Teaching football for student diversity: A study in the context of a physical education school placement

Abstract

This study took place in the context of the 2022/23 physical education school placement and aims to understand how peer teaching can improve the participation levels of lower performance level (LPL) students in the football game, more specifically considering the Gr+4v4+Gr game structure, when compared to higher performance level (HPL) students who were not subjected to this teaching strategy. The participants were 24 students from the 9th grade, divided into two groups, both with at least two HPL and two LPL students - an experimental group (EG) made up of 10 students (4 HPL and 6 LPL), and a control group with 14 students (4 NDS and 10 NDI). The games took place in 12 lessons, each lasting 10 minutes, totaling eight. The level of student participation in the games was analysed using social network analysis. The tasks assigned to the HPL students to help the LPL students increase their levels of participation in the game proved to be effective, but it was the HPL students who showed higher levels of participation.