Eulisis Smith-Palacio
Jesús Alcalá-Recuero2- 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain
- 2Faculty of Education, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain
- 3Council of Andalusia, Andalusia, Spain
This research examines the effect of the Delphi Program on student self-control and self-perception. Some 305 young people (55% girls) with an average age of 11.6 years (± 0.69) enrolled in public schools in central Spain took part in the project. A quasi-experimental single-group design was used with pre-test and post-test measures following a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach. The CACIA questionnaire was used to assess students’ self-perception. A single level of treatment was conducted with groups of students in twenty didactic sessions of indoor football. The quantitative results showed an improvement in personal feedback, deferring reward, criterion self-control and process self-control. The qualitative analysis of student responses yielded four topics: conflict resolution, respect, honesty and pro-social behavior in two areas: sports and physical activity and in personal life.
Introduction
Self-Control in Physical Education Programs
Self-control is essentially a set of cognitive-emotional skills developed during childhood for the marked inhibition of impulsive responses in the behavioral repertoire (Soler et al., 2003). These responses produce immediate satisfaction and the effort to maintain gratification. For Epstain (1997), self-control is the relation between two behaviors: controller and controlled, successive through personal effort involving the deferment of punishment and suppose a temptation to act in seeking immediate gratification.
For some authors, self-control is acquired mainly in the family environment (Corría et al., 2020; Giner Palanques, 2020) through social situations, relations between equals, in decision-making, attentional-perceptive aspects and personal responsibility. Adolescence is when the most important traits of personality are consolidated, a period that is accompanied by biological, psychological changes, and the enormous influence of social relations. Learning to regulate impulse control at this stage is vital for later performance in adult life (Macías et al., 2019). A lack of self-control is often the cause of pre-criminal activity and attitudes that may lead to antisocial behavior.
The approach to instilling self-control through physical education (PE) and sport has been extensive, and certain authors point to the key influence of self-control on motivational processes, the improvement of adaptive behaviors and the influence of teachers on the acquisition of independence, improved social relations and autonomy (Pulido et al., 2015; Esparza, 2019; Macías et al., 2019).
Similarly, the implementation of the Delphi Program has been relevant in recent years (Alonso González et al., 2008; Estrada et al., 2009; Cecchini Applegatte, 2010; Cecchini et al., 2011; Sánchez-Alcaraz et al., 2017) which combines the contributions of Bandura’s Theory of frustration-aggression (1986) and the Theory of Social Learning (Weinberg and Gould, 1996). The development of fair play and the transfer of the values acquired in PE to other areas such as the family, school and society are the fundamental characteristics of the Delphi Program. The main objective and origin of the program was the eradication of violent attitudes among young people belonging to radical groups associated with a number of football clubs. To this end, eight pedagogical principles were adopted: teacher commitment, goal setting, assuming objectives, quality of personal relationships, developing plans and strategies, learning through practice, reflection and transfer. The Delphi Program showed satisfactory results in reducing aggressive behavior, increasing concentration and personal feedback among young people in sports. The study by Estrada et al. (2011), comparing collaborative and competitive activities and sports, found that competition does not lead to higher levels of aggression.
Very little research has been conducted into the fomenting of positive values through sport focused primarily on self-control. Therefore, the objective of this study was to confirm the value of the Delphi Program in a context other than its origins. To this end, the effects of the Delphi method on self-control were examined and students’ opinions explored (Fernández et al., 2019; Del Delgado Luengo, 2020; Farrington, 2021).
