Overall practical Implications

Given the consistent proposition put forth that physical education has a prominent role to play in the process of transfer of learning and lifetime physical activity and the subsequent health benefits of the adoption of a physically active lifestyle, the results of the thesis contribute to a growing body of literature that has explored the psychological mechanisms that underpin the role of physical education in

achieving this objective. Thus, the findings of this thesis may have practical implications.

The results presented in data chapter 8 alongside supportive theoretical literature in relation to social physique anxiety suggest that fostering a positive body image within physical education may have implications for increased perceptions of competence and autonomous motivation. Although there is empirical support for the notion that interventions to increase self determined forms of motivation should be aimed at targeting the psychological mediators of autonomy, competence and relatedness, results from the current study suggest a need to further understand the relationship between body satisfaction within physical education and the psychological mediators. This initial insight suggests that there may be justification for developing interventions or strategies within physical education aimed at increasing levels of situational body image, which

theoretically could have potential implications for physical activity behaviours. However, more work needs to be done to determine exact nature of the

relationship between body satisfaction, the antecedents of motivation and self determined motivation itself. The results presented in data chapter six began to explore some of the potential practical strategies through which this can be achieved, by the examination of differences in body satisfaction scores in relation to lesson content. However, much more research needs to be conducted in order to explore how contextual and pedagogical variables within physical education

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relate to body satisfaction in order for appropriate strategies to be devised to alleviate body image concerns within the context.

Alongside potential practical strategies surrounding body image satisfaction within physical education, specifically chapters 8 and 9 explored aspects of self determination theory. The application of self determination theory within physical education has the recognised potential to act as an intervention to impact

behaviours, cognitions and affects both within and beyond the classroom (as identified in chapter 2). Chapter 8 explored the relationship between perceptions of competence and autonomous motivation. This provides support for the notion that perceptions of competence is an antecedent of self determined motivation and teachers may be able to impact students self determined motivation though

strategies aimed at manipulating competence. Practically teachers should focus upon fostering perceptions of competence in pupils by applying need supportive behaviours within the classroom. The results of chapter seven suggests that the subsequent adoption of more self determined forms of motivation is likely to have implications for pupils perceptions that physical education stimulates them to engage in sports activities outside of school, thus, further justifying the need to develop practical strategies aimed at enhancing more self determined forms of motivation. Overall, this section demonstrates how the findings of the thesis can be utilised to inform practical strategies, however, as will be addressed in the subsequent chapter the study has several limitations that should be addressed in future research.

10. 4 Limitations

Throughout each data chapter presented within this thesis limitations and future research directions have been presented. This section will seek to combine the major limitations identified throughout the thesis and expand upon general limitations that may influence the conclusions drawn from the findings of the research.

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The overall study is limited by the study design; the cross sectional, correlational design with no study intervention allows for only the exploration of relationships between variables and does not allow for causation to be established. The

approach used permitted the answering of the proposed research questions; however, to further the field of study in this area it may be appropriate to design interventions by which establishing cause and effect.

The part of the study presented in chapter six is specifically limited by the nature of classification of lesson types. As discussed in the chapter, during the study design process it was anticipated that the units would be selected to incorporate a balanced range of activities; those which reflected appearance based activities or activities whereby performance is associated with a lean physique and activities and those activities which do not. However, due to the restricted access put in place by schools it was not possible to obtain an equal balance of activities. Henceforth, this meant that not only the balance of activities between categories was unequal but the range of activities within each category was much more diverse than initially anticipated. This may have implications for the findings of the results if the activities within each group are more heterogeneous than initially was intended. For example, if all activities within the fitness and artistic group were based around dance this may lead us to drawn more firm associations about the relationship between lesson contents of this nature. The study could be advanced by grouping activities into more homogenous groups, for example, dance and fitness in separate categories and the same division for racket sports and ball games. This would allow for a deeper exploration of more specific units of activity. This was not possible in the current study due to the unequal balance of activities that resulted through the school selecting units of activities based upon convenience.

Another related issue in regard to lesson content which could be proposed to extend future research is the investigation of swimming within physical education. The literature review put forth a strong argument for the proposition of swimming as a lesson content that is likely to provoke situational disturbances in body image. However, it was not possible to pursue this as only one of the schools that

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took part in the study had an onsite swimming pool. Furthermore, the school that did have the facilities to incorporate swimming more prominently into their schedules did not have swimming on the year 9 curriculum. Future research should explore further issues around the relationships between swimming during physical education and state body image disturbances.

With regard to the assessment of anthropometric variables the study would have been enhanced if information was available for all participants. If this information was available for all pupils this measure could have been entered as a covariate in the analyses involving measures of body image. This could have strengthened the findings of the thesis as data chapter three highlighted the role that these variables may have in an individual’s experience of their body. As previously discussed, the initial aim of the study design was to collect as much anthropometric data from the study population as possible, with at least a sample from each physical education class. In the same respect as issues surrounding the negotiation on access into specific lessons for the collection of questionnaire based data the same issues arose with regard to gaining access to pupils for measurements of BMI and body fat. Out of the four schools that were part of the fieldwork process, three schools permitted access for anthropometric data, however, the extent of entry also varied between schools. In retrospect the willingness of schools to participate in the study would have probably been advanced if this measure was removed. Chapter 9 could be advanced by a measure of physical activity in order to explore the extent to which the measured variables relate to actual physical activity scores. In the initial planning stages it was anticipated that objective measures of physical activity would be obtained for a sample of participants from each physical

education class, however, it slowly became clear that alongside the access problems described above, schools were also not compliant to give access to pupils for physical activity assessments. Future research should look to

incorporate objective physical activity measures in order to further the findings of the current study.

The research could also be advanced by the addition of more contextual variables within physical education. For example, the addition of a measure that explored

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teacher behaviours and the structure of the learning environment would expand upon the work presented in the current thesis. Information on the location and environment in which the lessons were conducting would provide additional factors to explore in future research. Moreover, information on interpersonal relationships, number of pupils per class and students perceptions of the teacher may also help to advance the exploration of relationships between body image and motivation within physical education.

Through the focus group sessions it emerged that the participants appeared reluctant to talk about some of the issues posed to them. The study would have benefited from a more in depth exploration from a qualitative perspective. In retrospect, the nature of the topic probably warranted a period of familiarisation in which an element of trust was established between the researcher and the

participants. The participants may have felt more compelled to explore some of the questions posed to them if they had established a greater level of familiarity and trust with myself. With this in mind, it is proposed that future research should incorporate more in depth qualitative analysis over a long period of time than in the current study.

Addressing the limitations identified in this thesis would further knowledge in this area with the aim of developing practical and pedagogical strategies. The next section will present to you future research directions that specifically focus upon developing general research of body image within physical education.