“Getting connected”: High school physical education teacher behaviors that facilitate students’ relatedness support perceptions

Research within high school physical education (PE) has demonstrated that interpersonally involving (or relatedness-supportive) environments are important for promoting student enjoyment, self-efficacy, and motivation in class. Yet to be explored in detail, however, is the full range of specific teacher behaviors that students deem to be relatedness supportive, and the relevant student outcomes with which these behaviors are associated. Using a realist approach, 11 semistructured focus group interviews were conducted with Grade 8 and 9 PE students (males = 24, females = 24, M age = 13.54 years, SD = 0.58), and data were content analyzed using abductive principles. Teacher behaviors identified as highly relatedness-supportive emerged in relation to teacher communication, in-class social support, and behaviors associated with teacher attentiveness. Analyses also revealed a number of putative relatedness support outcomes reflecting affective responses and mood states, class engagement, intrinsic motivation, efficacy beliefs, and leisure-time outcomes. These findings provide insight into the specific teacher behaviors that students identify as relatedness-supportive, and reinforce the potential implications these behaviors might have for students’ experiences in PE