A one-year follow-up of basic psychological need satisfactions in physical education and associated in-class and total physical activity

This is a self-archived version of an original article. This version may differ from the original in pagination and typographic details. Author(s): Title: Year: Version: Copyright: Rights: Rights url: Please cite the original version: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ A one-year follow-up of basic psychological need satisfactions in physical education and associated in-class and total physical activity © The Author(s) 2020 Accepted version (Final draft) Gråstén, Arto; Yli-Piipari, Sami; Huhtiniemi, Mikko; Salin, Kasper; Hakonen, Harto; Jaakkola, Timo Gråstén, A., Yli-Piipari, S., Huhtiniemi, M., Salin, K., Hakonen, H., & Jaakkola, T. (2021). A oneyear follow-up of basic psychological need satisfactions in physical education and associated inclass and total physical activity. European Physical Education Review, 27(3), 436-454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X20957356 2021 Running head: BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A one-year follow-up of basic psychological need satisfactions in physical education and 8 associated in-class and total physical activity 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 2 Abstract 26 This study examined basic psychological need satisfactions for competence, autonomy, and social 27 relatedness in physical education (PE) and their contributions to accelerometer-based in-class and 28 total moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across a one-year follow-up. Participants were 29 523 students (girls 280, boys 243; Mage = 11.26 ± .31) and the data were collected using self-reports 30 and waist-worn accelerometers. The key findings were 1) competence and social relatedness need 31 satisfaction at baseline (T0) predicted total MVPA at follow-up (T1) via total MVPA at T0, 2) in32 class MVPA at T0 predicted total MVPA at T1 via total MVPA at T0, 3) in-class MVPA was 33 directly associated with total MVPA at T0 and T1, and 4) boys scored higher than girls on 34 competence and relatedness need satisfaction at T0. These findings indicate that the need 35 satisfactions for competence and social relatedness in PE are central components facilitating the 36 greatest increases in total MVPA participation. To improve student outcomes, it is essential that all 37 children receive positive and satisfying PE experiences. Enhancing the readiness and capability of 38 preand in-service teachers through teacher training programmes is vital to raising awareness of the 39 basic psychological need satisfactions behind autonomous motivation and greater MVPA 40 engagement. 41 42 Keywords 43 competence, autonomy, social relatedness, school, cross-lagged model 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 3 Introduction 51 Apart from many advantages, modern lifestyles have changed in less beneficial ways. For example, 52 only 30% of children meet the current guidelines of 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous 53 physical activity (MVPA), with boys being more physically active than girls (Tremblay et al., 54 2016). MVPA is defined as all physical activities, such as brisk walking, running, or active games, 55 that increase the heart rate and cause rapid breathing (World Health Organization, 2018). It has 56 been proposed that physical education (PE) is the most important cost-effective way of increasing 57 regular MVPA at the population level, as it reaches the majority of school-aged children (Bassett et 58 al., 2013). However, achieving the objectives of PE, including life-long engagement in physical 59 activity, is challenging if children are not motivated to actively participate during their PE classes 60 (Ntoumanis, 2001). Despite the growing body of studies on MVPA-related motivation (De Meyer et 61 al., 2014; Haerens et al., 2013; 2015; Wang et al., 2016), understanding of the associations between 62 psychological need satisfactions, as posited in the Self-determination Theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 63 1985; 2000; Ryan and Deci, 2017), and accelerometer-based MVPA scores in PE over a prolonged 64 period, is lacking. This study examined these associations across one year in a sample of school65 aged children. 66 School PE is planned and progressive curricular learning, which is delivered to all students 67 and involves aspects of “learning to move” (becoming more physically competent) and “moving to 68 learn” (learning through movement) (Harris, 2015). One of the main objectives of school PE is to 69 provide students with an exposure that will build up their interest toward in-class and out-of-school 70 MVPA (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2014). In Finland, where this study took place, 71 schools, taking local conditions into account, design their own curricula within the framework of 72 the national curriculum. Typically, children in grades three to six receive 90 minutes of PE weekly 73 (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2014). In many schools, girls and boys are taught 74 separately in gender-specific PE groups. Based on previous studies, children’s MVPA during PE 75 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 4 classes depends on many factors, such as skill levels (Fairclough and Stratton, 2006), lesson themes 76 (Slingerland, 2014), gender (Slingerland, 2014), the lesson venue (Mersh and Fairclough, 2010), 77 resources available (Levin et al., 2001), teacher specialisation (Sallis et al., 1997), and class size 78 (McKenzie et al., 2000). Since previous research has shown motivation to be an important 79 determinant of in-class MVPA, increasing attention has been paid to the role of PE motivation in 80 total MVPA (Ntoumanis and Standage, 2009; Vanttaja et al., 2017). 