Examining the Effects of Physical Education Teacher Behaviors on Actual Motor Competence and the Associations Among Actual Motor Competence, Perceived Motor Competence, Enjoyment in Physical Education, and Physical Activity in Early Childhood

Physical Education (PE) can be considered a black box when the interactions between the teacher and the students are unknown. PE as the black box has been embedded in the process-product paradigm. PE teachers can be critical role models for fostering students’ actual motor competence (AMC) because students can learn from what they observe from teachers’ behaviors. Additionally, AMC, perceived motor competence (PMC), and enjoyment in PE can be potential factors to increase students’ PA in schoolbased setting. Therefore, this dissertation consists of two studies that examine PE teacher behaviors, AMC, PMC, enjoyment in PE, and PA in early childhood (aged 3-5 years). The purpose of Study 1 is to examine the relationship between teacher behavior on young children’s AMC. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between PE teacher behavior and children’s AMC. The regression was statistically significant (R2 = .31, F (5, 58) = 5.10, p = <.001). Based on the qualitative measures of teaching performance scale (QMTPS), demonstration (β = 0.98, p = <.001), qualitative cues (β= 0.54, p= .001), and specific congruent feedback (β = 1.07, p = .003) positively related to AMC. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine associations among AMC, PMC, enjoyment in PE, and PA as described in the conceptual model developed by Stodden et al. (2008), and expanded with the inclusion of motivation by Menescardi et al. (2022). Nonparametric correlation tests and mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. This study showed that AMC has a strong positive correlation with PA (r = 0.45, p = <.001). However, the relationship between AMC and enjoyment in PE, the mediated PMC pathway from AMC to PA, and the mediating role of PMC between AMC and PA were not significant. Overall, this dissertation simultaneously attempted to show that teacher behaviors in PE have positive relationships with children’s AMC and that AMC, PMC, enjoyment in PE, and PA in early childhood are all related. Although some hypotheses were not supported, the findings shed light into the development of a comprehensive model. PE researchers can now expand this line of inquiry to test this new comprehensive model.