Sport Education in second-grade primary education. Students and teachers’ perceptions of a co-teaching experience

Abstract

This study has two main goals: (a) to examine the impact of a Sport Education co-teaching experience on second-grade students’ competence, sport literacy and enthusiasm; and (b) to know teachers and students’ perceptions of the intervention. Additionally, there were explored differences according to gender, pupils’ country of origin and classroom group. The sample was composed by two teachers with unequal teaching-model experience (expert and novel) and 34 students (22 boys and 12 girls) ranging in age from 7 to 8 years old (M = 7.53), from a state school in southeastern Spain. A 12-sessions season of a handball-based pre-sport game called “five passes” was carried out. Information was collected through a questionnaire (students), diary notes (teachers) and interviews (both students and teachers). Results showed significant improvements on model’s primary goals (competence, literacy and enthusiasm). It was also revealed a positive impact from some of the model’s benchmarks (e. g., season phases or roles and responsibilities). Most relevant findings seem to confirm the benefits from mixing co-teaching strategies with Sport Education, while they suggest its extrapolation to early primary education settings.