Relation between motivation and enjoyment in physical education classes in children from 10 to 12 years old

Abstract

There are serious warnings of sedentary lifestyles among children. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures from school, especially in Physical Education (PE) classes. One way to do this, it is paying attention to the motivational climate and enjoyment in PE classes because these two factors are related to the intention to be physically active by students. This research’s aim was to evaluate multidimensional motivation and enjoyment in PE classes and relations between these dimensions. The sample included 315 Primary Education Galician students (Spain), 145 boys (46%) and 170 girls (54%), with an age range between 10 and 12 years (M=10.92, SD=0.792). Data were collected by means of two questionnaires. One of them was the ‘Physical Education Questionnaire in Primary Education´ (CMEF-EP), and the other one was ‘Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale´ (PACES). The following results were obtained: Intrinsic Motivation (IM) (M=5.12; SD=1.14), External Regulation (ER) (M=3.61; SD=1.63), Amotivation (AM) (M=1.93; SD=1.46), Enjoyment (ENJ) (M=4.51; SD=0.55). Regression analysis shows that the IM can predict 42.1% of ENJ in PE classes. Therefore, students’ intrinsic motivation is a solid framework for enjoyment in PE lessons. Consequently, it should be taken into account by Primary Education teachers in their classrooms. They should take appropriate measures to encourage intrinsic motivation: methodologies of inquiry, positive feedback, variety of tasks and materials, flexible grouping and meaningful assessment.