Understanding student experience within the Scottish PE (health and wellbeing) curriculum: a self-determination theory perspective

In 2010, schools in Scotland implemented their new curriculum, a Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2004). Within this curriculum, physical education (PE) is set within the curricular area of Health and Wellbeing (HWB). Currently, little is known about teaching and learning within this new PE context, particularly in relation to the development of positive student wellbeing. Consequently, we carried out a preliminary investigation to understand the experiences of school students’ as they engage in their PE, HWB curriculum for the first time. More specifically, we used Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) as a framework to examine students’ experiences in terms of their motivation and their ‘basic needs’ to feel competent, autonomous and related within the PE context, important factors in the attainment and maintenance of positive wellbeing