The influence of the teacher on the motivation, learning strategies, critical thinking and academic performance of high school students in Physical Education

The studies that have existed so far in the field of Physical Education (PE) have focused mainly on the adoption of healthy lifestyles by adolescents. However, there is no evidence of studies that have focused on the learning processes of students. Therefore, the objective of this study has been to analyze the influence of the teacher (support vs. control) on motivation, metacognition strategies and critical thinking and the academic performance of students during these classes. The responses of 545 high school students, aged between 13 and 19 years, were analyzed through a model of structural equations. The results have shown that support for autonomy positively predicted the satisfaction of psychological needs (NP) and negatively the frustration of them; On the contrary, psychological control was inversely related to satisfaction and frustration. The satisfaction of NPs positively predicted the motivation, while the frustration of NPs predicted negatively. Motivation positively predicted metacognition strategies and critical thinking and these last two positively predicted academic performance. This study shows the importance of the role that the teacher adopts and the importance that creates a classroom climate that favors the use of deep learning strategies to improve the academic performance of the students.