LEARNING TO DELIVER HIGH QUALITY TEACHING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS

Providing quality criteria for learning tasks at the time of instruction is fundamental to the learning process of students and athletes in physical education and sport. During the presentation of the tasks the quality criteria of the learning activities should be communicated, while the corrective feedback given by teachers/coaches should focus on the quality aspects of the task or process performance [1, 2]. The learning of the students/athletes may be more influenced by the combination of the presentation of quality tasks and the feedback given by the teacher [3]. The presentation of the tasks has to have the following fundamental quality components: A structure, a cognitive approach, a careful selection of information, an explanation and demonstration at the same time [4-6]. The presentation of tasks is one of the teacher’s activities that has the potential to impact on the psychological health of athletes and not only as a pedagogical aspect that seeks sports performance [5]. An optimal teaching in physical education and sport it is not only influenced by the presentation of the tasks but also by the type and quality of the feedback, which should lead to improved motor performance and cognitive learning [7]. However, providing corrective feedback, due to its negative nature, could lead to unwanted repercussions on students [1], which depends on how the corrective feedback is perceived by students [1, 2, 8, 9]. Providing corrective feedback using an interpersonal style that supports autonomy and is perceived as legitimate will allow athletes to be more willing to work on their mistakes rather than feel compelled to do so [1, 2, 10] and will consider the teacher’s corrective feedback as an opportunity to learn and improve [2, 10]. In conclusion, it is important that the coach focuses on making clear the quality criteria of the learning tasks during the presentation of the tasks. It also crucial that when corrective feedback is provided, and effort is being made to ease its acceptance by the students and that this is communicated in a fashion that supports autonomy and that it is related to the cognitive approach or practice intention transmitted in the presentation of the tasks.