Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance

ISSN: 0730-3084 (Print) 2168-3816 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujrd20

Can upper-elementary school students achieve

success in the sport education model?
Marissa Hazel & Sean Kley
To cite this article: Marissa Hazel & Sean Kley (2016) Can upper-elementary school students
achieve success in the sport education model?, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation &
Dance, 87:9, 61-61, DOI: 10.1080/07303084.2016.1227201
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2016.1227201

Published online: 26 Oct 2016.

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Download by: [Marissa Hazel]

Date: 26 October 2016, At: 10:44

The sport education model (SEM)

for physical education is commonly
implemented at the middle and high
school level, where it is thought that students are mature enough to adequately
perform self-guided tasks and fulfill the
responsibilities of the various roles in
the model. It is unknown, however, if
elementary school students could stay on
task when expected to do the same. Prior
research with elementary school students
has focused only on the components of
motivation, fun and enjoyment that the
SEM provides. Therefore, the question
that Layne and Hastie (2015) sought to
answer was whether upper-elementary
students are able to work independently
of the teacher and comprehend as well as
perform the many tasks associated with
sport education.

What Was Done?

A total of 40 fourth-grade students
with an average age of 9.72 years old
were observed in their elementary physical education classes at a school in rural
Alabama. The selected sport swirl
ball was new to all of the youngsters,
as the game had been created by another
group of students in a previous class,
so no student had any previous sport

knowledge that could skew the culture of

sport education. The students were studied for their compliance with expected
behaviors in their individual roles for
each of 13 daily, 30-minute class periods.
The students were videotaped, and their
behavior was analyzed by researchers in one-minute intervals. If the task
was managerial or transitional, on- or
off-task behavior was recorded. If the
task was classified as being instructional,
students were observed for the amount
of time they were on task, off task, or
modifying the task.

What Was Found?

The researchers found that as the
sport education season progressed, the
percentage of time spent in teacher-led
tasks decreased, while the percentage of time spent in student-led tasks
increased. As for student behavior, it
was found that students met teacher
expectations 92.61 percent of the time
during management tasks, 94.17 percent
of the time during instruction, and 100
percent of the time during transition.
Transitional tasks were observed as
becoming more efficient and smooth. In
addition, the students abilities to manage other organizational tasks associated
with the SEM improved.

What Does This Study

Mean?
The potential to implement the SEM
with upper-elementary students is very
high. Physical educators at the elementary level face the challenge of building
the foundation for students to learn
more advanced skills in middle and high
school. Recently, physical education
lessons have put an even larger emphasis
on personal responsibility as seen by
instruction that includes taking ones
own pulse to measure effort or wearing a
pedometer to indicate ones activity levels
in an effort to empower students to
take control of their own health. It makes
more sense than ever to implement
the SEM since the cornerstone of the
model is indeed personal responsibility,
reinforced through self-guided tasks. By
exposing students at the upper-elementary level to concepts such as personal
responsibility in physical education, they
will be better prepared to perform in
their future upper-level physical education classes. The SEM has been shown
to increase students interest in physical
activity, both in and out of classes. By
using this model with upper elementary
school classes, students at an earlier age
will be more likely to pursue a lifetime of
healthy and physically active behaviors.

Research into Practice

What Was the Question?

Editor: Vicki Ebbeck

Can upper-elementary school students achieve

success in the sport education model?

Reference

Research into Practice Guidelines

Readers may send Research into Practice abstracts to Vicki Ebbeck
at Vicki.Ebbeck@oregonstate.edu.
Abstracts must be of peer-reviewed research articles
published within the past year.
Abstracts should follow the Research into Practice structure.
Ensure research results are applicable to practitioners and
relevant to the readership of JOPERD.
Length should be no more than two double-spaced pages
using a 12-point font.
Attach a file of the entire source paper.

Layne, T., & Hastie, P. (2015). A task analysis of a

sport education physical education season for
fourth grade students. Physical Education and
Sport Pedagogy, 20, 314328.

Abstracted by Marissa Hazel and Sean

Kley, students in the Health and Exercise
Science Teacher Program at The College of
New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.

JOPERD 61