Impact of sports астivities on the social skills with pupils from the secondary school

Сажетак: Циљ ове студије је да се утврди утицај спортских активности на формирање друштвене способности адолесцената. Предмет истраживања је 81 ученик од петог до седмог разреда, из школа у Софији - Бугарска. Резултати показују да спортске активности стимулишу развој способности за сарадњу.

Кључне речи: Спортска активност, друштвене способности, ученици

1.    INTRODUCTION1

The func^oning of every person in the society requires constant interac^ons with other people, social groups, and public ins^tu^ons. The way these interac^ons are made depends on one’s social competence and social skills. Social competence reflects the quan^ty and quality of one’s knowledge and convic^ons about the essence of social interac^ons and one’s self-presen^ng in them. Social skills are the prac^cal aspect, the prac^cal manifesta^on of social competence.

There is no unanimous defini^on of the term social skills, but there is consent about their different characteris^cs. These are the skills, through which the interpersonal interac^ons and communica^on are facilitated and which are built on the base of certain social rules and rela^ons. Susan Spence points out the social skills include the numerous verbal and non-verbal reac^ons, influencing both the percep^on and the other people’s reply during the social interac^on. According to the requirements of the different situa^ons, people can regulate the quan^ty and quality of their non-verbal replies through visual contact, facial expression, posture, distance, and gestures. Likewise, some verbal means can be used, such as tone and pitch of the voice, frequency and clarity of speech, which could significantly influence the impression on others and their reac^ons. The author calls these peculiari^es skills on micro level, which can be integrated on macro level in favorable strategy for comple^ng certain social task [1].

Spence and Donovan view social competence and skills as ability, through which one achieves successful results in the interac^ons with the others [2]. Other authors define social competence as organiza^on construct , which reflects the child’s ability to integrate in his behavior cogni^ve and emo^onal skills, so as to be flexible in his adapta^on to different social condi^ons and requirements [3].

Children and adolescents face the necessity to cope with various challenging social situa^ons every day. The successful management of the conduct and the interac^ons with the others in the social environment is connected with possessing a certain repertoire of social skills. The deficit of social skills could lie in the base of many emo^onal and behavior problems during childhood and adolescence. The social skills such as coopera^on with the peers, sharing and receiving approval, provide the adolescent with the opportunity to interact effec^vely and to avoid socially unacceptable answers [4].

According to Slavin [5] the most widely spread approaches for development of social skills are suppor^ng the appropriate social behavior, modeling, and tutorship, applied by the adults as regards a group of children, as this would help the mutual interac^on and comparison among them.

Ivanka Toševa

The development and building of social skills with adolescents is made en^rely through the influence of the factors of the social environment – family, school, and culture. This influence has its specificity regarding the dynamics, applied methods and approaches, and contents [6].

Sports ac^vi^es , performed by children and adolescents play a significant role on their development as personali^es and s^mulate the development of their social skills . Elizabeth Jackson, a researcher from the University of Michigan, points out that the involvement of adolescents in team sports and physical exercises leads to benefits far beyond the mere physical fitness. Children and adolescents develop early their leadership skills, empathy to others, and be^er expressed ap^tude to take care of their health throughout their whole life [7].

N. Holt emphasizes on the fact that the posi^ve results from sports ac^vi^es with adolescents as regards their social skills are not regularity, but can be defined as “provisional”. The mastering of social skills is achieved through educa^on, including certain techniques and interac^ons of children and adolescents with “key social agents” – peers, parents, and coaches during the sports ac^vi^es. It is of utmost importance that coaches orientate the children and adolescents toward achieving team goals and suggest the idea of commitment and of the significance of each player during their fulfillment. They should place priority on the personal development of the athletes, and not on the aspira^on for sports victories. The modern coaches should pay a^en^on to learning and implemen^ng new strategies for s^mula^ng certain social and life skills with adolescents [8,9].

The social skills, which the adolescents master during their sports ac^vi^es, such as team orienta^on, leadership skills, organiza^on skills, communica^on, empathy, maintenance of strong friendly rela^onships, improvement of the control over their emo^ons, prosocial behavior, are kind of “personal capital” they could use throughout their en^re life and apply it in different situa^ons.

2.    METODOLOGY

The aim of the present study is to determine the peculiari^es of the influence of sports ac^vi^es on pupils’ social skills. The main task of the research is to make a compara^ve analysis of the quan^ta^ve and qualita^ve parameters between the social skills of pupils, involved in sports ac^vi^es along the guidance of a coach, and the rest of the pupils not involved in such ac^vi^es.

Par^cipants:

The research was done among 81 pupils from two schools in the city of Sofia – Bulgaria. Of them 37 (45,7%) are girls and 44 (54,3%) are boys. Their distribu^on along grades is the following: 21% from the fi^h grade; 29.6%

Impact of sports ac^vi^es from the sixth grade, and 49.4% from the seventh grade. The average age of the researched individuals is 12.6 years (Min = 11; Max = 15; SD = 0, 98).

Research methods:

Inquiry.The ques^ons are grouped in two sec^ons – demographic block and motor ac^vity. Informa^on about the gender, age, grade of the researched pupils was collected, as well as about the different kinds of motor and sports ac^vity, characteris^c for them, and the dura^on of their involvement in the sports ac^vity.

