Role of motor skills in physical education predisposition and social competence

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the role of motor skills in secondary school students' physical education predisposition and social competence. The Körperkoardinations Test für Kinder (KTK), Physical Education Predisposition Scale and Social Competence Scale were used for data collection. The participants consisted of 523 (237 females, 286 males; mean age=12.97) secondary school
students from Trabzon, Turkey. The study was conducted during the 2017–2018 spring semester. The results showed that age and gender variables had a significant influence on motor skills. A significant influence was found in terms of physical education and physical activity facilities between the various school facilities. School facilities were categorised into three groups: good, medium and limited, and it was found that students with access to good (81.64) or medium (81.29) facilities had significantly higher KTK scores than those with access to limited (60.79) facilities. In addition, motor skill performance significantly predicted social competence (R2=0.22) and physical education predisposition (R2=0.33). These results suggest that children’s motor skills can have a positive effect not just on their physical competence, but also on their social competence and physical education predisposition.

Keywords: Motor development; Motor skills; Middle school; Physical education; School sports facilities; Social development; Secondary schools.