81 SDT (Deci and Ryan, 1985; 2000; Ryan and Deci, 2017) has been found advantageous as a 82 theoretical framework for understanding behavioural processes in the PE context. According to 83 SDT, the basis of motivational behaviour lies in the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for 84 competence, autonomy, and social relatedness (Deci and Ryan, 1985; 2000; Ryan and Deci, 2017). 85 Need for competence refers to the need to be successful in an activity (Ryan and Deci, 2017). 86 Autonomy is the need to engage in activities for growth, volition, and willingness, and social 87 relatedness the need to feel connected and interact with others. If school PE helps students to meet 88 or satisfy these needs by increasing their perceptions of efficacy in given activities (competence), 89 increasing their opportunities to develop interest or value in activities (autonomy), and supporting 90 and encouraging their relationships with their teachers and peers (relatedness), students are likely to 91 be more autonomously motivated (i.e. engage in activities for growth, stimulation, and enjoyment) 92 to participate in PE. In the PE context, some studies have found that competence need satisfaction is 93 the strongest predictor of higher autonomous motivation (Standage et al., 2005; Taylor et al., 2010). 94 Despite this, the current focus in the research literature is the combination of need satisfaction with 95 need frustration (Chen et al., 2015; Ryan et al., 2016; Warburton et al., 2020), as they have been 96 shown to co-occur with differential effects on the outcomes experienced by young people in 97 learning settings such as school PE (De Meyer et al., 2014; Haerens et al., 2013; 2015; Sun et al., 98 2017; Wang et al., 2016). In line with the objectives of the Finnish national PE curriculum (Finnish 99 National Agency for Education, 2014), the present study focused on need satisfactions over 100 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 5 frustrations, as the satisfactions may have protective effects even when need frustration is 101 experienced (Warburton et al., 2020). Hence, to optimise autonomous motivation in PE, positive 102 need satisfactions could be enhanced (De Meyer et al., 2014; Haerens et al., 2013; 2015; Sun et al., 103 2017; Wang et al., 2016). Empirical evidence supports this assumption as the need satisfaction for 104 competence (Cox et al., 2008; Gråstén and Watt, 2017), autonomy (Chatzisarantis and Hagger, 105 2009; Lonsdale et al., 2009) and social relatedness (Gråstén and Watt, 2017; Taylor et al., 2010) 106 have been shown to be associated with both total MVPA engagement and in-class MVPA. In 107 addition, associations between in-class and total MVPA have been found in school-based PE 108 studies (Dale et al., 2000; Gråstén et al., 2019). 109 With respect to gender, girls have been found to report less competence (Mouratidis et al., 110 2015; Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014) and autonomy need satisfaction (Mouratidis et al., 2015; Soini 111 et al., 2007) but more relatedness need satisfaction in PE than boys (Gråstén and Watt, 2017). Some 112 studies have found no gender differences in relatedness satisfaction among school students 113 (Mouratidis et al., 2015; Xiang et al., 2017) or that boys reported higher relatedness need 114 satisfaction than girls (Ntoumanis et al., 2009; Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014). 115 To summarise, the impact of SDT-based motivation in the PE context has been widely 116 researched (De Meyer et al., 2014; Haerens et al., 2013; 2015; Wang et al., 2016). The most 117 relevant application of SDT in PE pedagogy is that a teacher can motivate students to engage and 118 learn in class through supporting need satisfactions (Chang et al., 2016). Intervention studies aimed 119 at increasing students’ self-determined motivation in PE are well-documented in the literature 120 (Aelterman et al., 2014; Chatzisarantis and Hagger, 2009; Franco and Coterón, 2017). Of the three 121 needs, most previous intervention studies have aimed at providing autonomy support in PE classes 122 as a way of stimulating students’ motivation (Chang et al., 2016). It has also been found that 123 classroom experiences of autonomy and competence in PE are influenced more by teachers than 124 peers, whereas relatedness is influenced by both peers and teachers (Vasconcellos et al., 2019). 