Primary school children's reflections on Physical Education lessons: An attributional analysis and possible implications for teacher action

The thoughts and feelings of preadolescent children attending three primary schools in the West of England about reasons for doing well or not doing well in Physical Education lessons were explored by means of an open-ended set of questions drawn from attribution theory. A further aim was to seek suggestions from the children of ways in which Physical Education (PE) lessons could be improved and refer these to the attention of teachers. Striking differences were found in the attitudes and attributions of girls and boys, with the latter more likely than the former to identify success in terms of some form of physical demonstration of ability. Whilst both sexes identified a positive attitude as associated with success, boys were more likely to look for signs of health or physical fitness, whereas girls were more impressed by effort and evidence of a learning orientation. These attributions held also for perceived lack of success. However, the notion of effort itself seems likely to hold different meanings for boys and girls. Although lesson enjoyment was seen by a significant number of children as a key factor leading to success, the pupils, on the whole, tended to attribute both success and failure to internal, changeable, controllable factors.