Using achievement goal theory as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to measure and describe the objective motivational climate of a Sport Education season. Although, Hastie and Sinelnikov (2006) made an initial attempt to describe Sport Education season from a motivational climate perspective, and Wallhead and Ntoumanis (2004) suggested that the Sport Education curriculum may increase perceptions of a task-involving climate and perceived autonomy, this is a first study to measure and report objective motivational climate of Sport Education.
Twenty one ninth-grade students participated in a volleyball season of Sport Education (18 forty-minute lessons) that was validated using Hastie's (1998) recommendations. The data collection included variables associated with the following TARGET structures: nature of tasks, locus of authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation practices, and the use of time (Ames, 1992; Epstein, 1988). The collection of the motivational climate variables was conducted by analyzing the video of three season phases using the layout keyboard configuration of the BEST software (Sharpe & Koperwas, 1999) developed by Morgan, Kingston, and Sproule (2005). Frequencies of “mastery,” “neither,” and “performance” of task, recognition/evaluation, and timing were recorded and duration was recorded for the authority, grouping and time structures of TARGET.
The interrater reliability checks were performed by two researchers independently coding four random complete lessons. The percent agreement for each behavior in each of the lessons equaled or was greater than .80 which indicated an acceptable level of agreement (van der Mars, 1989). An intrarater reliability was established by the researcher re-coding two random lessons of the season with the reliability levels for each behavior exceeding recommended levels if .95.
The results of the study demonstrated that the objective motivational climate of this Sport Education season was a combination of mastery oriented and performance oriented approaches with more mastery oriented and less performance oriented teacher behaviors. Indeed, results of the video analysis indicated that mastery oriented teaching behaviors occurred 54% of the time during skill practice and 60% during practice competition phases, with performance oriented teaching behaviors reaching 41% and 32% percent respectively. However, during competition phase of Sport Education performance TARGET behaviors increased to 50%, while mastery teaching behaviors declined to 44%. One of the suggested avenues for promoting mastery structures in Sport Education seems to be in increasing the mastery oriented teacher behaviors in evaluation and recognition structures, with the teacher providing mastery recognition and evaluation in private and in public.