Pascal Legrain

The influence of trained peer tutoring on tutors' motivation and performance in a French boxing setting

The aim of this study was to examine the potential motivational and behavioural benefits of two peer tutoring programmes for tutors in a sport setting. Differences between the sexes were also explored. Thirty two college-age males and females, all novices on a French boxing task, were assigned to a 2×2 [sex×training type: physical practice associated with trained peer tutoring (TPT) vs physical practice associated with untrained peer tutoring (UPT)] factorial design. All participants were given six French boxing lessons of 2 h each. The TPT programme included structured methods to prepare the participants to fulfil their role of tutors, whereas the UPT programme did not. The results demonstrated that the TPT programme resulted in higher scores for coaching skills. Furthermore, interaction effects revealed that the TPT programme yielded better offensive outcomes for males and better defensive outcomes for females. Although the UPT participants expressed higher self-efficacy, no differences emerged for intrinsic motivation and causal attributions. Finally, male tutors displayed higher self-efficacy and offensive outcomes than female tutors. The results are discussed in the light of previous findings in the educational and sport psychology literature.

Helping students build competences in physical education: theoretical proposals and illustrations

ABSTRACT In the French education system, the current curriculum for students from the primary to the end of secondary school is structured around the notion of key competence. A competence can be defined as an integrated and stable network of knowledge and know-how, with normative behaviors, procedures and types of reasoning. However, without a theoretical conceptualization of building and mobilization processes, the components of a competence are considered as isolated and not interconnected. In the health and physical education (HPE) setting, too few empirical studies have analyzed how teachers would contribute to the development of student’s competence. The aim of this forward-looking article grounded on an experiential and cultural framework consists in clarifying and illustrating a conceptualization of the dynamics of development of competences among students considering the teacher activity. This theoretical framework seems to offer heuristic possibilities for the examination of teaching and learning practices which contribute to the development of the key competences, particularly when a competence is read as an experience that integrates multiple dimensions. Based on audio-video recording of PE lessons and self-confrontation interviews with the teacher and a student, the results of the present study strengthen the criticism of the definition of competence emphasizing the relevance to adopt a holistic approach corresponding to the articulation of intertwined resources (i.e. motor, methodological and social) students allocate to act in PE groups. Furthermore, the results show that the competence building depends on various roles students have the opportunity to play in PE (i.e. observer, tutor). Finally, our results underline the importance of identifying the specific characteristics of the teacher activity designed to structure the learning environment to train students to acquire new competences transferable in society.

How to structure group work? Conditions of efficacy and methodological considerations in physical education

This article is grounded in social constructivist perspectives of learning: its purpose is to provide an overview of the ‘Interactions Sociales et Acquisition’ (ISA) [Social Interactions and Acquisition] French group’s research that examines how a peer-assisted learning (PAL) group context facilitates students’ acquisition of motor and social skills in physical education (PE). Issues addressed include the pairing of students in dyads and how training them to endorse tutor and tutee roles facilitates students to work in small groups. The effects of peer interaction on social relations and the inclusion of students with special needs are also overviewed. Findings regarding the influence of student interactions on learning were derived using a variety of data collection methodologies, including quantitative data used to test the effectiveness of various interactive procedures and qualitative analyses of verbal protocols to better understand the interactive dynamics involved in such learning devices. The ISA work highlights the complementary value of both of these methodological approaches for studying group work effects. ISA findings suggest that PE teachers prepare students for functional interaction group work by taking into consideration the students’ characteristics (like gender or desire for control) in the constitution of dyads and then effectively training the tutors to deliver the expected content. Cooperative learning (CL) contexts also provided a viable alternative for facilitating the inclusion of students with disabilities or those with lower initial skill levels.