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The present study was set out to investigate the association between teachers' perception of the quality of their relationships with their students' and teachers' professional self-efficacy. Fifty public school teachers were asked: (a) to assess their perceived levels of efficacy and (b) to randomly select eight students from their classrooms (4 males and 4 females) for whom (n = 395) to evaluate the quality of their relationships. The two administered instruments were the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale [Tschannen-Moran and Hoy. 2001. "Teacher Efficacy: Capturing an Elusive Construct. Teaching and Teacher Education" 17 (7): 783-805] and the Teacher--Student Relationship Inventory (TSRI; Ang. 2005. "Development and Validation of the Teacher--Student Relationship Inventory Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The Journal of Experimental Education" 74 (1): 55-74). Initially, the psychometric properties of the TSRI were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Greek version of TSRI has the same three-factor structure reported in other cultures. Multilevel analysis revealed that teachers' beliefs were not related to any of the TSRI dimensions. Teachers' and students' gender seem to affect teachers' perceptions of their relationships with their students.

The purpose of the researchers in the study was to psychometrically evaluate Passion Scale scores (Vallerand et al., 2003) in exercise. Self-report data were collected from two samples of Greek exercise participants. Sample 1 (n = 217) provided data on the Passion Scale and the self-determination theory variables of perceived autonomy support by the exercise instructor, basic psychological needs, and exercise behavioral regulations. Sample 2 (n = 299) provided data on the Passion Scale and exercise enjoyment, inclusion of exercise into oneself, and frequency of mild, moderate, and strenuous exercise behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor structure of Passion Scale scores. Evidence also emerged in favor of factor discriminant validity, internal consistency and convergent validity. In summary, the findings provided initial support in favor of the use of the Passion Scale in the exercise domain. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Body image is considered to be an obscure, mental representation of body shape, size and form which is influenced by a variety of factors that operate over varying time spans. Research has shown that professional female dancers may face preoccupations with their body image and weight. The present study aimed to investigate how body image was affected as a result of women dancers exercising in a professional and amateur level. The subjects were 115 female professional dance students and 85 females enrolled at amateur dance schools aged between 15 and 30 years old. The participants completed the 69 items of the Multidimentional Body Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ). According to the results, dance status was found to be significantly associated with three out of the ten MBSRQ subscales with professional dancers having higher mean scores on fitness orientation (F=10.095, p less than 0.05) and body areas dissatisfaction (F=16.455, p less than 0,05) and lower mean scores on overweight preoccupation (F=9.83, p less than 0,05). Future research on dancers could: (1) examine both the body image concerns and their relevant eating attitudes; (2) focus on body image concerns that occur as the females get older; (3) compare professional dancers with non-dancers, since this might provide for data at each end of the spectrum. (Contains 1 table.)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and preference of the two different types of self-talk (instructional and motivational) on penalty execution skill in goalball and gain insight on the athletes' perceptions concerning self-talk use and its influence on their performance. The sample consisted of six female athletes, aged 26-40 years old (mean = 33 years), all members of the national goalball team representing Greece in the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004. In each experimental procedure, five athletes were the subjects of an instructional and a motivational self-talk test while executing 20 penalties, with a rest period following the first 10 penalties. One athlete was stable defending the other athletes' shooting and she was not involved in any test during each experimental procedure. Although non-parametric statistics indicated no difference on performance, the results revealed a percentage difference on performance ranging from 1.5 per cent to 26.1 per cent for each athlete in favor of instructional self-talk in all three experimental procedures. Finally, participants showed preference toward the use of instructional self-talk to improve their penalty execution skill. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed to develop fair play behaviours in a school Olympic Education program. One hundred and twenty six, 5th-grade students from 4 elementary schools participated in this study, 66 of which were in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. The results revealed significant improvement in the reported fair play behaviours, classroom support and autonomy, orientation toward play and intrinsic motivation of the intervention group. Follow-up assessment revealed that the effects were maintained two months after the end of the program. Overall, it appears that the fair play intervention had immediate and sustained effects on students. The results suggest that programs based on sound theoretical principles can be effective in promoting students' sociomoral development. (Contains 4 tables.)

The aim of this study was to develop an instrument for evaluating how an education program has been implemented. Such evaluation can provide insight into the effectiveness of a program. Examined here was the Olympic Education Program used in Greek schools since 2000. In it, students learn the history of the Olympic games and the importance of exercise for health along with the principles and values of sports and volunteerism. The evaluation instrument underlying this study addressed the following six factors: "facilities," "administration," "educational material," "student?teacher relationships," "educational procedures," and "training." Results indicate that the instrument, while adequate for assessing effectiveness, should be combined with advanced statistical methods.

This study was conducted to provide further information regarding factors associated with educational evaluation, using a qualitative approach. Fifty-five interviews were carried out with school principals. The results of the present study supported the notion that the qualitative methods could provide information that quantitative procedures could not. Additionally, the findings also provided useful information for solving problems in OEP implementation and enhanced decision-making by indicating points of the program that should be improved.

This study examines role conflict, role ambiguity, and job satisfaction among Greek physical education teachers, and the extent to which role conflict and role ambiguity predict job satisfaction. All members of the sample of 61 physical education teachers were employed in Greek "Sport for all" programs. The standard multiple regression analysis shows that role conflict and role ambiguity are significant predictors of job satisfaction. This paper concludes with suggestions directed to the General Secretariat of Sports in Greece with a view to redesigning the work of physical education teachers in "Sport for all" programs. (Contains 2 tables.)

The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to evaluate the educational program's training. The program used for this purpose was the Olympic Education Program, which has been implemented in Greek primary and secondary schools since 2000. First, the face validity of items was evaluated, second, the pool of the items selected was factor analyzed. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a three-factor solution with high internal consistency. The instrument, Professional Development Evaluation Form of the Olympic Education Program, consisted of three factors containing 21 items. The three factors obtained were "training", "study groups", and "total impression". The results provide adequate psychometric support for the instrument. The questionnaire seems a promising tool for the evaluation of professional development procedures. Although the results were encouraging, further research would be very helpful in order to improve the instrument. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

The purpose of the current study was to implement a newly proposed evaluation method (Dimitropoulos, 1999), that is, the dynamic evaluation approach in the field of education. The dynamic approach was applied in order to evaluate the Olympic Education Program in Greece. The results of the present field study were encouraging. Dynamic evaluation appeared to be a promising tool concerning the evaluation of the educational program. It was, however, considered premature to draw firm conclusions as dynamic evaluation does not depend on any of the well-known evaluation models. Therefore, it is proposed that the method should be further tested in the future to ensure its evaluation efficiency.