Abstract:

The aim of the article is to reveal and theoretically substantiate the interrelationship between the physical activity of primary schoolchildren and the school environment that encourages autonomy. The article studies and reveals the concept of physical activity and highlights the links between the sustainability of an autonomous environment and children’s physical activity by applying the basic principles of the self-determination theory.

The sources that analyse the peculiarities of the physical activity of primary schoolchildren, the provisions of the theory of self-determination and their application while studying children’s physical activity in the school context were searched for in the databases. The keyword combinations used for search were “physical activity”, “primary schoolchildren”, “middle childhood”, “motivation”, “self-determination theory”, “school physical activity interventions”.

The criteria for selecting articles included:
1) the studies of the features characteristic to the middle childhood period performed in the context of the self-determination theory;
2) the research on children’s physical activity conducted in the school environment and based on the provisions of the self-determination theory.

One of the basic principles of the self-determination theory is that individuals are more likely to engage in the activities they feel self-motivated for, i.e. the activities that an individual starts voluntarily and not those he/she feels to be controlled. While sustaining autonomous motivation, various social contextual conditions are crucial, and they make an impact through the satisfaction of three major psychological needs - autonomy, competence and communication. Autonomy is the main concept of the self-determination theory, and it is recognized to be a key factor while encouraging the internal motivation for greater physical activity of children. Given that children spend about half of their time at school, it is the school that is identified as one of the most important contexts for children’s autonomy and physical activity. Autonomous environment is mainly created through the interaction and communication between the teacher and the schoolchild and his/her peers. From the perspective of the child’s development, in the period of the middle childhood, the teacher is perceived as the authority, therefore the behaviour of teachers and the educational practices applied have a major impact on children’s participation in physical activities. Thus, both the teacher and the peers form the social context for the physical activity and are independent variables in motivational processes. Research has shown that teachers’ practices as well as the educational conditions that meet the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and sustained interrelationship can successfully strengthen internal motivation and improve achievements. The quality of schoolchildren’s relationships with their closest friends as well as the extent to which they feel to be recognized by their peers in physical education classes also have a positive effect on their motivation, which is preconditioned by the satisfaction of the need for communication. To sum up, in order to promote the physical activity of primary schoolchildren, it is important to create an environment that encourages children’s autonomy through good relationships between the teacher and the child as well as through the relationship between the schoolchildren.

Keywords:

Physical activity, middle childhood, primary schoolchildren, school environment, self-determination theory.