A study by Ho et al. (2017), found that the practice of sports and physical activity can improve mental health and self-control among young people. A battery of controlled tests, using sport as an instrument, identified five studies for depression and six studies for anxiety among young people. There was a moderate significant effect for depression and a significant effect for anxiety. However, an independent analysis found these results to be inconsistence. Similarly, various authors found a link between cooperation and improved self-control (Eisenberg et al., 2015; McClelland et al., 2015; Gülseven et al., 2021), noting that cooperative collective sports are an ideal means to improve this personal dimension. Studies have found that the family environment is an important aspect in developing cooperation and self-control, followed by sports and recreation. A study by Duckworth and Seligman (2017) noted the importance of self-control in improved academic performance and lesser degrees of procrastination. Self-control is vital for the healthy development in childhood and adolescence, as shown in the study on self-control by Moffitt et al. (2011) with a total of one thousand young people in New Zealand conducted with observers, teachers, parents and self-reporting methods. The study found a direct correlation between self-control and adult life outcomes related to: income, savings, financial security, professional prestige, physical, and mental health, the absence of substance abuse and criminal behavior. Thus, this is a personal dimension that directly impacts workplace effectiveness and ambitions for personal growth. Authors such as Englert (2016) have analyzed the importance of self-control related to the power of the ego, and the impact of mental fatigue on emotional and psychological self-management. The principal shortfall in these studies is to identify the fundamental causes of the ego control, to validate tasks in the suppression of emotions and the transfer of specific tasks of self-control to sport.
Physical Education, Reasoning, and Values
The study of the reaction of individuals of different ages before specific moral dilemmas was the essence of the principle of morality of Kohlberg (1969). This author focused his scientific work on processes of reasoning related to decision-making. The form in which individuals perceive their rights is directly associated with their reasoning capacity and their level of moral development, given that human rights are a profoundly moral issue (Zerpa, 2010). Further, Kohlberg explores the thinking of Piaget (1932/1974) based on two premises: (a) the confrontation between two values, resulting in a cognitive imbalance; and (b) the restoration of balance by assimilating the problem or adjusting one’s thinking to deal with the crisis. Thus, there is an opportunity for a deeper exploration of the Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, here through sport and physical education.
The link between physical activity and value development, improved health and increased socialization is gaining interest as a subject of study (Prieto et al., 2015; Sáez Febrero, 2016; Cerrada et al., 2020; Disotuar Abad and Rodes Reyes, 2020; González Vega, 2020; Zueck et al., 2020; Romero, 2021; Fernández et al., 2022; Fonseca, 2022; Frómeta-Moreira et al., 2022). Scientific evidence shows that positive habits and values are encouraged only where specific activities are planned for this purpose (Morcillo-Martínez et al., 2021). Thus, both school sport and school-age sport are able to promote education in moral values (Bartoll, 2019; Ruiz-Sanchis, 2019; Peña et al., 2020).
In this sense, many believe the most important challenge to PE teachers and coaches is education of values and the comprehensive education of students in all areas of the person (motor, cognitive, social, and emotional-affective) (López-Mora et al., 2021; Muñoz et al., 2021; Johnson and Arduiz, 2022). In addition, in formative stages of competing with the sole purpose of winning must be put aside and replaced with educational values (Alcayde et al., 2022). Education in values in pre-adolescent and adolescent stages seems particularly necessary (Wallenius Hernández, 2020). This educational challenge has been exacerbated by the emergence of the COVID-19 health crisis, which has slowed the acquisition of personal skills, the learning of conflict resolution and successful decision-making. Moreover, it has led to greater behavioral disorganization and traumatic stress/depression among adolescents due to confinement measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Martínez Pérez et al., 2020).
Weinberg and Gould (2014) showed that the experiences of sportspeople exert a great influence on their psychological development and their personality. With this in mind, numerous studies point to the importance of the educational aspect of sport in fomenting positive values. For this to occur, planning educational tasks is paramount, as the sport itself does not inherently transmit values or countervalues (Giménez et al., 2015; Lamoneda Prieto, 2015; Ros and Mármol, 2016; Iturbide-Luquin and Elosua-Oliden, 2017a,b; Abad Robles et al., 2021; International Fair Play Committee, 2021; Mujica Johnson and Orellana Arduiz, 2021).
Materials and Methods
Participants
The study sample consisted of 305 students (55% girls) with an average age of 11.6 years (± 0.69). All were students in their fifth and sixth years of compulsory primary education at two public schools in central Spain, during the years 2017–2018. Sample selection was made by assessing the accessibility of the teaching faculty in the research and by convenience. One hundred and one questionnaires that were incorrectly completed were discarded.
