This study examined the participation and perceptions of a cohort of sixth-grade Russian students as they participated in a season of basketball that followed a Sport Education format. Thirty-seven students from two classes completed 18-lesson seasons. Throughout the initial skills practice sessions and practice games, as well as the formal competition phase, students of both genders and skill levels spent most of their lesson time actively engaged in motor tasks. The students also demonstrated significant competence in the officiating and coaching roles associated with the season. In interviews during and following the season, the students commented that they found the season to be particularly interesting, that they enjoyed having student coaches and that they developed significant team affiliation. Questionnaire data confirmed that students believed they had made significant gains in their skill and understanding of basketball. These findings are discussed within the context of self-determination theory.
In this study, we examined the development of skill competence and tactical knowledge of 41 eighth-grade students (mean age 13.6 years) as they completed a season of badminton conducted following the features of Sport Education. Using data from students' performance on badminton skills tests, their competence in game play, and their tactical knowledge, it was determined that these students made significant improvements in their ability to not only control the shuttle, but also to hit it more aggressively. This resulted in improvements in both the selection (what shot to make) and execution (ability to produce the desired shot) dimensions of their game play. In addition, the students demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to select tactical solutions and make arguments for those decisions when watching videotaped performances of badminton games. The key explanation for the development of competence in this setting was that the structure of the Sport Education season allowed for significant practice opportunities, and that the authenticity and consequential nature of the game play helped move all but weak novice students from a more cooperative version of net-game play to one where tactical decision making and execution was valued.
The purpose of this study was to provide a description of an on-site professional development program for Russian teachers as they learned to teach Sport Education. A concurrent objective was to investigate the effectiveness of this professional development opportunity. Participants were two physical education teachers (one with 27 and one with 3 years of experience) who taught separate sixth grade physical education classes in a school in the Central Chernozem Region of Russia. The data sources included the researcher's log, informal discussions, briefing/debriefing sessions and semi-structured interviews. The following four themes were generated: (a) the need for sample lesson observance in the training phase, (b) teaching-to-model congruency validation, (c) difficulties of 'letting go of the control', and (d) cooperative learning. The findings of the study are discussed using the theoretical framework on factors influencing professional development (Birman et al., 2000) and the model of teacher change (Guskey, 1986;.
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