Craig Valency, MA, CSCS
Getting kids to exercise is one thing. But getting kids to want to move and be active throughout their lifetime is another.
Of course, a good start would be to focus on developmentally appropriate skill themes and movement patterns that stress quality movement rather than sports themes, or tests of who can do the most exhaustive, repetitive fitness exercises –irrespective of form.
Once the right curriculum or programming is in place, the secret to always ensuring that kids enjoy the experience and want to do more is in knowing how to implement the three key elements of human motivation. For this, we go beyond the world of fitness and venture into the world of psychology and the self-determination theory (SDT).
The 3 Secrets Revealed
SDT is a theory of human motivation that helps to explain motivation and psychological well-being based on three underlying needs that all people share (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2009). These include autonomy (having choices), competence (feeling effective), and relatedness (feeling socially connected). With a supportive environment that respects these three basic psychological needs, externally directed motivation can become internalized and transform into autonomous, self-directed motivation (Deforche, et al., 2011).
SDT is a useful, research-supported framework that can be applied to the teaching of physical education for children. SDT principles in this context can help reduce anxiety and stigmatization and increase self-directed motivation to lead a healthy, active lifestyle outside the gym or classroom. Following is a description of the three needs outlined in the SDT, along with implementation strategies:
Autonomy
Autonomy can be fostered with teaching styles from the child-centered, indirect approaches. Children should be given a sense that they have some say in the program by being given ample choices. They should help set their own goals. Teachers should avoid declaratives such as “should” or “must” and should instead use language that implies the child made the choice to do it, such as “may” or “could” (Deforche, et al., 2011). Avoid external rewards, which can undermine the goal of creating intrinsic motivation for being physically active. Teaching the rationales and benefits that are important to them can encourage intrinsic motivation.
Competence
Competence is best nurtured in a more structured, top-down approach, as in direction-centered instruction. It is important that activities or skill work is within a child’s developmental range to avoid frustration and feelings of inadequacy. Teaching a variety of skills is important so that each child has a chance to shine in an area where he or she may be more naturally inclined. Stressing the mastery of the fundamentals regardless of age or grade is very important for feeling more competent as a mover overall and being able to adapt to novel situations. Non-judgmental, positive, and constructive feedback is also important to reinforce their competence.
Relatedness
Relatedness or social connectedness, lends itself to cooperative learning, peer coaching, and child-designed instruction. Relatedness also implies that the children feel understood and valued, so the interaction with the teacher is as important as with their peers. Involving the parents and the wider community and encouraging outside participation in clubs or teams are also great ways to further opportunities to have meaningful social interactions.
But does SDT really work?
Now the question is, does this work in the real world? Fortunately, studies have proven the effectiveness of this simple three-part strategy.
In 2009 Chatzisarantis & Hagger conducted a study on the effects of a school-based intervention using SDT principles to promote increased physical activity outside the classroom. 215 students, aged 14 to 16 years, from 10 schools, were studied for 10 weeks.
The teachers in the treatment group employed SDT techniques, and were trained to use an autonomy-supportive inter-personal style. They accomplished this by stressing four main areas of communication:
- Rationale: Teachers taught rationale using a list of meaningful, relative arguments validating the mental, emotional, and physical benefits of exercise.
- Feedback: Teachers were trained to give feedback about effort rather than outcome. They were also instructed to avoid giving controlling positive feedback, such as saying, “You did well, as you were supposed to.”
- Acknowledgement of difficulties: Teachers were instructed to use empathetic language and always acknowledge any challenges that students were having while learning a task.
- Sense of choice: This was enhanced by instructing teachers to use neutral language when communicating the rationale or feedback, or in acknowledging personal difficulties. Rather than saying what they “should” do or feel, teachers used more open-ended language about what students “may” be experiencing.
The results showed that the SDT intervention was a success in improving student’s sense of autonomy and self-motivation. Those in the SDT group reported that PE was important and an enjoyable subject in contrast to the views of the control group. They also increased the frequency of physical activity outside of school in comparison to the control group.
The study authors did not provide any suggestions to the students for outside physical activity, which implies that there was transference of behavior to another environment without the need for prompting. The results demonstrated a large effect size. Additionally, the increased physical activity was independent of past physical activity behavior.
Another study that further supports the role of an autonomy supportive environment to increase physical activity by children was conducted by Roemmich, Lambiase, McCarthy, Feda, & Kozlowski (2012). They studied forty-four children and found that both choice and mastery increased intrinsic motivation for physical activity, especially when both were combined.
The effect of autonomy was significantly greater for girls than boys. The authors hypothesized that boys have generally higher activity levels than girls, and therefore, less need for choice to promote physical activity.
Implementing the 3 secrets to human motivation, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, is the secret sauce to getting kids to move more, move better, and seek out an active lifestyle through adulthood.
I’d love to hear what has worked for you to keep kids motivated to move more beyond the class or gym.
References
Chatzisirantis, N.L.D., Biddle, S.J.H., & Meek, G.A. (1997). A self-determination theory approach to the study of intentions and the intention-behavior relationship in childrens’ physical activity. British Journal of Health Psychology, 2, 343-360
Chatzisarantis, N.L.D., & Hagger, M.S. (2009). Effects of an intervention based on self-determination theory on self-reported leisure-time physical activity participation. Psychology and Health, 24(1), 29-48. doi: 10.1080/08870440701809533
Deforche, B., Haerens, L., & Bourdeaudhuij, I. (2011). How to make overweight children exercise and follow the recommendations. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 6, 35-41
Roemmich, J.N., Lambiase, M.J., McCarthy, T.F., Feda, D.M., & Kozlowski, K.F. (2012). Autonomy supportive environments and mastery as basic factors to motivate physical activity in children: a controlled laboratory study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9(16)
Craig Valency, MA, CSCS, president and co-founder of SPIDERfit, has been a personal trainer for the last 11 years. He is currently working at Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, an elite personal training and athletic conditioning facility. He specializes in youth strength and conditioning programs that promote physical literacy, injury prevention and optimal performance. Along with training youths from 6 to 18 years of age for general fitness, Craig has also worked with some of the top junior tennis players in the world. He has been a physical education consultant for the Stevens Point school district in Wisconsin for the last 3 years, helping revamp the district wide programming for the K-12 PE curriculum. Craig earned his bachelor degree from UCLA, and Masters Degree in Kinesiology from San Diego State University.
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