistemological line of thought as well as the research techniques selected by the authors of that research.Purpose: The scope of this study is to identify methods, methodology and epistemology adopted in the body of research carried out on the building of values in physical education classes, in schools during the decade 2000–2010.Data collection: In order to achieve the purpose defined, we undertook a survey of the scientific work present in the databases of the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), SPORTDiscus and Fuente Acadêmica. For this survey, the following key words were used: ‘education values’, ‘ethics’, ‘moral’, ‘character education’ and combined with ‘physical education’.Data analysis: One thousand one hundred and eleven articles were identified. Essays and bibliographical review articles were excluded, as well as research that focused solely on the practice of sports. Forty-nine articles written in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese were selected, all of which met the criteria specified and all were analysed thoroughly. The variables analysed were: country of origin, theme, method, methodology and epistemology.Findings: The principal focus of the research analysed was the identification of beliefs, perceptions, values, attitudes and motivation of the participants, using the information supplied by them. This body of research has been carried out from a positivist point of view, with studies following mainly an empirical–analytic epistemological line of thought. Hence, there is a predominance of quantitative research using tools that can be statistically analysed.To adopt such a perspective, in order to investigate the building of values in school as well as in physical education, is to disregard the complexity of this subject. Nevertheless, research was found based on other epistemological approaches, which presented a broader view of the theme. In some cases, the understanding and analysis of the quality of the research is hindered by poor detailing of the methodology and the methods used.Conclusion: The complexity and the subjectivity of the studies on the building of values in physical education at school, with the predominant use of a positivist focus, does not lead to a full understanding of the topic. For that reason, it is of utmost importance that more investigation be conducted based on other epistemological approaches for a better understanding. More attention should be devoted to hermeneutic–phenomenological and critical–dialectical studies conducted in this area, with investigation not only of the beliefs and perspectives of the people studied, but also of their actions in the real environment of physical education in school.