Design and Procedure
A quasi-experimental single-group design was used with a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach (Bono Cabre, 2012; Capella-Peris et al., 2020).
Prior to conducting the program, the researchers conducted two training seminars for the PE faculty of the participating schools. The aim for this training was for teachers and coaches to take on a great responsibility in the education of PE students as the values learned in PE are transferred to the students’ lives. This type of prior training is clearly needed to conduct an educational intervention that promotes education in values through sport (Ruiz-Montero et al., 2022; Toro-Suaza and Chaverra, 2022). The training seminars consisted of: (1) analysis of the didactic strategies and educational tools of the Delphi Program; (2) implementation of a model class on the Delphi model: (a) the educational tools and (b) the pedagogical principles of the program. The seminars were conducted by teachers from each school with the principal researcher ensuring the correct implementation of the program.
The teachers who participated in the program had between 10 and 20 years of teaching experience. In addition, prior to the intervention, both parents and students were informed of the objectives of the study and legal permissions were requested. All legal representatives allowed participation. In addition, the program was presented to the ethics committee of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid). Once all legal permissions were received, data was collected using questionnaires in paper format. Students were given 30 min to complete the questionnaires. The anonymity and willingness to participate of the students were ensured. Students had some difficulty understanding questions such as: “If someone told me that I have to do something difficult and trying for me, I would set out a few steps or stages to help me see if I am getting there” “I tend to put off by boring duties even if I can do them right away” “When I do something as part of a team, I am unable to know the part of the result that is due to my input.” T For this reasons a number of questionnaires were eliminated from the final result.
Intervention Program
There were seven intervention phases: (1) The schools were contacted, the research objectives were presented, and the PE teachers were invited to receive training for the implementation of the program; (2) The Educational Intervention was designed according to the Delphi Program on indoor football. The study counted on the supervision of three external researchers specializing in sports initiation programs in schools; all activities were reviewed by three experts in this field; (3) the didactic resources used for evaluation (self-evaluation sheet) were designed; (4) the evaluation questionnaires (pre-test) were administered; (5) the researcher trained the teachers on the Delphi Program methodology, taking into account the origins and purpose of the Delphi program; (6) The educational Intervention program was implemented for 10 weeks in an introduction to indoor football with two 1-h weekly sessions; (7) data collection took place after completion of the process (post-test).
On the first day of the program, the objectives of the program were explained to students, and three subsequent sessions were devoted to each objective. The objectives were: Not to seek victory at any price, to value learning above winning, to learn to win and lose, to respect the rules of the game, and fair play and respect for the opponent. In each session, the objective of the activities was analyzed (definition, contents, student opinions); in the second part, warming up or muscle activation was carried out, preferably with pre-sport games; in the third part, group confrontation exercises were carried out, for the later analysis of possible incidences; in the fourth part, debate/reflection on a moral dilemma created by the teacher distributed to the students on paper for discussion. The fifth part facilitated the transfer of learning from the class to family and society through an observation sheet, where students had to look for examples in family life of what had been learned in the PE class (Table 1).
Table 1. Description of the Delphi session.
The following methodological strategies were used in the implementation of the Delphi Program (Cecchini Estrada et al., 2008): (1) establish a student-teacher contract; (2) engage in a brief discussion of values in the PE class; (3) identify and resolve moral conflicts; (4) conflict resolution and value development techniques in PE classes; (5) propose open tasks to develop values in predominantly perceptive sessions; (6) invite student participation, opinions and assessment, whether or not they agree with the issue being addressed; (7) privately recognize progress toward individual and collective goals (Table 2).
Table 2. Model of Delphi program session.
Instruments
Quantitative Instruments
Questionnaire “Child and Adolescent Self-Control Questionnaire” [Cuestionario de Auto-control Infantil y Adolescente, (CACIA), Capafóns-Bonet and Moreno, 1998].
