What is a focus on effort and improvement in PE?

A focus on effort and improvement means prioritising the individual development of every child in the class.  Sometimes referred to as a mastery motivational climate, success in PE is no longer inextricably linked with the concept of ‘winning’.   All pupils can then perceive themselves as being successful, as success is defined as improvement, learning and effort rather than a single group or individual ‘winner’ (Morgan, 2019).  Success becomes self-referenced against previous best performances and is achievable for all children in PE as means of enhancing their confidence and motivation. 

Strategies to focus on effort and improvement

Purposefully selected activities and approaches within the PE lesson can make clear to the pupils that effort and improvement are being prioritised.  The examples of activities and approaches highlighted below have an explicit focus on this area and elements of each can be integrated into most PE lessons.  These sample activities and approaches are not exhaustive and an emphasis on effort and improvement can be evident from the words and actions of the teacher in any PE lesson.

Approach 1 Teacher Communication

Teacher communication and discussion with the pupils can transmit the message that development and learning are the priority. When engaging in an activity, try replacing 'who won?' or 'what was the score?' with 'how did your team play?' or ‘what did you improve since the last day?’ or ‘what might you work on for the next day?’.  Further useful phrases and questions to encourage pupil effort and improvement in the PE lesson might include;

Approach 2 Individual activities which aim to improve on previous best 

Invite your class to engage in activities where pupils try to beat their own personal best (e.g. score/time).  Encourage all pupils to set goals and keep a record, written or verbally, of their progress and improvement. As teacher, seek feedback on how much improvement took place rather than who has the ‘highest’ score or ‘fastest’ time in the class.  These type of activities can take place in a group (e.g. how many tags did you get in the game?) or paired/individual context as we see in the below video. In this short clip from the PE at Home series, we see a pupil working on their kicking and catching skills, setting a goal and tracking their improvement in an activity.

Approach 3 Group activities which aim to improve on previous best

Student teams achievement division (STAD) is a specific co-operative learning approach where teams work together to achieve the best possible ‘improvement score’ in an activity.  Team progress is measured at the start and end of the activity, and the team that shows the best collective improvement are the winners.  Check out our STAD sample lessons and case studies to see how you can use this approach to focus on effort and improvement in your PE class’.

Approach 5 Autonomy and Choice

Providing an element of choice in the PE lesson is complimentary to a focus on effort and improvement through goal setting. Within this approach students will have some autonomy to participate in activities most relevant to their own improvement.  A number of strategies for providing autonomy and choice in PE are outlined in the downloadable poster below  and further information on autonomy and choice in the PE lesson is available here.

Approach 6 Self-assessment

Social public peer comparison can have a negative effect on motivation for some pupils.  Feedback provided more privately to pupils on an individual basis through teacher communication or self-assessment templates (see comment section at bottom of self-assessment) may be more beneficial to pupils lacking confidence in the area of PE.  Feedback focused on the process (e.g. teaching points of jumping) rather than outcome (distance jumped) of clearly identified criteria may also support a wider number of children to experience success in the PE lesson.  These assessment templates, if repeated may also allow a pupil to compare current with previous performance, show progression and build confidence.  Pupil effort can also be highlighted within these self-assessment templates or the teacher may, for example, ask pupils to verbally rate their effort on a scale of 1-10 and ask them to think about how they could move further up the scale.

Approach 7 Focus on personal quality of commitment

The personal quality of commitment identifies ‘giving your best effort’ as a key teaching point and is complimentary with an overall focus on effort and improvement in PE.  Explicitly teach commitment in PE using the resources available here.

Why a focus on effort and improvement?

A focus on effort and improvement can support the development of a mastery motivational climate within PE.  This climate within the PE class has been found to boost pupils’ intrinsic motivation (Hastie et al 2013, Standage et al 2003).