Motivation of Future Physical Education Teachers to Individual Sports Activity

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

S.I. Belykh, professor, Ph.D., Honored worker of physical culture and sport in Ukraine, Honored trainer of Ukraine
Donetsk National University, Donetsk, Ukraine

Key words: students, physical activity, motivation of future teachers to individual sports activity.

Introduction. In process of improvement of training of future physical education teachers it is necessary to solve the issue of their own sports activity as they need to be an example for their students. And one of the reasons for low motor activity of students of the faculty of physical education is a lack of optimal motivational complex. Clarification of the initial motives for physical exercise helps to correct the unstable motives and to ensure the change of the motive from the achievement of final result to sports activity itself [3]. School and university teachers often are not able to be a good role model for their students after leaving sport.

Shortcomings in the process of formation of personal physical culture of future teachers such as misunderstanding of the interdependence between the absolute and personal values ​​of physical culture, underdeveloped valeological thinking, inadequate assessment of one's own health and irrational life organization indicate the low level of readiness for successful professional activity [4, 5, 7, 8, 10].

In the context of qualitative transformation of all aspects of social life the requirements for personal physical culture necessary for successful career get tougher. Therefore, the reformation of the national education system set the task of indigenous and all-round improvement of professional and physical training of future specialists [1]. The change of target orientation of physical education the essence of which is the formation of personal physical culture [6] requires improving the quality of education, the development of pedagogical and organizational bases of future teachers’ formation, providing the personality-centered training.

The purpose of the study was to justify the system of educational activities that contribute to the formation of motivation in future physical education teachers to implement their own sports activity.

Results and discussion. The unformed sustainable habit of self-care is among the main reasons for low motor activity of students of faculties of physical education, who have finished active sports trainings. Besides, the lack of optimal living stereotype, which forms during the preschool and school study periods, indicates that meeting motor needs of an adult depends on the state of his mind. If children have an innate motivation to high motor activity, then in an adult it is shown and supported only on the basis of conscious motivation [5]. Thus, in sports activity the principle of consciousness during active development of intelligence of young people acquires fundamental importance for the motivation formation.

It is known, that there are several motives for learning activity: cognitive, aimed at the content of a discipline and in the process of learning (the acquisition of knowledge and mastering different methods of activities, the satisfaction of the need for intellectual activity, the process of solving difficult problems, etc.); social (motives of duty, responsibility, self-determination and self-improvement) and personal (wellbeing, trouble avoidance, prestige motives).

Cognitive motives are the most important and they can become actualized if the content of a discipline has personal significance for an individual. Physical activity will be significant if it is associated with the possibilities of self-actualization in a future profession and in family life through the understanding of the influence of exercise on the human body in terms of physiology, career opportunities, etc., that may have a value in the form of actual life goals initially “suggested” by university teacher [7].

Here is a classification of inducements for physical activity for students of the physical education faculty:

  • internal motives, related to satisfaction with the process of learning (emotionality, novelty, dynamism, favorite exercises, etc.);
  • external positive motives, based on the results of activity (knowledge and skills acquisition, active rest, etc.);
  • prospect-related motives (health improvement, development of physical qualities, body correction, professional activity);
  • external negative motives (a fear of being ridiculed by more sporty fellow students because of his inability to perform some complex movement, the concerns about getting a low grade, etc.).

However, the most important motive for solving the basic tasks of physical education is health improvement and related supporting motives such as: for satisfying the need for motion; for acquiring additional knowledge, skills and abilities; for improvement of working capacity and motor qualities; for expansion of physical abilities in order to improve the quality of life. At the same time, according to some studies [10] the leading motives for physical training are often those, which are not sustainable (e.g., satisfaction of some moral and material needs, athletic performance, standards, tests, etc.).

Summarizing the above, the best motivational complex is as follows: IM, EPM, ENM or IM = EPM = ENM, wherein IM - internal motivation, EPM - external positive motivation, ENM - external negative motivation [9].

Internal motivation should match the external positive motivation or prevail over it, and it must be at least much stronger than external negative motivation. Such balance of different kinds of motivation provides the potential for successful solution of tasks of physical education in a specialized university. Person's motivation depends on the opinion of others and self-evaluation.  This factor enables a physical education teacher to influence the development of student's personality and guide his activities. One of the conditions for sustained motivation is mutual assistance between the subjects of the educational process.

We can assume that the motivation of students of the faculty of physical education for their own physical training in the number of competing life activities is weak and tends to decrease from year to year especially after finishing with active sports trainings. This may indicate an ineffective methodology of teaching physical education in a specialized university which does not take into account the structure of motives and needs of students. Due to the increase of social roles at this age, that introduce students to the upcoming independent adult life, they lose their connection with the area of physical culture as an element which obviously optimizes not someone else's but their own life processes.

 The student-age period is characterized by the highest intellectual, creative and physical performance, character stabilization, formed outlook, optimism, independence and at the same time by inconsistency and criticality to the teachers and to the regime of an educational institution. It is the time of maximalism with disapproval of hypocrisy, cruelty and command stimulation techniques, with not quite conscious regulation of own behavior and often with the inability to foresee the consequences of own actions, the period of making responsible decisions (choice of profession and place in life). It is also a period of formation of professional thinking, self-assertion in the professional and social areas and mastery of social roles of an adult.

During the educational experiment, the results of which aren’t presented in this article, we applied our specified sequence of stages of formation of the physical training motivation [2, p. 97]. At each stage of motivation formation (Table) we used a group of pedagogical tools suitable for student's personality-centered choice of his sports activity.

