Gagnon, Martel, Nadeau & Michaud -
SRG 2007
Français
Project summary
Essentially, the purpose of this research project is to implement a program, such as the
Team Pentathlon, in primary and secondary schools to encourage physical activity and study various aspects of the program implementation process. More specifically, we:
- describe the development of the students’ physical activities (nature, frequency, and duration
of physical activity sessions) through the Team Pentathlon;
- analyze the action strategies used by physical educators to establish a process for “adopting
a healthy and active lifestyle” during the implementation of the Team Pentathlon;
- analyze the students’ response within their team as part of the Team Pentathlon to improve
or maintain their level of physical activity;
- describe the students’ views about their physical educators’ actions to encourage them
to participate in the Team Pentathlon.
The analysis of preliminary research data relating to the 1 st objective of the study shows that 84% of the students (N=1038), both girls and boys, who participated in the Pentathlon were active
or very active during the eight weeks of the program. More specifically, the Pentathlon led them to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of their physical activity and diversify
their activities by trying new ones or new sports. In addition, 85% of the students said that
they wanted to participate in another Pentathlon, mainly because the program genuinely helped them to become more active. The study’s findings concerning the other three objectives
are currently being processed
This study is motivated by actual and rather urgent social needs. It tackles the problem of
sedentary living in young people and helps meet a professional need experienced by most
physical education teachers, specifically the lack of operational strategies likely to have a
tangible impact on their students’ lifestyles. The research issue is that there is very little
empirical evidence on effective strategies that help young people become more active. This
study therefore aims to promote changes in the professional practices of physical education
teachers and in their students’ lifestyles, and to provide knowledge on the actions that the
physical education teachers and the students actually take to induce these changes. The study
will first bring forward practical knowledge based on the key strategies of physical education
teachers to implement a program aimed at increasing physical activity levels. The Pentathlon en équipe (team pentathlon) program seeks to help students increase their physical activity levels,
or to maintain them if they are already adequate. Twenty physical education teachers have
volunteered to take part in the project. These teachers will implement the Pentathlon en équipe
program with their own selected group of regular students (grades 5-6 or 7-8). The study will
also provide insight into the steps students take to enhance or maintain their physical activity
levels. Approximately 500 students from classes selected by physical education teachers will be
called on to actively engage in the Pentathlon en équipe program. These students will be asked
to provide information on the steps they take to achieve the greatest possible success in the
Pentathlon en équipe program. The first two years of the project will be primarily focused on
collecting data. A meta-analysis of case studies will be conducted in the project’s third year
(N=20 teachers; 100 student teams).
SCRI 2007 Presentation Slides
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