Incorporating Sport Education within a physical education sports club in China

ABSTRACT The goal of China’s new guidelines for physical education within universities is to promote greater levels of active engagement and an emphasis on the development and cultivation of students’ individual abilities. This study follows an engagement perspective to examine the responses of stakeholders to the incorporation of the essential elements of Sport Education within an elective physical education basketball sports club. Participants were 152 students who after five weeks of term could elect to participate in a Sport Education season or continue to practice individually. Dependent measures included club attendance, students’ perceptions of competence, knowledge/understanding and enjoyment of basketball. In addition, the teacher kept a reflective log across the season and participated in a formal interview at season’s end. The students who participated in the Sport Education option had significantly greater attendance than their skill practice classmates. Further, they reported significant improvements in competence, as well as a higher level of enjoyment over their previous college physical education experience. These results demonstrate that highly autonomous format of the basketball club is conducive in supporting students’ engagement in physical education.