An investigation of the relationships between the teaching climate, students’ perceived life skills development and well-being within physical education

Background: Both education policies and curriculum documents identify the personal development of students as a key objective of modern education. Physical education (PE) in particular has been cited as a subject that can promote students’ life skills development and psychological well-being. However, little research has investigated the processes by which PE may be related to students’ development of life skills and their psychological well-being.Purpose: Using Benson and Saito’s (2001. ‘The Scientific Foundations of Youth Development.’ In Trends in Youth Development: Visions, Realities and Challenges, edited by P. L. Benson and K. J. Pittman, 135–154. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic) framework for youth development theory and research, this study explored the relationships between the teaching climate, students’ perceived life skills development within PE, and their psychological well-being.Participants and setting: Participants were 294 British PE students (Mage = 13.70, range = 11–18 years) attending 6 secondary schools in Scotland and England. On average, these male (n = 204) and female (n = 90) students took part in PE classes for 2.35 hours per week.Data collection: The data were collected via a survey which assessed perceived teacher autonomy support, participants’ perceived life skills development within PE (teamwork, goal setting, time management, emotional skills, interpersonal communication, social skills, leadership, and problem-solving and decision-making), and their psychological well-being (self-esteem, positive affect, and satisfaction with life).Data analyses: The preliminary analysis used descriptive statistics to assess how participants scored on each of the study variables and correlations to assess the relationships between all variables. The main analysis sought to test Benson and Saito’s (2001) framework using a series of mediation models which were tested via non-parametric bootstrapping analysis.Findings: This study demonstrated that students perceived they were developing the following life skills through PE: teamwork, goal setting, time management, emotional skills, interpersonal communication, social skills, leadership, and problem-solving and decision-making. Overall, the results supported Benson and Saito’s (2001) framework for youth development theory and research. In all analyses, perceived teacher autonomy support was positively related to participants’ perceived life skills development within PE and their psychological well-being. Participants’ total life skills development was related to all three psychological well-being indicators – providing support for the ‘pile-up’ effect (Benson 2006. All Kids Are Our Kids: What Communities Must do to Raise Caring and Responsible Children and Adolescents. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass). Total life skills development also mediated the relationships between perceived teacher autonomy support and participants’ psychological well-being.Conclusion: The findings suggest that perceived teacher autonomy support, along with total life skills development, is related to participants’ psychological well-being. Interpretation of the results suggests that PE teachers should integrate autonomy supportive behaviours into their teaching (e.g. provide choice in activities and encourage students to ask questions) as they are associated with young people’s development of multiple life skills and their psychological well-being.