125 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 6 Despite the large body of previous SDT-based studies on the topic of PE, several important issues 126 remain unclear. For example, it is largely unknown how changes in all three basic psychological 127 need satisfactions in school PE contribute to MVPA in PE and, more importantly, to total MVPA 128 over time. A recent review by Vansteenkiste et al. (2020) and a need profile study by Warburton et 129 al. (2020) concluded that more longitudinal work on need satisfactions over time is needed. 130 Previous studies conducted among elementary school children (Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014), 131 secondary school (Ntoumanis et al., 2009; Ratelle and Duchesne, 2014) and university students 132 (Gillet et al., 2019) have revealed considerable heterogeneity in need satisfaction trajectories. 133 This follow-up study extends previous research on the topic by investigating the longitudinal 134 relationships between the three psychological need satisfactions in PE and in-class and total MVPA. 135 In addition to need satisfaction studies with adolescents (Ntoumanis et al., 2009; Ratelle and 136 Duchesne, 2014), it would be also important to examine the longitudinal associations between need 137 satisfactions and MVPA scores over time in elementary school children, as it is at this stage that the 138 decline in physical activity usually begins (Slingerland, 2014; Telama et al., 2005; Tremblay et al, 139 2016). Since boys have been found to be more physically active (Tremblay et al., 2016; Yli-Piipari 140 et al., 2012) and score higher on competence (Fairclough, 2003; Yli-Piipari et al., 2012) and 141 autonomy needs (Mouratidis et al., 2015; Soini et al., 2007) than girls, and conflicting findings have 142 been reported for social relatedness need satisfaction between girls and boys (Gråstén and Watt, 143 2017; Mouratidis et al., 2015; Ntoumanis et al., 2009; Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014; Xiang et al., 144 2017), gender differences were also examined over time. The present findings may be utilised to 145 develop more effective PE teaching practices to fulfil basic need satisfactions, especially in younger 146 children, as it is crucial that children have positive physical activity experiences in PE during their 147 elementary school years (Jaakkola et al., 2019). 148 Mindful of these considerations, the specific aims of this study were 1) to examine the 149 associations between the need satisfaction for competence, autonomy, social relatedness, in-class 150 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 7 MVPA, and total MVPA across a period of one year (Figure 1) and 2) to analyse gender differences 151 in these associations, means, and variances over time. Based on the current literature review, higher 152 satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness was expected to be positively 153 linked with higher in-class MVPA and total MVPA at baseline and also at follow-up, although 154 these associations have not been previously investigated in a follow-up design. Positive associations 155 between in-class and total MVPA were also expected. Girls were expected to report higher social 156 relatedness need satisfaction, while boys were believed to score higher on competence and 157 autonomy need satisfaction. 158 159 [Figure 1 here] 160 161 Methods 162 Participants and procedure 163 Participants were 523 (girls 280, boys 243) Finnish grade five children aged 11 to 13 with a mean 164 age of 11.26 ± .31 years at the beginning of the data collection. Children were recruited from 18 165 randomly selected public-sector schools in Southern (26% of students) and Central (74%) Finland. 166 The sample distribution reflects the basic characteristics of Finnish schools (i.e. Finnish-speaking, 167 middle-size schools with approx. 500 students per school with no rankings, comparisons or 168 competition between students, schools or regions, and every school serving the same national goals 169 and drawing from the same pool of university-trained teachers). Through direct contact with the 170 schools’ principals, all grade five students were invited to participate. Children represented 38 study 171 groups taught by classroom teachers, who were the same at both T0 and T1. The total number of 172 children completing the survey was 510 (T0) and 473 (T1) and with accelerometer data 415 (T0) 173 and 274 (T1). All students participated in regular PE classes (two x 45 minutes of PE per week), no 174 students with special needs participated in the study, although the opportunity was given to all 175 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 8 students equally. Class sizes varied between schools, students typically being taught PE in groups 176 of 16 to 28 students. All teachers were specialised in elementary school education, but had been 177 trained to teach PE as well. The content of all PE classes focused primarily on developing 178 fundamental movement skills, i.e. running, jumping, and throwing in soccer and track and field 179 activities (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2014). 