Moral development and sporting behavior in sport education: A case study of a preservice teacher with a coaching orientation

Abstract

Sport education (SE) is considered to be an excellent medium through which to develop students’ concepts of moral and sporting behavior. Previous research, however, indicates that teachers interpret SE differently, depending on their occupational socialization, which may hinder their fostering of these constructs. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Lindsey, a coaching-oriented preservice teacher, promoted or negated moral and sporting behavior while teaching middle school girls within two 18-lesson SE seasons. The theoretical perspectives guiding the study were social learning theory and structural development theory. Data were collected using eight qualitative techniques. Data were reduced to key themes by employing analytic induction and constant comparison. The majority of the girls began the study at the preconventional level of moral development with limited understanding of moral and sporting behavior. Many girls did not improve during the course of the SE seasons, although a few displayed understanding at, and acted in accordance with, the postconventional level of moral development. Lindsey struggled to influence her students’ sporting and moral behavior because her previous socialization had resulted in her holding similar beliefs. In addition, her moderate coaching orientation led to her delivering a conservative, watered-down version of SE. Consequently, she did little to change the core cognitive structures guiding her students’ views. While SE offers opportunities for teachers to promote and develop sporting and moral behavior, this is not automatic and, as illustrated in this study, using the model may have a negative impact on students.

Challenges faced by preservice and novice teachers in implementing student-centred models: A systematic review

“…Particularly in SE (n ¼ 12), less experienced teachers tended to reject a pedagogical adherence to, and instructional operationalization of, student-centred teaching practices and were reluctant to fully embody the role of facilitator (e.g. Webb and Scoular, 2011;Schwamberger and Curtner-Smith, 2018a). Some participants even expressed that they had no intention to implement the model in the future (e.g.…”

“…when students had a role that they did not enjoy, they refused to participate in this role/lesson) (Goodyear et al, 2014). Teachers were not able to deal with disciplinary issues (aggressive social interactions and power-related quarrels) during the introduction of learning-team tasks in SE, leading to unsuccessful development of fair-play behaviours (Schwamberger and Curtner-Smith, 2016;Schwamberger and Curtner-Smith, 2018a). In TGfU, class management issues emerged because of the game-centred focus of the lessons, with less experienced teachers showing their frustration about having students 'running around the playground' during modified games practice (Wang and Ha, 2013a: 233).…”

“…However, there were some specific student-related challenges. First, students found it hard to accept instructions from their peer-coaches (Hordvik et al, 2019b) and unsporting behaviours (arguing against officials, aggressiveness toward teammates, winning at all costs) emerged once they engaged in formal competition 'playoff' events (Schwamberger and Curtner-Smith, 2018a;Schwamberger and Curtner-Smith, 2018b;Wahl-Alexander et al, 2017). Second, students had difficulty efficiently performing their assigned duties (coaching, officiating) (McMahon and MacPhail, 2007), resulting in complaints about the highly physically and cognitively demanding responsibilities embedded in role-playing (Wahl-Alexander and Curtner-Smith, 2015) and a rejection of participation in rotational role-playing (Goodyear et al, 2014).…”

Sport Education and Sportsmanship Orientations: An Intervention in High School Students

“…On the basis of this, physical education (PE), due to its unique features with respect to interpersonal and social interactions among students in an open space, provides an optimal context for the development of these values [2]. To accomplish this goal, PE focuses on the development of the students' ethical and moral dimensions in general [3], which has been progressively specified in the display of sporting behaviors [4] measured through different indicators such as sportsmanship [5][6][7].…”

El valor educativo de la Educación Deportiva: un análisis desde las teorías de Piaget y Kohlberg

“…La mayoría muestran resultados positivos tales como el desarrollo de habilidades personales y sociales como el liderazgo, la confianza y la cooperación (Harvey et al, 2014; ÁGORA PARA LA EDUCACIÓN FÍSICA Y EL DEPORTE, 23, 2021, 265-284 ISSN: 1989-7200 Wallhead y O´Sullivan, 2005), y que se pueden trabajar objetivos centrados en el alumnado como el desarrollo personal y social (Hastie et al, 2011). Una exposición prolongada al modelo puede disminuir las conductas antideportivas (Wahl-Alexander, Sinelnikov y Curtner-Smith, 2016), aunque aquellos participantes con un alto nivel de habilidad mostraban conductas antideportivas cuando comenzaba la competición (Schwamberger, 2015). El modelo ha llegado a utilizarse con éxito en entornos de vulnerabilidad social (i. e. García López y Kirk, 2021aKirk, , 2021b.…”