Impact of a Sustained TPSR Program on Students’ Responsibility, Motivation, Sportsmanship, and Intention To Be Physically Active

Abstract

Purpose : To assess the impact of a sustained Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility program in Physical Education. Method : There were 72 primary and secondary education students (11–13 years), enrolled in two different schools, and their four teachers were randomly distributed into an experimental group ( n = 35) and a nonequivalent group ( n = 37) by their schools’ administration. A pre-/posttest, repeated-measures nonequivalent group design was used. The two teachers of the experimental group implemented a Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility program, whereas the two teachers of the nonequivalent group used Direct Instruction in their classes over four consecutive learning units (29 sessions, 5 months). Results : Students in the experimental group significantly increased their personal and social responsibility ( p < .01), self-determined motivation ( p < .01), basic psychological needs satisfaction (competence, autonomy, and relatedness; p < .01), sportsmanship ( p < .05), and intention to be physically active outside school ( p < .05). Conclusion : The Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility program was more able to increase students’ self-determined motivation and to generate positive psychosocial consequences than the Direct Instruction approach.