Supporting physical education teachers to create an empowering motivational climate

To support PE teachers in sustaining students' motivation, in-service training is a promising avenue to help them create an empowering motivational climate. A training was developed and evaluated in the province of Quebec (Canada) to support PE teachers in the implementation of empowering motivational strategies. A 2-year follow-up support was offered to PE teachers by their educational consultant (EC). This collaborative study aimed to examine the outcomes of this support on the observed motivational climate and on pupils' perceptions of the motivational climate, basic psychological needs satisfaction, achievement goals, motivation, effort and intention to be physically active.

A research-action design was used. The expected heterogeneity involved in implementing support modalities called for a comparison group (CG; PE teachers who did not follow the training or receive support; n = 5). The experimental group (EG) consisted of 9 PE teachers supported by 6 ECs. A total of 130 videos were analyzed with systematic observations and 329 pupils in the EG and 166 pupils in the CG completed self-reported questionnaires. Because of the large number of potential comparisons across groups and time periods, a bootstrap approach with confidence intervals was privileged over multiple hypothesis testing.

Only few changes were observed on pupils' motivational variables between the beginning and end of each year and changes in pupils' perceptions did not differ between groups. PE teachers in the EG were, overall, less need-thwarting at the end of each year. Moreover, need-support from teachers in the EG appears to be higher than those in the CG.

This project proved a highly enriching experience for both practitioners and researchers. Both parties recognized the need to continue efforts over a longer period in view of the uncertainties inherent in working to support the development of teachers' professional competencies and thereby promote pupils' motivation and engagement toward PE. The study underscores the necessity of working in collaboration with ECs to assist them in appropriating theoretical content and developing teacher support.