MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE, REASONS FOR DISCIPLINE AND BEHAVIOR IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships among the perceptions of the motivational climate, students' reasons for being disciplined, students' self report on discipline-indiscipline, and students' behavior assessed by their teachers in physical education lessons. For this, 2189 students, with ages between 13 to 17 years, completed questionnaires about Motivational Class Climate, Reasons for Discipline, and Discipline-Indiscipline. Teachers, at the same time, assessed the students' Behavior in physical education. Firstly, the psychometric properties of the instruments used were analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). Then, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was carried out to predict the students' behavior and discipline. Results showed a direct relationship between the perception of learning climate and students' discipline. The implications of these findings for teaching-learning process are discussed.