The questionnaire consists of five scales for measuring self-control in older children and adolescents (between 11 and 19 years of age). Three measure positive aspects of self-control and two, negative. The positive aspects are: (1) Personal feedback (PF; 21 items): a high score indicates high self-awareness, recognition of one’s own actions and interest in finding the reasons for one’s behavior; (2) Reward deferral (RD; 19 items): high scores show a high level of organization, ability to stay focused on important tasks; and (3) Criterial self-control (CSC, 10 items): high scores indicate stress resistance, tolerance when faced with threatening situations.
The two negative aspects: (4) Procedural self-control (PSC; 25 items): a high score indicates unease, a dislike for one’s own behavior, concern for acting according to the rules; and (5) Sincerity (S; 14 items): a high score reflects dependency behavior and a tendency to respond according to what other people expect.
In this study, the internal consistency of each scale was analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The coefficients were: 0.79, 0.76, 0.71, 0.70, and 0.63, respectively.
Qualitative Instruments
Self-Assessment Sheet
The aim of the qualitative study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the students’ opinions. This type of analysis allows the phenomenon to be analyzed in a real and interpretative way (Rubel and Okech, 2017).
In this particular application of the Delphi Program, it was important to determine what they had truly understood at the end of each session and how they put what they had learned into practice during physical activity and sport and also in their daily lives.
To this end, the content was analyzed through a review of open-ended questions from the personal “self-assessment sheet.” This document was a modified version of the interviews to be considered for this type of research (Esses and Maio, 2002).
The self-assessment sheets instructed students to “Answer in a simple and sincere way, the following questions about the tasks performed in class.” They were also asked the following open questions: What have you learned in today’s class? How are you going to put this into practice in the PE class? How can you do so in your daily life?
Data Analysis
For the quantitative study, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilks (normal assumption) and Levene (variation homogeneity assumption) tests showed compliance with the parametric assumptions. Once these were confirmed, a Student’s t and ANOVA test were conducted. If the normal and homogeneity assumptions were not met, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric U-tests were conducted. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 for Macintosh.
Additionally, the qualitative data was analyzed using the methods of constant comparisons (Lincoln and Guba, 1990) and analytical induction (Patton, 1990) in order to identify and extract common categories and response patterns. To do this, researchers made use of the MAXQDA 11 software. The responses of participants were coded into text fragments and researchers used cross-pattern analysis of matching extracts grouped into categories and subcategories (Saldaña, 2009). Two broad categories emerged that responded to the main objectives of the study: learning transfer in PE classes and in daily life. Each category was also analyzed independently. The reliability was based on a dialogical process of continuous reflection, a revision of the existing bibliography on the specific area of study and a participatory review analysis of the different categories in order to obtain information that could be considered reliable, credible and transferable (Lincoln and Guba, 1985).
Results
Quantitative Results
Tables 3, 4 show the results of the T and U Mann-Whitney tests, respectively. In all cases, significant differences were found in the variables analyzed (all p < 0.05): Personal feedback, reward deferral, criterion self-control, personal self-control, and sincerity.
Table 3. CACIA, comparative pretest/post-test.
Table 4. Wilcoxon RP and RR test.
Qualitative Results
Initially, 278 fragments were extracted. Four of these were later eliminated for not responding to the questions asked of the student (“I want to get all my dreams without absurd questions”, girl D.35, P.). Two broad categories could be drawn from the 274 pieces of text recorded from the participants’ opinions: In PE class and transfer to personal life. In turn, the two categories were divided into four sub-categories: (1) Social skills for peaceful conflict resolution, (2) Respect, (3) Honesty, (4) Pro-social attitudes (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Opinions of participants: Categories of qualitative analysis.
Most of the fragments referred specifically to PE classes (185 text fragments), which meant that students had difficulty transferring learning from school to their personal life (62 text fragments).
Conflict resolution (in PE 22 fragments and in life, 16).
In PE, self-control was the most mentioned term (12 fragments): “When you yell, calm yourself and concentrate on the shot” (boy, D.39, A.) or “When you do it badly do not insult and just concentrate on getting it right” (girl, D.18, I.).
