Teacher Role Model and Students' Physical Activity

Introduction. Physical activity is an important factor in health risk prevention, which improves the quality of life, as well as promotes both physical and mental health preservation [1, 2]. Each year, the lack of physical activity causes death of 600,000 people in Europe - approximately 6% of the total population [3]. Despite the significant number of studies that have been conducted on students' physical activity, it is also being claimed that studies on the teenage group are essential yet scarce, and the results are ambiguous [4]. This confirms the need for more such studies in order to better determine the significant factors in the promotion of students' physical activity. Material and methods. 339 students aged 11 to 19 participated in the collection of data base: 147 boys and 192 girls. Average age of participants was: 14.6 years. 75 students aged 14-19 years (33 girls and 42 boys) were involved in the pedagogical experiment. The average age of the participants was 16-19 years in School 1 (11 girls and 18 boys), and 14-17 years in School 2 (19 girls and 27 boys). Average age of participants was: 16.3 years. Three sports teachers participated in the pedagogical experiment as well. During the course of the experiment, teachers developed a model of pedagogical interaction in physical education classes. At each school the experiment lasted for 14 weeks. In both schools physical education classes were held twice a week. Results. Based on factor analysis, a model of pedagogical interactions promoting physical activity of students was developed. According to the results of the physical activity habits test (inventory) we can conclude that students have experienced positive and statistically significant changes in their physical activity. The boys were considerably more active during classes where the teacher was present as a participant of physical activities. Conclusions. Teachers and students remark that the applied contents of the pedagogical interaction model have positive effects on the interaction between students and teachers and stimulate physical activity of students.