Keeping Adolescent Girls Engaged in Physical Activity

Research shows that adolescent girls (aged 12-15 years old) are experiencing a decline in physical activity. Research shows that adolescent girls are more likely to opt out of physical education programming when it is no longer mandated in schools (Landolfi, 2013; Statsistics Canada, 2011). The purpose of this study is to inquire how a sample of intermediate physical educators are eliciting greater participation from female students through formal and informal opportunities in physical activity. The main research question guiding this research project is: How is a sample of intermediate physical education teachers eliciting greater participation from female students in formal and informal opportunities in physical activity? Subsidiary questions include: What do these teachers observe as outcomes from these students’ participation in physical activity? What are these teachers’ perspectives on why adolescent female students may be reluctant to participate in physical activities in school? This research is a qualitative study where three educators were chosen to take part in a 45 min semi-structured interview. The findings from this study are that positive teacher strategies in physical education classes such as: motivation, encouragement and modeling, can help increase student engagement, and foster self-efficacy in physical activity