They also showed reasoning specific to the pre-conventional level of Kohlberg: “You have to respect the rules of the game so that you do not get sent off or shown a yellow card” (girl, D10, I.); that is, do not act badly so as not to be punished.
And finally, they alluded to forgiveness as, not responding badly to bad things done to them: “If you get hit, tell the referee and don’t retaliate” (boy, D87, A.) or “When I’m playing football and I get accidentally kicked, forgive them” (girl D17, I).
In life, conflict resolution was linked primarily to forgiveness. For example not responding to bad deeds with bad deeds: “When you are insulted, don’t insult back” (girl, D15, C.) or “When someone does something wrong in class, there is no need to insult them, we all do things wrong at times” (girl, D18, I.).
Respect (in PE, 91 fragments and in life, 36).
The sub-category most mentioned in all revised documents studied was respect. In PE, the two main ideas were: Respect for the referee (31 fragments; “you have to respect the referee’s decisions even if you don’t like them,” girl, D.82, C.) and verbal non-violence (20 fragments; “you get nothing insulting others,” boy, D19, S.).
Other issues were: To know the rules of sports so that they can be respected (7 fragments; “to know the rules so that no problems arise and to know how to apply them,” girl, D.10, I.), to respect the rules (15 fragments; “If you abide by the rules and don’t push or grab on to the other player, it will be better for all,” girl, D.31, L.) and non-physical violence (6 fragments; “don’t hit people,” girl, D.6, I.).
Respect in daily life was mainly mentioned through three ideas: Verbal non-violence (16 fragments; “not to insult,” boy, D.19, S.), respect the norms (13 fragments; “be quiet in class,” boy, D.17, J.A.) and respect all others (7 fragments; “Don’t insult my brother when I’m studying at home”, girl, D.34, T.).
Honesty (in PE, 37 fragments and in life, 4).
In PE, honesty was expressed through two concepts: No cheating (30 fragments; “not trying to trick the referee,” girl, D.8, L. or “tying your boot laces to waste time in a game,” girl, D.61, T.) and play well without considering personal interests (7 fragments; “If my best friend goes on the opposite team, I don’t let him win,” boy, D.66, H.).
Regarding the personal sphere, moral reasoning was found to suggest a certain level of post-conventional development: “When you lie you can hurt someone” (girl, D.67, N.); that is, not to lie, not for yourself, but because you may hurt others.
Pro-social attitudes (in PE, 33 fragments and in life, 6).
Pro-social attitudes in PE was interpreted mainly by knowing how to be a good loser and accept defeat (13 fragments; “you have to know how to win and lose,” girl, D.29, L.) and helping others (13 fragments): help out the less able player (“when a player has less technical skill, you still have to pass her the ball”, girl, D.85, N.), to the one who makes a mistake in a game (“not blaming a team-mate who has messed up,” girl, D.13, L.) and promoting friendship over any other goal (“favor friendship and good relationships,” boy, D.30, F.).
They also talked of the importance of being a good player, playing well and playing for fun and making it fun for others (“Knowing that it is only a game and coming to learn and enjoy it,” girl, D6, I.).
The students even revealed principles of coherence, such as not being influenced by others urging us to do wrong (“It is not good to insult others even if the coach says it is,” girl, D.64, I.).
In daily life, a pro-social attitude was interpreted as: to act well, showing helpful attitudes at home (“When we eat at home, I set the table and wait for others to eat all together,” boy, D.20, J.) or to be consistent with personal principles (“act in a manner consistent with our education and help a friend”, boy, D.14, G.).
Discussion
The principal objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of an intervention using the Delphi Program for self-control and to explore students’ opinions. After twenty sessions, the results proved consistent with those observed in other programs that used the Delphi Program for the improvement of self-control (Alonso González et al., 2008; Cecchini Estrada et al., 2008; Estrada et al., 2009; Applegatte, 2010; Cecchini et al., 2011).