The test was developed especially for this research on the base of the theore^cal premises and the model, applied in the crea^on of the methods– SSRS (child version) – Social Skills Ra^ng System [9]. It comprises 21 items, grouped along 4 factors – Empathy, Self-control, Coopera^on, and Asser^veness. The replies of the researched individuals are marked along a three-degree Likert-type scale: 1 – never; 2 – some^mes; 3 – o^en.

• § The scale “Empathy“ describes behavior aimed at understanding the others’ problems and showing commitment. It consists of 6 items, such as “i try to understand my friends when they are angry, upset, or sad.“; “I listen carefully to my friends when they talk about the problems they have“. The coefficient of internal consistency is α = 0, 76 (coefficient of Cronbach);

3.    RESULTS

§ The factor “Self-control” unites statements, which are connected with pupils’ behavior in conflict or irrita^ng situa^ons, or reaching a compromise. There are also statements, connected with behavior reflec^ng obedience for the requirements on behalf of the others. Examples: “I ask adults for help when the other children hit me or push me”; “I maintain my desk in order.” The scale consists of 5 items. The internal consistency is α = 0, 7;

§ The scale “Coopera^on” unites 4 items, connected with readiness for help and common ac^ons. For example: “I am ac^vely involved in school ac^vi^es such as sports and clubs”; “I invite my classmates to join in certain ac^vity or game”. The coefficient of internal consistency of the items is α = 0,52;

§ The scale “Asser^veness” is related to statements, which are a direct expression of feelings and convic^ons, defending one’s rights while respec^ng the others. Asser^veness is a very important quality as regards social interac^ons. The scale consists of 6 items such as the following: “During discussions in class I speak in a calm voice”; “My friends know I like them, because I tell them so or show it to them”. The Cronbach index for this scale is α = 0, 58.

The sta^s^cal processing is made through varia^on, compara^ve, and factor analyses.

Ivanka Toševa

The first stream of the analysis is connected with establishing the types of motor ac^vity with the pupils. The data show that the P.E. classes are the most popular among the pupils (Picture 1).

Picture 1 : Rela^ve share of the pupils involved in different types of motor ac^vity

Almost 2/3 have pointed out they have three classes a week, and the rest – two classes a week. Regardless of the fact that the a^endance is obligatory, this is a type of motor ac^vity which provides rhythmical ac^vi^es under the guidance of a sports pedagogue.

On the second place, according to the number of par^cipants, is sport with friends during the pupils’ free ^me. The average dura^on of these ac^vi^es is 6 hours per week. The popularity of this type is determined by the individual possibili^es and wishes of the par^cipants as regards the ^me and the ways of its using. The existence of good sports facili^es in the city is a condi^on, which could add to the spreading and establishing of this type of motor ac^vity among young people, and respec^vely to preserving their health and proper physical development. Over a half of the researched individuals say they prac^ce sports together with their families, mostly at weekends, and especially during holidays. Every second pupil takes part in bodybuilding, aerobics, dancing classes, and others, and their average dura^on is М=2,57 hours per week.

In order to achieve the aim of the study, special a^en^on should be paid to the results, connected with the pupils’ involvement in different kinds of sport, under the guidance of a coach. Of all researched individuals, 56.4% have stated they prac^ce some kind of sport, and the rela^ve share of the girls, involved in sports, is 70.3%, and of the boys – 61.4%. The sports, preferred by the girls are swimming and volleyball, and by the boys – football and karate. The average dura^on of the training sessions is 4 hours per week. We are impressed by the fact that with age, the rela^ve share of those involved in sport decreases (Picture 2).

Impact of sports ac^vi^es

82.4

5th grade 6th grade 7th grade

• ■    Involved in sport ■ not involved in sport

Picture 2 : Distribu^on of those involved in sports and those who are not, according to their grades

The possible reasons could lie in the greater number of school assignments or in the personality changes, appearing during the teen age. This result could be due to random factors, because of the small number of researched individuals.

Later on in the research, a compara^ve analysis of the level of social skills between those involved in sport and those who are not was made. We determined higher values of the self-control skills and coopera^on with the pupils involved in sport (Picture 3).

Assertiveness

Cooperation

Self-control

Empathy

• ■    Not involved in sport ■ Involved in sport

4.    CONCLUSION

Picture 3 : Mean values of the social skills with those involved in sport and those who are not

The difference is sta^s^cally reliable only as regards the coopera^on skill – u = 2, 39; α = 0, 01 (Mann – Whitney). Having in mind that the sports-compe^^ve ac^vity is connected with achieving common goals, and that the success in a sports compe^^on depends to a great extent on the compe^tors’ skills to perform mutual ac^ons, this result is completely logical. In addi^on, most of the researched individuals prac^ce team sports, where the achievement of each player results from his ability to act together with his teammates, and to have mutual strategies.

Ivanka Toševa

The involvement in systema^c sports ac^vi^es during the teen age is undoubtedly one of the most significant factors for the development of the physical quali^es, for health preven^on, for the self-confidence and wellbeing of young people. The experimental results from a number of studies undoubtedly prove the favorable influence of sports ac^vi^es on the development of one’s personal growth. In the present study the results show that sports ac^vi^es are also a factor for the social development of a person. They s^mulate the development of the coopera^on skill, which is a premise for successful interac^ons in different spheres of social life. Readiness for coopera^on, for involvement in common acts and for realiza^on of team goals is of great importance for the prosperity of modern people in the sphere of both their personal and their business rela^ons.