Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) has been applied as a core concept for understanding and promoting students' motivation in physical education (PE) and shows considerable relevance for theoretically and empirically justifying the significance of PE. However, systematically organized reviews of empirical research on AGT are limited to physical activities without explicit PE perspective.
Therefore, a research group from Braunschweig, Augsburg, Konstanz and Munich conducted a systematic review in order to 1) compile basic tenets of AGT and its pedagogical potential for PE and 2) bring together key findings and discuss future research. A total of 91 studies were included for analysis. Mastery goals, mastery-approach goals, and mastery climates appear to be highly relevant for supporting multiple political and curricular PE aims such as psychological well-being, motor skill development, general sports participation, prosocial behavior, and aspects of healthy living. Achievement goal profiles combining high mastery goals, high to low performance goals, and performance-approach goals partly show desirable functions.
The integration of the results into everyday school PE practice is a promising avenue for promoting students' motivation in PE and for fulfilling the overall political and curricular aims.
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Jaitner, D., Rinas, R., Becker, C., Niermann, C., Breithecker, J., and Mess, F. (2019). Supporting Subject Justification by Educational Psychology: A Systematic Review of Achievement Goal Motivation in School Physical Education. Frontiers in Education 4(70). doi: 10.3389/feduc.2019.00070.