Table. The stages of formation of the physical training motivation in students of the faculty of physical education (E.A. Zakharina, with refinements)

The stages of formation of the physical training motivation

The personality-centered approach

1. Physical education teacher's awareness of the importance of his own physical activity as a motive for his professional activity

2. Goal-setting and selection of type of physical activity

3. Implementation of current objectives and creation of favorable conditions for physical activity

4. Analysis of results of activity, feeling satisfied with own physical activity

5. The actions for preservation and support of the motives and desire to continue physical activity

Some studies on students' value orientations revealed the contradiction between high significance of the absolute values such as health, beauty and expressiveness of movements and low significance of “personal” values including knowledge of functioning of human body, physical fitness for chosen profession, etc. [3]. These studies reveal the relatively low level of knowledge among students of the faculty of physical education, the hedonistic nature of their physical perfection, the lack of valeological thinking and misunderstanding of the role of personal physical culture. All this indicates the declarative nature of physical education incapable to show students the interdependence between the absolute and personality-centered values ​​of physical culture.

The lack of interest in exercises and one's own capabilities is also a result of insufficient theoretical preparation, since the formation of motives is correlated with the acquisition of knowledge and skills, but the increase in the level of preparedness leads to a change in the needs and interests. There is an obvious connection between proactive position and the process of health improvement, between the awareness of personal responsibility for own well-being and acquisition of knowledge in the field of physical culture. This proves the need for improvement of theoretical training of students including via studying of pedagogical anthropology and valeology.

Some works [8 et al.] on the organization of student life note its randomness (wrong diet; lack of sleep, insufficient time spent outdoors, hypodynamia; bad habits, etc.).  Many students of the faculty of physical education overestimate the state of their health although it is known that the main reason that encourages students of other faculties to care about their health is its worsening.

In order to give the students of the faculty of physical education the possibility to estimate their health objectively the level of their health should be tested along with the assessment of their theoretical preparedness and physical fitness. Inadequate estimation of the level of own health may indicate the insufficient level of knowledge. It is also important to carry out self-knowledge, particularly based on one's own interests, aspirations and experiences [8]. The required level of knowledge which contributes to the optimal assessment of one's own capabilities affects the formation of beliefs, needs, motives and interests. Thus, personal significance of purposeful motor activity is increasing through the process of mastering by students of the faculty of physical education the required knowledge, supported by positive emotions from exercises.

Goal-setting can also help to form the motivation, providing analysis and discussion of the conditions of achieving specific goals among the students. This approach contributes to development of creative thinking and active engagement of students in the learning process.

While creating healthy lifestyle of students of the faculty of physical education it is necessary to consider the following components:

  • the need and motivational component, reflecting the interests, motives and desires aimed at maintaining healthy lifestyle;
  • the content component, aimed at mastering the necessary knowledge system;
  • the practical activity component, which implies the ability of students to solve the issues of personal physical education on their own;
  • the creativity component, which is characterized by the ability to model personal healthy lifestyle and healthy living of other students;
  • the reflexive component, which stipulates conscious activity.

 Each of the components needs many factors to be considered and certain means of teaching to be used. While considering the need and motivational component the following should also be considered:

  • the beliefs, needs, motives, interests which are the inducing force for particular activity. As needs and interests are closely connected with emotions, psychological comfort and positive mood should be provided in the learning process as a condition of positive attitude towards physical training. An important task is the formation of self-education skills and the skill to apply knowledge creatively. However, the creative activity is carried out best in a favorable psychological environment. Some purpose, idea or discipline systematically accompanied by positive emotions leads to the formation of  an independent motive, in other words a motive “transforms” into a goal of activity;
  • the removal of the effect of negative evaluation and temporary constraints, the democratic style of communication, the situation of choice and personal significance;
  • the understanding that it is not possible to form the physical training need using command methods, because it is natural for a personality to resist the coercion, which causes the defective transformation of the motivational sphere. So it is important to stick to the idea of ​​forming genuine interest in activity;
  • in order to maintain the interest in physical exercises the complexity of the tasks should be optimal because if the tasks are too simple or too complicated it will result in depressed activity in achieving the needed results;
  •  the use of problem tasks and the method of discussion are best suited for the specifics of the student-age intelligence;
  • the use of competitive activity is considered effective, influencing the motivation and value attitude of students. This approach makes it possible to intensify their activities in learning motor skills and in the process of development of their physical qualities. Competition exercises and tests should be accessible to all, be performed without negative emotions in a comfortable environment and thereby promote physical improvement;
  • it is necessary to take into account students' preferences when choosing the type of sports activity, same as in the United States and other countries.

Relatively poor physical development and low physical fitness of students of the faculty of physical education may be due to the lack of motivation, which is not a positive factor for physical perfection. The expansion of knowledge, physical qualities and motor skills increases the need for exercising and forms positive motivation. But the first, in turn, is provided in the course of regular training. As a result, based on the habit the need arises, which affects the motivational sphere and leads to activity.

The habit is a kind of automated actions which force a person act in a certain way; the incapability to satisfy a habit causes discomfort; the inconsistency between the predicted situation and afferentation received from the outside causes the negative emotion. Positive habit can be formed on the basis of permanent and long-term repetition, so initially planned by the university teachers systematic exercises can turn into a necessity and activity.

Conclusions. The substantial component of a healthy lifestyle, involving knowledge acquisition, which can then turn into beliefs, was proved to play an important role. Needs, motives and interests are formed on the basis of knowledge and beliefs. As it has been noted, the lack of relevant knowledge and teaching skills prevent even students of the faculty of physical education from managing their psychophysical potential on their own, maintaining proper physical performance and health.

The prospect of further researches is determined by the need to verify and specify the presented theoretical propositions in terms of an educational experiment.

References

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Corresponding author: sportkafedra.donnu@gmail.com