Observation of Communication by Physical Education Teachers: Detecting Patterns in Verbal Behavior

The aim of this study was to analyze the verbal behavior of primary school physical education teachers in a natural classroom setting in order to investigate patterns in social constructivist communication strategies before and after participation in a training program designed to familiarize teachers with these strategies. The participants were three experienced physical education teachers interacting separately with 65 students over a series of classes. Written informed consent was obtained from all the students' parents or legal guardians. An indirect observation tool (ADDEF) was designed specifically for the study within the theoretical framework, and consisted of a combined field format, with three dimensions, and category systems. Each dimension formed the basis for building a subsequent system of exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories. Twenty-nine sessions, grouped into two separate modules, were coded using the Atlas.ti 7 program, and a total of 1991 units (messages containing constructivist discursive strategies) were recorded. Analysis of intraobserver reliability showed almost perfect agreement. Lag sequential analysis, which is a powerful statistical technique based on the calculation of conditional and unconditional probabilities in prospective and retrospective lags, was performed in GSEQ5 software to search for verbal behavior patterns before and after the training program. At both time points, we detected a pattern formed by requests for information combined with the incorporation of students' contributions into the teachers' discourse and re-elaborations of answers. In the post-training phase, we detected new and stronger patterns in certain sessions, indicating that programs combining theoretical and practical knowledge can effectively increase teachers' repertoire of discursive strategies and ultimately promote active engagement in learning. This has important implications for the evaluation and development of teacher effectiveness in practice and formal education programs.