180 The first measurement phase was conducted in August-September 2017 (T0) and the second 181 during the same months in 2018 (T1). Both measurements were implemented using the same 182 procedures. Students answered to the questionnaires in the schools’ computer labs or classrooms 183 under the supervision of teachers and researchers. Students were encouraged to answer honestly, 184 and they were assured that their responses were confidential. Children were advised ask for help if 185 needed and told that their participation was optional and that they could withdraw at any time 186 without any consequences. To implement the objective MVPA measurements, researchers entered 187 the students’ demographic details and gave them instructions on how to use the activity monitors. 188 Teachers collected the accelerometers and the researchers downloaded the data using the 189 manufacturer’s software (Actilife 3.6.0, ActiGraph). Participation was voluntary and was not 190 rewarded with extra credits. Students who returned signed parental consents were permitted to 191 participate in the study. Students who had a medical condition or physical injuries reported by 192 parents before the commencement of the study were excluded. The ethical committee of the local 193 university approved the study. 194 195 Measures 196 Demographic information was collected during PE classes in the same weeks as the MVPA 197 measurements. Height (130 to 172 cm, M = 148 ± 7 cm) and weight (26 to 76 kg, M = 41.5 ± 8.5 198 kg) were measured. Body mass index (14 to 33, M = 19 ± 2.9) was calculated (kg/m2) using the cut199 off points for 12 to 16 years old girls (22.14 to 24.54) and boys (21.56 to 24.19) presented by Cole 200 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 15 likely to be similar across cultures (Chen et al., 2015), strategies introduced to support competence 349 satisfaction in PE classes may best work in Finnish or other less authoritarian school systems. In the 350 Finnish school system, relationships between teachers and students tends towards informality, 351 meaning that students find it easy to approach their teachers (Kauppi and Pörhölä, 2012). In school 352 cultures with more formal teacher-student relationships, such methods may need some 353 modification. As supporting competence need satisfaction in PE classes appears to be important in 354 ensuring positive MVPA engagement over time, it would be crucial to identify students, whose 355 level of competence satisfaction is low. This may be even more valuable than viewing the transition 356 over time itself as a risk for poor student outcomes (Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014). 357 Second, in line with previously established associations (Gråstén and Watt, 2017; Taylor et 358 al., 2010) social relatedness satisfaction at baseline was related with total MVPA at follow-up via 359 baseline MVPA. Children who reported positive relatedness need satisfaction when engaged in PE 360 activities were generally more physically active. This finding underlines the importance of the 361 social aspects of PE lessons for total MVPA engagement. To support social relatedness need 362 satisfaction across PE lessons, students could be given opportunities in their learning teams to 363 develop their content knowledge and refine their performance through peer teaching instructional 364 tasks (Standage and Ryan, 2012; Wallhead et al., 2013). Furthermore, students could be provided 365 with a well-structured environment that gives clear guidelines (open teacher-student 366 communication) and opportunities for social learning (cooperation between students), provides 367 optimal challenges, and offers detailed feedback on how to achieve desired outcomes (Taylor and 368 Ntoumanis, 2007). Given that some previous studies have revealed direct associations between 369 larger class sizes and higher levels of antisocial behaviour (Reeves, 2010), class sizes should be 370 judiciously considered, when grouping PE students. If classes are too large, the PE teacher does not 371 have enough time to give detailed student feedback as a way of optimising learning outcomes. All 372 such improvements rely on good cooperative working arrangements between teachers, students, and 373 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 16 other school personnel, including school principals, who play important roles in supporting clear 374 and consistent communication via the creation of a positive school climate (Smith et al., 2014). 375 From perspective of PE teachers, attempts to implement respectful cooperation between schools and 376 families could support social relatedness need satisfaction and the positive development of the 377 student-student as well as teacher-student relationship (Aldrup et al., 2018). Students in turn could 378 make a conscious effort to be positive role models for others and demonstrate good sportsmanship 379 within the boundaries set in cooperation by teachers and students (Smith et al., 2014). 