Physical Activity Programs in Shanxi Province Schools in China: Effects of In-School and After-School Delivery on Students’ Motivational and Social Outcomes

Juan He (), Hongli Yu (), Man Jiang and Anna Szumilewicz
Additional contact information
Juan He: Department of Sport, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Hongli Yu: Department of Sport, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Man Jiang: Department of Sport, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Anna Szumilewicz: Department of Sport, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Effective physical activity (PA) programs may enhance students’ awareness, competence, and motivation to participate in PA in the future for their health and mental well-being. The most effective way to accomplish this is through in-school and after-school activities. However, certain obstacles (traditional ways) may prevent some students from gaining these benefits. By eliminating these and other barriers, transforming after-school PA programs into in-school PA programs can enhance access to PA services. Despite this, the change in learning context from after-school to in-school may affect student engagement and program effectiveness by altering the interaction between students and teachers. Self-determination theory was employed to explain how the learning context affects motivation and social outcomes in PA programs for primary school students. The study involved 513 students from 12 different schools in Shanxi Province, China, in 2022. They represented 46.24% girls and 53.76% boys, ranging in age from 9 to 12. Teachers conducted PA programs to motivate students to participate in healthy activities. Assessment of student–teacher interactions, psychological needs satisfaction, and motivation was conducted among PA students through questionnaires. Relationships between students and teachers were incorporated into a structural equation model as direct and mediated determinants of motivation for attendance PA programs. There is agreement between the results and the hypothesized model, which predicts higher levels of psychological need satisfaction and higher levels of intrinsic motivation. In addition, the learning context only negatively affects less-self-determined motivations. Results confirm that positive perceptions of teachers by students play a significant role in promoting incentives for PA program participation in more self-determined manners. Furthermore, innovative strategies to reduce the detrimental effects of long-standing institutional structures and procedures should be considered and incorporated into in-school programs that motivate students to participate in these programs.

Keywords: physical education; schools in China; educational interventions; teachers; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8080/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8080/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8080-:d:1148108

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().