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The aim of this study was to investigate coaches' perceptions of using sport education (SE) for the first time with socially vulnerable children in order to explore its suitability for equipping young people living in precarity with the skills they need to take positive action to challenge their socially vulnerable backgrounds. In doing so, we want to explore what experiences of learning to use SE these coaches had and what their perspectives of the children's learning were. The study developed in a community-based program in three economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods with high rates of delinquency in a city in Central Spain. The programme is run by a non-governmental organization and is funded by several public institutions and private donations. The study included three youth workers who acted as coaches and 31 nine- to eleven-year-olds from different ethnic groups. The SE season comprised 36 one-hour sessions which included an introduction to SE and the activity called ringo (two lessons), a pre-season (14 lessons), a season (18 lessons) and culminating event preparation and celebration (two lessons). Ringo is a net game, which was chosen to improve participation. Four focus groups were conducted with the coaches and an open analysis format was followed, using open-ended questions. The first author also kept a diary of his experience as a participant observer, including field notes and participation in focus groups. The data were transcribed verbatim and analysed through thematic analysis. Three major results were found. First, although coaches perceived that sport had a great potential for children to get several benefits, the quality of the pedagogical strategies they used to implement before the study did not allow them to reach those benefits. Second, SE gave the coaches the possibility to enact an ethic of care with participant children; emotional labour played a key role in that process, allowing coaches to care both for children and for themselves. Third, coaches appreciated how SE features, especially competition, teams, festivity, and the culminating event, favoured motivation and engagement, what improved behaviour and the assumption of roles responsibilities. Sport per se is not enough to teach ethical conduct. However, a quality programme which exposes young people to the stimuli they need, and efficient physical educators who can develop the programme properly and with a coherent attitude are necessary. Pre-service education for any future professional working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds (teachers, coaches, youth workers) should consider the need of teaching pedagogies of affect like SE as well as the development of an ethic of care and emotional labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of this study were to determine the percentage of teachers applying the Sport Education (SE) model in a central region of Spain and to identify the features these teachers perceived they were using when applying it. As a secondary objective, an attempt was made to respond to the differences in the application of the model depending on the educational stage and gender, and to determine any differences between the curriculum features of teachers applying SE and those who follow other methodologies. One hundred and ninety-nine physical education (PE) teachers participated in this study and a survey research design was used. The results reinforce the notion that PE teachers apply SE in a contextualised and pragmatic way. A significant percentage of teachers (64.8%) reported using SE in their curriculums, which demonstrates the success in expanding this instructional model in this region. Teachers also perceived that they applied a high percentage of the SE elements, although there was low fidelity to most of those elements that were considered to be central to the model such as extended units and permanent teams. Results are discussed based on literature about which goals are achieved and which ones are not based on the degree of fidelity to the central elements of the model. Implications for teacher training and future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using self-determination theory as a guiding framework, this study analyzed the impact of the Sport Education Model in self-determination and motivation, psychological basic need thwarting, enjoymentsatisfaction, boredom, and intention to be physically active in Physical Education (PE) of secondary school students in Spain. Two groups were selected for the study: an experimental group (EG; n=43), which received 19 volleyball lessons following the Sport Education Model, and a control group (CG; n=43), which received 19 traditional Physical Education lessons. Pre- and post-intervention measures were taken in both groups. The results showed significant improvements in intrinsic motivation in EG. The results are discussed, and the suitability of the Sport Education Model to improve self-determined behaviors in Physical Education is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport Education is an instruction model from the Anglo-Saxon context, whose main goals are to develop literate, enthusiastic and competent people. The aim of this study was to analyse the development of empathy, assertiveness and social relations that are usually attributed to this instructional model. Sport Education was implemented in an intact group of 21 subjects (10 boys and 11 girls) aged 10-11 years for 18 sessions, assessing variables using test-retest. The Empathy Questionnaire, Children's Assertiveness Behaviour Scale and a Sociometric questionnaire were applied. Different ANOVA were conducted and results showed that the group did not improve its empathy, assertiveness, aggressiveness, positive friends or negative friends. However, significant differences were found in reducing passive behaviour in the whole group, aggressiveness in some roles and negative friends among girls. Significant differences were also found in increasing positive friends among the components of each team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Games represent a very important part of the physical education curriculum and the process by which they are learnt is very complex. Constructive teaching theories highlight the existence of knowledge prior to instruction that the pupil actively transforms through verbalisation and interaction with classmates. The results of research studies conducted from the learning perspective reveal wide variations in the knowledge possessed by students, their understanding of the game and motor skills, and the broad range of tactical solutions in a single game situation in accordance with their knowledge of the specific domain. In general terms, most participants in research studies on prior knowledge and the specific domain knowledge have basic knowledge, the level of which is closer to beginners, as well as difficulty in making decisions based on a prior assessment of the game context. Purpose: The aim of this research study is to gauge the declarative and procedural knowledge of the students as well as their performance in a modified invasion game. Participants