Teacher or student-centred model? Step-by-step analysis of basic psychological needs of a new sport – goubak

This study evaluated the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness, and novelty) in Year 5–6 students (10–12 years old) by an alternative and new sport, goubak, using two pedagogical models, i.e., sport education and direct instruction. A total of 110 students (57 boys and 53 girls) participated in a quasi-experimental study. To validate the implementation of both models, the lessons were video-recorded, and 50% of recordings were randomly selected and sent to two independent teachers/researchers outside the study with experience in both models to be evaluated using a checklist. The instrument used was the basic
psychological needs in physical education scale, including the items of the novelty need satisfaction scale. Overall, 17 items were used to assess autonomy (4), competence (4), relatedness (4), and novelty (5) in general aspects related to physical education classes before and after the intervention. The anonymity and confidentiality of students were guaranteed at all times as well as ethics considerations. The data were analysed by the IBM SPSS Statistics office software package version 25.0. The performed analysis showed better results for Year 5 than Year 6 for both models; there were no differences by gender, which confirmed the goubak’s coeducational character. Though there were no significant differences in the satisfaction of needs for both models, autonomy and competence in the direct instruction model were thwarted. The levels of relatedness and novelty were
maintained in both groups. Intergroup differences were better for sport education in relation to autonomy and novelty. In conclusion, the obtained results suggest the positive influence of goubak (regardless of model used) and advantages of student-centred models.