MYSTICAL POETRY AND SPORT: AN EXPERIENCE OF DIDACTIC TRANSPOSITION BASED ON THE STUDENTS' INTEREST

The mystical poetry of the Spanish Renaissance is a topic included in the literature curriculum of the third year of compulsory secondary education in Spain.This subject tends to have little connection with the reality, individual interests and prior knowledge of 14-year-old Spanish students.According to interest theories, developing meaningful learning based on an intrinsic interest in this subject can be difficult if there is nothing to link the student to it.Therefore, a process of didactic transposition is necessary to transform academic knowledge into teachable and comprehensible content for students.Based on these foundations, the objective was set of designing an activity that stimulates the situational interest of a group of 25 students towards the mystical poetry of the Spanish Renaissance.Previously, sport was identified as a major interest of the students.It was then linked to mystical poetry through the devotion that some athletes arouse in young people, comparing it with the devotion felt by mystical poets, such as Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus, towards God.The students read, analysed and debated the boundaries between devotion and fanaticism, as well as the risks of the latter for personal and social development.This study presents a quasi-experimental design that analyses the impact of a planned intervention on students' situational interest.During the implementation, data on the activation and maintenance of situational interest was collected through participant observation (teacher) and non-participant observation (external teacher) and a questionnaire for students.This allowed for triangulation of the information.The observation matrix, with five items, used a four-point linear estimation scale.The questionnaire included 10 items and used a four-point Likert scale.The reliability of the questionnaire, measured by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.784.The data obtained by the three means reflect that the students enjoyed the activity, interacted with each other and expressed themselves with initiative.However, while teachers considered the students' performance to be adequate, the students themselves expressed a low perception of their competence.This question raises the prospect of analysing possible factors behind these perceptions and teaching strategies that contribute to the development of self-concept in these students.Nevertheless, it is considered that the didactic transposition was significant in stimulating situational interest in mystical poetry.