Students' perceptions of the influence of the sport education model on their sport thinking and actions : research project report.

A well established curriculum model which some claim has a socio-cultural component is the Sport Education model (Siedentop, Mand and Taggart, 1986). Others suggest that this model, with development, could be an appropriate vehicle for socio-critical learning outcomes that have lifelong meaning and value (Penney, Clarke and Kinchin, 2002, Taggart, 2004). An interest in developing an understanding of the relationship between the philosophical underpinnings of a Physical Education curriculum and teaching methods used to facilitate socio-critical learning outcomes is the motivation behind this research project. Through interviewing two secondary school students, their perceptions of the influence of Sport Education on their sport thinking and actions were explored to ascertain if, soci-cultural and socio-critical learning may indeed be realistic outcomes of the Sport Education model. The research provided evidence that students gave a lot of thought to specific incidents within the Sport Education unit and acted on these thoughts within the unit. Elements of critical thinking and critical action are evident in the research. Students also reported thinking about their sport involvement both from a participation point of view and also about the nature of their involvement, for example helping others, in out of school contexts. Both expressed intentions of actions they may take in sport out of school due to the influence of Sport Education. The two students' perceptions of the influence of the Sport Education model on their sport thinking and sport action has shown that educational outcomes of a socio-cultural nature can be achieved through the model