and setting: A total of 27 fourth-year primary-school students (19 boys and eight girls aged 9-10 years) from an intact group at one public school took part in the study. Research design: A descriptive design was used to measure tactical knowledge and performance in an invasion game. Data collection: Students performed an invasion games knowledge test and were then divided into teams with a similar level of invasion game knowledge for 3 on 3 play in a modified invasion game which was videotaped. Six of the students (three boys and three girls) were then interviewed in order to gauge their invasion games knowledge. As soccer is the most widely played invasion game in Spain, it was used in video sequences as the invasion games content to analyse student's knowledge. Data analysis: Repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to analyse differences in variables. Results obtained from the interview were descriptively analysed. Findings: At initial stages of games learning, students had difficulties in using their tactical knowledge in game play. Game performance was higher when students advance on goal than when students kept possession of the ball. No correlation was observed between the knowledge possessed by students and the correct decisions made in relation to the technical/tactical aspects of the game. Conclusions and implications: The results reveal that fourth-year primary-school students attending PE classes have a prior knowledge of invasion games. Determining tactical knowledge and performance by means of a modified invasion game is important in implementing quality games-teaching programmes for schoolchildren. Linking tactical knowledge and performance to the game contexts that students have to resolve is thus an efficient way of investigating and identifying knowledge of the specific domain and students' previous sporting experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to assess technical-tactical knowledge (declarative and procedural) in youth football players with high level of expertise in invasion games. 14 male youth football players, aged 12 years, from the Albacete Football Club were administered a test of a video-recorded football game based on a modified game of 5 vs. 5 players. To evaluate individual and group performance during the game (decision making and motor execution), we used the Game Performance Evaluation Tool (G-PET). Participants were then interviewed twice to test their base knowledge. In the first interview, they were asked about invasion games, and more specifically about football. In the second, participants' procedural knowledge, based on video recorded sequences of the game, was analysed. The results reveal that 12-year-old football players have a high level of performance in the selected actions, particularly with respect to tactical awareness (decision making), and high performance in response execution, but their base knowledge as measured in the interviews is poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundPurposeContext and participantsData collection and analysisFindings and conclusionsThe Activist Approach is a pedagogical approach that includes a wide range of possibilities to understand girls’ needs during their physical activity practice. However, the teachers or coaches who implement this approach must be aware that in the process they will face multiple challenges, such as managing the uncertainty generated by the transfer of power to the participants or the critical reflection on their own beliefs and practices. To date, many studies have focused on negotiating with girls the barriers that limit their participation in Physical Education or other physical activity contexts. However, few studies have examined the challenges of implementing this approach in sporting contexts where gender issues are particularly relevant, such as in traditionally male-dominated sports.Drawing on a poststructuralist feminist lens, this study analyses the process of transformation and learning undergone by the first author (Lucía) in overcoming the challenges of her first experience with the Activist Approach in a football club, a competitive sporting context where gender issues play an important role.The study was carried out with a female football team and the participants were 31 girls aged 12–14, their three coaches, and Lucía and her three critical friends (co-authors).The study was conducted over two sport seasons and a total of 34 sessions were delivered (February 2021-June 2022), following the two phases of the approach: the building the foundation phase and the activist phase. The data collection included the recordings of the sessions conducted with the girls (34), the peer-debriefings (24), the artefacts created by the girls, Lucía’s field journal, the interviews with coaches (4) and the focus groups with the girls (2). A reflective thematic analysis of the data was carried out (Braun and Clarke 2021), providing this with credibility and reflexivity throughout the entire process.Lucía actively negotiated two main challenges in implementing her activist programme with the girls’ football team. The first was finding a balance between her position as a researcher and sharing power in the work sessions with the diversity of femininities. Lucía constructed a good relationship with all the girls but had difficulties getting them to perceive this environment as a learning context. The second challenge was finding a way to support all the girls’ voices and managing the male-dominated and oppressive elements of the competitive masculine culture at the football club, which constrained the development of the educational programme. Although frustration and uncertainty were feelings that the activist researcher experienced throughout her transformative journey, these were part of her learning and personal growth process. This journey allowed her to discover the potential of this approach and her own agency to advocate for social change, addressing the gender inequalities that are still pervasive in football clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature indicates that eating disorders (EDs) are associated with emotional problems and difficulties, there is scant research on the role of trait emotional intelligence (EI) in general preadolescent and adolescent populations. For these reasons, the main aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between trait EI, body dissatisfaction, bulimic symptoms and drive for thinness in preadolescents ( N = 382) and adolescents ( N = 380). Participants completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Adolescent Short Form, the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 and were weighed and measured to calculate their body mass index (BMI). Trait EI significantly predicted body dissatisfaction and ED symptoms in both samples, even after controlling for the effects of BMI. Indeed, in preadolescent and adolescent girls and in preadolescent boys, trait EI predicted bulimic symptoms over and above body dissatisfaction. Results suggest that perceptions and beliefs about emotional abilities may have an important role in ED symptoms in preadolescents and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]