DOI: 10.18150/pjo5nf
title: Students’ Emotional Support in Physical Education

description: OverviewDuring the past decade, an increasing number of studies have pointed to the significant role the educational environment plays in the classroom. Taking into account the specificity of modern physical education, whose programs are now built on the principle that participation matters more than instruction, physical education teachers should provide children with special emotional support. They must create a nurturing, caring atmosphere and transform the sports field into a safe educational environment. In this regard, physical education differs from other subjects in school, which is reflected in different evaluation criteria for students in Poland. When determining grades in physical education, the effort put in by the student should be primarily considered, with knowledge and skills playing a lesser role.The aim of the pilot research was to develop and test research tools for assessing students' emotional support during physical education lessons at the ISCED 4 level. The research used a triangulation strategy. Quality of emotional support was measured through observation using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – Secondary (Pianta, Hamre, Mintz 2012) tool. Additionally, a Self-assessment of student emotional support (Firek, Płoszaj, 2024) directed at teachers was prepared, as well as a questionnaire for perceived emotional support for students: the Teacher Emotional Support Scale (Schenke et al., 2015; Ryan, Patrick, 2001; Romano et al., 2020, Polish adaptation by Firek, Płoszaj 2023).Overview of Data Sources1) Video-based classroom observationsEach teacher recorded two lessons with the same class. Each lesson was divided into two 15-minute cycles. Thus, each teacher was evaluated four times by two independent observers using the CLASS-Secondary version tool (Pianta, Hamre, and Mintz, 2012). CLASS®-reliable reviewers are trained and certified as CLASS® observers through Teachstone, the organization that provides training in CLASS®.The CLASS provides seven-point scores relating to four aspects of the classroom climate (which are made up of 12 dimensions in total): (1) emotional support, which includes positive climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for student perspectives; (2) classroom organization, which includes behavior management, productivity, and negative climate; (3) instructional support, which includes instructional learning formats, content understanding, analysis and inquiry, quality of feedback and instructional dialogue and (4) student engagement.2) Self-surveys of teachersTeachers in each of the classrooms participating in the study were asked to complete the Self-assessment of student emotional support (online survey method) using Google Forms. The survey includes information on the following:- Section A: Demographics and professional background (sex, teaching experience, degree of professional promotion)- Section B: Student emotional support (respondents answered 15 questions using a Likert scale). The questions were prepared based on the TESS tool. 3) Perceived emotional supportAll students of the observed teachers were asked to complete the Teacher Emotional Support Scale (Schenke et al., 2015; Ryan & Patrick, 2001; Romano et al., 2020) survey immediately after the recorded lessons using an online questionnaire. The respondents answered 15 questions using a Likert scale. SampleBefore the research, collaboration was established with county superintendents of the Małopolskie, Mazowieckie and Opolskie voivodeships (Poland), who designated schools and teachers for participation in the study. A pilot study was conducted on a group of 50 physical education teachers, as well as among their 560 students in 2023-2024.