380 An opposite and unexpected finding to the previous results in the field (Chatzisarantis and 381 Hagger, 2009; Lonsdale et al., 2009) was the negative relationship between autonomy and total 382 MVPA. In other words, students with higher total MVPA scores reported lower autonomy 383 satisfaction in PE classes. Based on the current data, it is difficult to draw clear reasons behind this 384 negative association. One possible explanation may be that PE lessons during the measurement 385 period did not support students’ autonomy need satisfaction, although students were physically 386 active outside PE lessons, for instance when participating in leisure sports. This could be the case, 387 for instance, when students are provided with activities that they dislike or find less interesting 388 (Doolittle and Rukavina, 2014). It is possible that the lesson themes (Slingerland, 2014) or 389 resources available (Levin et al., 2001) during the measurement period did not support the need for 390 autonomy, leading students to report low autonomy scores. It should be mentioned that Finnish 391 school PE is not an elective subject but compulsory for all grade 1 to 9 students. Hence, it cannot be 392 assumed that students´ autonomy need satisfaction is fully met in all PE lessons. The associations 393 could have been positive if the measurement period had covered several PE lessons. For example, 394 Chatzisarantis and Hagger (2009) collected PE data during a 5-week intervention. Reeve (2009) 395 suggests several strategies to facilitate positive autonomy need satisfaction in PE classes. For 396 instance, teachers could provide explanatory rationales (articulate the sometimes unmentioned use 397 underlying a teacher’s request), rely on non-controlling language (informational communication 398 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 17 often helps students to diagnose and solve their motivational problems), display patience by 399 allowing students the time they need for self-paced learning to occur (give students time to work in 400 their own way), and acknowledge and accept students’ expressions of negative affect (treat 401 students’ complaints as valid reactions to imposed demands and structures). Although it is difficult 402 to explain the current negative association, it might, based on previous research findings, be fruitful 403 to promote autonomy in curriculum-based activities in PE classes. If successful, this is likely to 404 translate into higher total MVPA scores, which is needed across the life-span (Tremblay et al., 405 2016). 406 The results also showed the importance of MVPA in PE classes and its contribution to total 407 MVPA engagement. As expected, baseline MVPA in PE classes predicted total MVPA at follow408 up. Specifically, in-class MVPA accounted, on average, for 37% of total MVPA in all students over 409 the study period. This result supports previous Finnish (Gråstén et al., 2015; 2019) and international 410 (Bailey et al., 2012) findings. The present total MVPA scores indicated that children’s MVPA 411 levels were insufficient, which is a matter of great concern. Many potential strategies can be 412 deployed to increase the amount of MVPA time in PE classes. Schools could, for instance, review 413 class sizes, reduce time spent in locker rooms, and implement instant activities instead of sitting and 414 waiting for instructions at the beginning and end of the class (McKenzie et al. 2000), establish 415 routines for the more efficient supply of equipment by letting students assist with the care and 416 proper storage of PE teaching materials (Gråstén et al., 2017), integrate objective devices into PE 417 classes to monitor MVPA behaviour (Strand and Reeder, 2013), and reassess MVPA time and use 418 the results to refine and improve practice (Freedson et al., 2012; McKenzie et al. 2000). It is clear 419 that students need more MVPA than schools alone can provide. Hence, ensuring that they have 420 satisfying and positive PE experiences may facilitate the adoption of a more active lifestyle outside 421 of PE. 422 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 18 Finally, in line with previous studies (Mouratidis et al., 2015; Ullrich-French and Cox, 2014), 423 boys had higher baseline competence need satisfaction. Contrary to some previous evidence, boys 424 also had higher baseline social relatedness need satisfaction than girls. Compared to an earlier 425 Finnish study reporting opposite results (Gråstén and Watt, 2017), it is possible that the boys in the 426 present sample experienced more opportunities to interact with peers in out-of-school activities. If 427 so, they may also manifest as higher social relatedness satisfaction scores in PE classes. However, 428 Howie et al. (2010) reported that children who participated more frequently in sports had higher 429 social skill scores than those who participated less frequently in sports. This may also explain the 430 differences between groups in the current study. Many previous studies have reported that 431 interaction with peers plays a