ECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH23
Introduction Declining physical activity levels among adolescents present a global health challenge, with student engagement in Physical Education (PE) often decreasing during secondary school years. The Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) has emerged as a promising student-centered pedagogy to address this issue by manipulating task, environmental, and individual constraints. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying how CLA-based strategies influence student behavioral engagement remain under-explored. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Perceived Constraint Support (PCS), i.e., students' subjective experience of CLA strategies, and their effort in PE. Specifically, the study examined whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between PCS and student effort. Methods Participants were 467 secondary school students recruited from Taiwan. Data collection was conducted in two phases separated by a one-month interval. In the first phase (T1), students completed the Constraints Support Scale in PE (CSS-PE) to measure PCS. One month later (T2), the same participants completed the Tripartite Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (TEBI) to assess self-efficacy and the Students' Responsibility in PE Scale (SRIPE) to measure effort. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted using AMOS software. Model fit was evaluated using standard indices, including Chi-square/df, CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR. The mediation effect of self-efficacy was tested using bias-corrected bootstrapping with 2,000 resamples and a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results SEM demonstrated an excellent fit to the observed data (Chi-square/df = 2.00; CFI = .97; TLI = .97; RMSEA = .05; SRMR: .04). Path analysis indicated that PCS measured at T1 had a strong, positive direct effect on self-efficacy measured at T2 (standardized coefficient = .64, p < .001) and a significant direct effect on student effort at T2 (standardized coefficient = .32, p < .001). Furthermore, self-efficacy significantly and positively predicted student effort (standardized coefficient = .46, p < .001). The bootstrap analysis revealed a significant partial mediation effect. The standardized indirect effect of PCS on effort through self-efficacy was .29, with a 95% CI of [.214, .386], which did not include zero. Discussion The findings provide empirical evidence that PCS is a significant predictor of future student effort in PE. Importantly, the results highlight the mediating role of self-efficacy, suggesting that when teachers effectively manipulate constraints, a core component of PCS, it enhances students' belief in their capabilities over time. This increased self-efficacy, in turn, fuels greater behavioral investment and effort. These results support the application of the CLA not only for skill acquisition but also for fostering psychological engagement. Educators are encourage d to design supportive constraint-based environments to promote sustainable active participation in PE.
Read CV Min PanECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH23
Introduction As outlined in Honneth’s recognition theory (1992), recognition is a key factor for self-development and linked to psychological and physical well-being. The recognition process is integral to all interpersonal interactions, as it can only be provided by other human beings who confirm one another's social validity and can be understood as addressing event. We can assume that these addressing events are also embedded in teaching strategies in physical education (PE), representing a medium for providing (non-)recognition within interpersonal teacher-student relationships. To date, little empirical knowledge exists on recognition-related teaching strategies in PE. Therefore, we conducted a video-based participatory observational study, focusing on the following research questions: Which interpersonal addressing events can be identified in PE teachers’ behavior, and how can these be interpreted from a recognition-theoretical perspective? The study aimed to reveal the micro-processes in which dynamics of (non-)recognition appear, and to enrich the understanding of teaching quality beyond normative perspectives. Methods The video-based participatory observation study included three PE teachers (two male, one female), teaching students aged 12-16 years. 17 hours of PE lessons were analyzed. In a first analyzing step, addressing events were identified through segmentation analysis. The identified segments were analyzed via the documentary method for teaching-related video data. Results Six interpersonal addressing events were empirically identified: 1) greetings and farewells as framing the lesson period; 2) rules and 3) disciplinary measures as norming educational strategies; 4) role-related addressings to place students in specific roles like referees, or referring to groups like girls as ‘women’; 5) addressings of the body as prerequisite for participating in PE, and 6) addressings that focus on the body in movement situations with pedagogical aim of enhancing student’ learning processes. Each event shows specific potentials for interpersonal (non-)recognition processes that can be described as ambivalent. Teaching strategies, intentionally intended as recognition strategies, can turn into forms of non-recognition, e.g. by publicly shaming students before peers. Discussion The study demonstrates that recognition in PE represents a complex, dynamic and ambivalent phenomenon at the deep structural level of teaching behavior, providing important insights into teaching quality. Based on the findings, we can identify qualitative characteristics of recognition addressings in PE and use them as potential empirical base for future criteria of teaching quality in PE. Thus, the normative approach towards teaching quality, that is still state of the art in research, can be reflected upon recognition theoretical perspectives and empirical data. Literature Honneth, A. (1992). Kampf um Anerkennung [The Struggle for Recognition]. Suhrkamp.
Read CV Sandra ElisathECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH23
Background Since the early 2000s, school physical education (PE) in South Korea has shifted from a curriculum-based subject to a national policy platform addressing social issues such as student health, declining physical fitness, school violence, and the rights of student-athletes. As these issues gained political urgency, school PE became increasingly intertwined with health, welfare, and sport policy agendas. While this shift enhanced the visibility of PE, it also reshaped its educational meaning through competing pedagogic discourses of health, citizenship, performance, and rights, raising concerns about misalignment between policy intentions and pedagogical realities. Purpose This study examines how Korean school PE policy has been socially constructed as a pedagogic discourse since the early 2000s and explores the implications of this process for teaching and learning. Rather than evaluating policy effectiveness, it focuses on how policy discourses define problems, legitimise interventions, and reconfigure teachers’ professional roles and students’ learning experiences. Methods A qualitative research design grounded in discourse analysis was employed. Data included national policy documents, implementation guidelines, and evaluation frameworks related to school PE and school sport from 2000 to the present. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with policy decision-makers, policy intermediaries, school PE teachers, and researchers. The analysis examined dominant discourses, shifts in problem definitions, and discursive technologies across three policy phases: the Introduction Period (2000–2010), the Diffusion Period (2011–2020), and the Transformation Period (2021–present). Results The findings show that Korean school PE policy has evolved through three overlapping discursive phases. In the Introduction Period, crisis-driven discourses related to public health and student-athlete rights justified strong state intervention. The Diffusion Period involved large-scale policy expansion through school sport clubs, national leagues, and fitness testing, supported by discourses emphasising participation and measurable outcomes. In the Transformation Period, accelerated by COVID-19, health risk management and surveillance-oriented discourses became dominant, positioning fitness data and monitoring as central policy mechanisms. Although these reforms expanded participation, they also produced unintended consequences, including fragmented implementation, increased administrative burdens on teachers, and the marginalisation of inclusive, student-centred pedagogy. Conclusion This study argues that the future of school PE in Korea depends on a shift from policy-driven control toward pedagogy-driven development. Reimagining school PE requires recognising teachers as central pedagogic agents, strengthening elementary PE, addressing inequalities in access, and fostering collaborative governance across education, health, and sport sectors.
Read CV Hyunwoo JungECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH23