Abstract:

In recent years, several profound changes of social and cultural nature have occurred, that entrust schools with the task of promoting the acquisition and development of coping skills for all pupils in order to face the challenges and emergencies of the society in which they live. The increasingly pervasive use of technology, already known in relation to the generation of post-millennials (Iavarone, 2022), has increased considerably in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods (Orgiles et al., 2020); it is important to investigate the consequences of it. Studies can help to show that the restrictions generated by the pandemic have significantly inhibited the motor vivacity of children who, by their very nature, have a significant need to move and have experiences (Cerniglia et al., 2020), giving important data on the consequences of increased distractibility, decrease of curiosity and the capacity for self-control (Twenge and Campbell, 2018).
In the light of these considerations, it is necessary for schools and research to thoroughly investigate which teaching strategies and techniques are, more than others, effective in promoting the pursuit of educational success and bio-psycho-social well-being for students. Among these, physical education has always played a leading role as an educational tool (EUPEA, 2020) that places the student within experiences of movement, therefore of active participation that, if well-designed and implemented, involve the different dimensions of being.
This preliminary exploratory investigation, conducted on a convenience sample of 146 students selected by means of a non-probabilistic sampling (M=74; F=72) attending class I of secondary school (in the 2022/2023 school year), is part of a longitudinal study that aims to highlight the role of motor-sports activities as tools for facing complexity.
The aim is to record the state of the art regarding participation in motor/sports practices in formal and informal contexts and to relate this data to different factors related to school success and well-being, specifically perceptions about the use of functional and dysfunctional study strategies in learning processes (QS2, AMOS 8-15, Cornoldi, 2022); attributional beliefs about school success and failure (QCA, AMOS 8-15); perception of self-esteem levels with reference to emotionality, school success and bodily experience (TMA, Bracken, 2003). In general, for students with an active lifestyle (n=87) compared to those with a sedentary lifestyle (n=59), higher values emerged with regard to the perception of self-esteem: the surveys reported a statistically significant p-value (>.005). In relation to the functional attributions for success or failure in learning processes, slightly higher values were found for the “active” students for the attributional style centered on “dedication” and slightly lower for the variables “chance” and “help”, indicating for them the tendency to set themselves mastery objectives, which are functional for sustaining motivation.
In continuity with the present study, the research will involve the administration of the same survey in the following two school years to the same sample, following the implementation of awareness of micro-actions, “pills”, with respect to the positive effects of the practice of motor activities, to be addressed to families, teachers and children.

Keywords:

Motor activity, school, self-esteem, study strategies.