critical role in the development of children’s social competence 432 (Branchi et al., 2013; Gifford-Smith and Brownell, 2003) which, although not the same, is closely 433 associated with SDT-based social relatedness. It is also important to remember that physical 434 appearance, physical development, and bodily changes in early adolescent girls appear to be 435 associated with negative perceptions of social relatedness (Craft et al., 2003). If so, this may be 436 reflected in the present lower scores in girls. It has been suggested that perceptions of social 437 relatedness among adolescent girls may be enhanced by emphasizing friendship and social 438 interaction in PE classes and minimising social comparisons (Craft et al., 2003). According to 439 Gibbons (2014), a socially supportive learning environment in PE could be created by including 440 cooperative games and team-building activities, helping students to develop connections with 441 teachers and peers (learn the names of your students, use icebreakers), using group rotation (by the 442 end of the semester everyone has worked with everyone else), reinforcing positive behaviour, 443 avoiding stereotypical language (“girls’ push-ups”), asking students how to create a safer 444 environment, and implementing a respectful process of choosing teammates (you must accept the 445 first person who responds, if someone does not have a group invite them into your group). Thus, 446 there are many practical ways of enhancing social interaction in PE lessons. 447 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 19 448 Limitations and future research directions 449 The strengths of the present study were the relatively large and nationally representative sample 450 size, follow-up design, and the use of objective MVPA measures. The study nevertheless has its 451 limitations. First, self-reported need satisfactions for competence, autonomy, and relatedness may 452 vary in accuracy more than objective measurement protocols, such as observation tools. Second, 453 school-based “real-life” follow-up studies are always vulnerable in that it is not possible to control 454 for all the factors underlying physical activity behaviour. Finally, this study focused on need 455 satisfactions that accorded with the objectives of the national PE curriculum, and thus need 456 frustrations were not included in the measurements. Future studies could investigate teaching 457 strategies that could help standardise practices in PE that support autonomy, competence, and 458 relatedness. As this study focused on student-student relationships in respect of social relatedness 459 need satisfaction, it would also be interesting to look more closely at student-teacher interactions. In 460 addition, the associations between psychological need satisfactions, frustrations, and actual MVPA 461 behaviour could be examined using follow-up designs with children and adolescents at different 462 ages. 463 464 Conclusion 465 The present results showed the importance of in-class MVPA and its contribution to total MVPA 466 engagement. To increase the amount of daily MVPA time, it would seem to be crucial to support 467 the need satisfactions for competence and social relatedness in PE classes. This is especially 468 important among girls, as they normally accrue fewer daily MVPA minutes than boys. An increased 469 use of need-centred teaching strategies could promote student engagement in the PE context. 470 Children could also be more heavily involved in the planning process and implementation of their 471 BASIC NEED SATISFACTION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 20 PE lessons. Such actions could enhance children’s sense of autonomy, competence, social 472 relatedness, in-class MVPA and, most importantly, total MVPA engagement over the long term 473 Concerns arising from these findings were that total MVPA declined over time in both girls 474 and boys, and a smaller proportion of children met the current MVPA guidelines at follow-up. 475 Schools alone cannot provide all the MVPA children need. To help children achieve a physically 476 active lifestyle later in their lives, it is essential to ensure that all students enjoy positive and 477 satisfying PE experiences. To raise awareness of the basic psychological need satisfactions and 478 improve student outcomes, it would be vital, through teacher training programmes, to enhance the 479 readiness and capability of pre-service teachers, as they will play a crucial role in stimulating 480 autonomous motivation and greater MVPA engagement. 481 482 Acknowledgements 483 Authors want to thank Professor Richard Ryan (Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, 484 Australian Catholic University) for pre-reviewing the first version of this manuscript. 485 486 Declaration of conflicting interests 487 The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, 488 and/or publication of this article. 489 490 Funding 491 This study was financially supported by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Otto 492 A. 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