Abstract:

Background: Scant research drawing from self-determination theory has examined how need-supportive and need-thwarting teaching can explain changes in relevant outcomes in Physical Education (PE). Aim: To explore to what extent two important outcomes in PE, perceived usefulness, and academic performance, change across a school year and whether these changes could be moderated by students’ perceptions of the degree to which their PE teacher is need supportive and/or need thwarting. Method: A total of 857 PE students (Mage = 14.67; SD = 0.74; 512 girls) from 32 secondary public schools participated in the three-wave, one-year longitudinal study. We used the Teaching Interpersonal Style Questionnaire, the students’ perceptions of academic performance, and the Perceived Importance of PE scale. Results: Two independent multilevel models were conducted to address our main research questions. Perceived need support positively predicted perceived PE usefulness and academic performance in PE at the beginning of the school year, while need thwarting negatively predicted these outcomes at the same time point. Interestingly, students who perceived their teacher being more need supportive in Time 1 showed a temporal decrease in perceived usefulness and academic performance in PE in Time 2, with this trend rebounding in Time 3. Need-thwarting teaching did not predict any changes in these two outcomes across a school year. Conclusions: Findings highlight the relevance of need-supportive teaching from the beginning of the course to achieve positive outcomes at the end of the academic year in PE. © 2025 Association for Physical Education.

Notes:

Export Date: 02 July 2025; Cited By: 0

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