Designing a Model for Factors Affecting the Tendency of Elementary School Students to Sport

Physical education is an important part of education that helps human development in all aspects through physical activity and movement and it can boost talent. Moreover, as a social phenomenon, due to the diversity of its functions, it has reciprocal effects on other social phenomena. Therefore, the development of physical education and sport is a way to deal with the problem of inactivity and complications and to provide the basis for providing a healthy manpower, which is part of the National Development Plan. Hence, the expansion of physical education and sports at schools is one of the most important measures taken to develope other sports sectors in the country. The purpose of this paper is to design a model for the factors affecting the tendency of elementary school students to do sports in schools in Khuzestan province.

1. Which factors influence on the tendency of primary school students to exercise at schools in Khuzestan province? 2. What is the relationship among the factors affecting the tendency of primary school students to exercise in schools in Khuzestan province? 3. How is that the model of factors influencing the tendency of primary school students to exercise in schools in Khuzestan province? 4. Is the model extracted from the research valid?

For this purpose, the researchers referred to experts in the field of student sports in Khuzestan province and began to collect information from them through in-depth interviews. They then coded and analyzed data from twenty-five of the interviews using grounded theory. Following that, based on the codes and the criteria identified in the analysis of the interviews, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among the 280 school sports specialists participating in the study. Finally, the collected data was analyzed using spss and Smart PLS software and the research model was extracted and validated.

The results of the code classification showed 54 components at three main levels: background level, organizational level, and behavioral level. The background level has two main sub-themes: community and environment; the organizational level has two main sub-categories: the school and teacher of physical education and two sub-branches were identified at the behavioral level: individual factors and family. According to the model that emerged from the research, it could be said that respectively, teacher of physical education, personal factors, family, environment, community and school, had the greatest effect on the elementary students' tendency to do sports. The community variable, in addition to the direct impact on the students’ tendency to so sports, had a significant impact on other variables, including the individual factors, as well as the school, family and teacher of physical education. The environment, on the other hand, besides its direct impact on elementary students' tendency to play sports, had a significant effect on the family, school and the individual factors. The family variable, in addition to its direct impact on elementary students' tendency to play sports, had a significant effect on the variable of individual factors. On the other hand, the school variable, in further to its direct impact on the elementary students' tendency to play sports, had a significant effect on the variable of the teacher of physical education.

The presented model can be used as the analytical tool for identifying the factors affecting the tendency of elementary schools students to play sports at school in Khuzestan province so that it will be possible to solve the problems of this field reasonably and principally. The model, developed according to the opinion of sports experts in Khuzestan province, can be used to analyze the practice of physical education and sport at schools in Khuzestan province. It can clearly specify the factors affecting the students’ practice of sports in the stated contet and how these factors interact with each other. This model, being special to Khuzestan province, provides an appropriate framework for the future research on this topic, andserve as a base for action to be taken to enhance the students’ engagement in sports and physical education. It is now the job of the policy makers and stakeholders to set policies and design programs related to each of the three components (background, organizational, and behavioral) identified in the proposed framework, to promote physical education and sports at schools. This could ultimately result in the sustainable development of the country.