Enhancing sport education experiences through service-learning

Abstract

In this study, we explore the extent to which service-learning (SL) can enhance the educational potential of sport education (SE), with a view to contributing to a positive transition for students from primary to secondary school. Seventeen teachers and 435 eleven- to sixteen-year-olds across five SE networks participated in this study, in which an SL experience was embedded in the SE season. All the networks included one intact group of secondary school students and between one and three intact groups of primary school students. The programme comprised between 18 and 21 physical education (PE) lessons for each secondary school group, and between 14 and 18 PE lessons for each primary school group. A total of 40 volunteer secondary school students (28 girls and 12 boys) performed the role of SL coordinators, coaching primary school students in several sessions. The data were obtained through focus groups with students and primary school teachers and interviews with secondary school teachers during and after the programme implementation. The results were analysed through the lens of situated learning. The integration of SE and SL has led both to legitimate peripheral participation and real participation in the community of practice, through the connection established by SE roles. SL reconfigures SE, allowing purposes that might be of significant educational relevance to be addressed, such as a positive transition from primary to secondary school. The secondary school students who acted as SL coordinators assumed their responsibilities to a greater degree than in previous SE seasons and gained a deeper understanding of the roles.