A motivação de alunos do ensino fundamental e médio para as aulas de educação física

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the motivation of elementary and high school students for Physical Education classes in a public school in Maringa - PR.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional descriptive quantitative and qualitative research. Participants were 162 students of both genders, 81 from the 9th grade of elementary school and 81 from the 3rd grade of high school, mean age 15.40 ± 2.06 years. The instruments were the Basic Psychological Needs Scale and open questions about the aspects that motivate and demotivate students for Physical Education classes. Analyses were performed by Mann-Whitney’s U test (p 0.05) were observed in the dimensions of basic psychological needs according to 9th and 3rd grade classes. The comparison according to the gender of the 9th grade students showed higher values (p=0.033) for males in the competence dimension (Md=3.75). The 3rd grade male students also showed higher values (p<0.05) than the girls in the autonomy (Md=3.50) and relationship (Md=3.80) dimensions. As for the reasons that motivate them to participate in Physical Education, the students from both classes presented similar aspects for extrinsic motivation (activities developed) and intrinsic motivation (social relationships). The main demotivating factors for the 9th grade were “theoretical classes” and “sport content”, and for the 3rd grade students “lack of interest of classmates in the activities” and “materials” were the most cited aspects.CONCLUSION: The students from both classes showed moderate motivation, with higher values perceived in the dimensions of competence and relationship. The boys were more satisfied in the dimensions of competence (9th grade), autonomy, and relationship (3rd grade). In addition, students were more extrinsically motivated and the most evident demotivating factors were “theoretical classes” and “lack of interest of classmates in the activities”.