Browsing by Author "Eteläsaari, Laura"

According to previous research, self-esteem has a connection with well-being, behavior and learning of a person. Well accomplished physical education enables supporting positive self-concept. The aim of this research was to study how pupils describe the ways class teachers have supported their self-esteem during physical education classes and to compare the answers to class teachers' methods they had used to build pupils' self-esteem in physical education. Theories and models related to self-esteem, as well as physical education at school, were examined as a theoretical framework. Five-dimensional model of self-esteem by Borba was chosen as the guiding theory of the study. The dimensions are security, selfhood, affiliation, mission and competence. 95 sixth graders participated a questionnaire, which had open questions and statements about building self-esteem in physical education classes. The answers were compared to 19 class teachers' answers about the same subject. In the study, the open questions were analyzed using theory-guided content analysis as a method. The study shows that according to sixth graders class teachers have succeeded to support pupils' self-esteem with several different ways, which also matched well with Borba's theory of building self-esteem. The sixth graders and class teachers had quite similar ways to describe the methods of supporting self-esteem. The corresponding methods were positive attention and feedback, setting easier goals, avoiding competition and emphasizing the significance of exercise. The review of quantitative statements showed that both pupils and their teachers considered creating secure feeling during physical education classes the most successful component. The results are useful when teachers consider methods to support self-esteem of pupils in physical education classes.