Effectiveness of a lesson study intervention on teacher behaviour and student motivation in physical education lessons

Background There is a strong need for evidence based, effective continuous professional development (CPD) for physical education teachers. This need includes CPD aimed at impacting student motivation. Existing CPD on teachers’ motivating style often takes the form of singular events such as a workshop or training session. Research shows that in general, this only has a small impact on teacher behaviour and the effects on student motivation have not received much attention. Lesson study is a popular and more extensive form of CPD in which teachers collaborate on lesson planning, delivery and evaluation, based on predetermined goals for student learning. It has been suggested that this approach could enhance the effectiveness of CPD, but few studies have actually examined this at the level of teacher behaviour and student outcomes, especially in physical education. Aim The present study aims to contribute to the knowledge base of effective CPD within physical education. It investigated whether a lesson study follow-up to a traditional workshop approach would increase the effectiveness of a CPD programme on motivating teacher behaviour, student-perceived motivational climate and student motivation for physical education lessons, from the perspectives of Achievement Goal Theory and Self-Determination Theory. Methods Ten secondary school PE-departments were included in the workshop + lesson study intervention group (LS), whilst nine served as a control group that received a workshop only (WS). A total of 52 PE teachers (33 LS and 19 WS) and their 612 students (334 LS and 278 WS) participated in the study. Measurements were taken two weeks prior to the start of the CPD programme (pre-test), and again two to three weeks after the CPD had ended (post-test). Two teachers per school were randomly chosen for pre and post measurements in their games-lessons. Lessons were video-recorded and observed using previously validated observation instruments measuring autonomy support, structure, relatedness support, mastery climate and performance climate. Students completed questionnaires on their motivational regulation, basic needs satisfaction and achievement goal orientation during both pre and post measurements. Results In terms of observed teacher behaviours, there was a significant, large increase in teachers’ provision of autonomy-support and a trend for a medium increase in teachers’ provision of structure from pre to post in both conditions, whereas teachers’ employment of a performance climate decreased in both groups. There was, however, no significant difference in effect between both conditions. At the student level, there was a small but significant decrease in students’ performance approach orientation (PAp), with PAp decreasing more in LS than WS. Changes for all other student-derived variables from pre to post were negligible. Conclusion Researcher observations showed that both CPD approaches, the workshop followed up with lesson study and the stand-alone workshop, were equally effective in positively altering the motivating behaviour of PE teachers. However, there was no substantial impact on student-perceived motivational climate and student motivation. Therefore, in the manner enacted in the present study, lesson study cannot be recommended as an effective and efficient form of CPD