In relation to the first objective of the study, the results show that participants in the program improved in the personal feedback variable: this indicates an improvement in personal self-discovery, awareness of one’s own actions, and an interest in finding out the motives and reasons that determine what one does. Thus, based on the theory of social learning and the approach to structural learning as the basis of moral development, this study further confirms the utility of the use of moral dilemmas in improving self-control among students (Delphi, Cecchini et al., 2003). In this case, for example in session n 12, students debate respect for the rules of the game, fair-play and not winning at any cost, for example wasting time when one’s team is winning. The development of self-control is reinforced by personal self-awareness and the consequences and impact of ones actions on others.
Significant results were also obtained in the variable of reward deferral: this refers to the control of impulsive reactions, giving priority first to carrying out one’s responsibilities (tasks, duties) and putting off leisure activities until later. This is why an improvement in this variable indicates a high capacity for the organization and structuring of tasks and not being easily distracted by impulses and whims. The improvement of this variable is associated with the model “objective-expectation-self-control” in the theoretical mode of mental strength, widely studied in the field of sports psychology (Bédard et al., 2021). From this perspective, it can be explained how athletes manage to maintain emotional stability or mental discipline under varying degrees of pressure, adversity or obstacles by means of the activation of three factors: self-control, self-efficacy, and goals/objectives. There are studies which have shown how tolerance to intense activity can have positive effects on self-control (Ahn et al., 2021). This notion is in turn connected with the so-called theory of ego suppression which considers that every act of self-control is based on the amount of self-control available to each individual and that this strength can become exhausted by dealing with a specific task (Englert, 2016). The study designed tasks oriented toward intrinsic motivation (for example, playing football solely for the purposes of personal enjoyment) as opposed to extrinsic motivation (playing to achieve immediate results or recognition by others). There are indications that intrinsic motivation results in lower rates of reduction in self-control than extrinsic factors (Briki, 2016).
For the self-control variable, significant results were obtained: this indicates a decrease in questioning one’s own behavior and concern for acting according to rules. The elimination of anxiety, neurosis, and irrational beliefs can also be appreciated in this variable. The values of the sincerity variable indicate that participants in the educational intervention program answered the questionnaire according to what they believed to be correct.
In this respect, self-control can have immediate consequences which are not important or enjoyable but which will later bring better and more successful longer-term results (Luciano-Soriano et al., 2000; Canet-Juric et al., 2016; Clemente Soriano et al., 2021; Muñoz et al., 2022). It can be said that improvements were found in self-knowledge, the recognition of awareness of the consequence of one’s own acts and the interest in knowing the reasons that determine what one does (Personal Feedback).
A recent systematic review by Smith et al. (2019) found that the principal cognitive and behavioral interventions aimed at improving self-control were: exposure to effort, discrimination in rewards, grouping of rewards, programmed intervals of reinforcement, training in impulse control, and mindfulness. The majority of these were effective with the exception of mindfulness. In some cases, the intervention had a longer duration while others were much shorter. The majority were sharply focused on specific cognitive and behavioral processes of self-control rather than on self-control in general. In physical education, however, the majority used mindfulness, yoga exercises, and other techniques such as emotional management and coaching (Macías et al., 2019).
Previous interventions followed other theoretical models to improve self-esteem and develop positive behaviors through physical education. The study by García-Calvo et al. (2016), based on the theory of self-determination, achieved positive behavioral results in PE in support of teammates, cooperation and self-control among a sample of 20 teachers of PE and 777 Spanish students. A study by Ho et al. (2017) carried out a multi-component intervention program based on the extended theory of planned behavior combined with self-efficacy and results expectation with 664 students from twelve secondary schools in Hong Kong (China). In this case, benefits were observed in mental wellbeing, psychological assets, physical fitness and activity.
Regarding the second objective of the study, the analysis of the students’ opinions following the intervention program, four themes emerged: Conflict resolution, respect, honesty, and pro-social attitudes, grouped into two areas: sports activities and personal life. In this case, qualitative analysis confirmed the findings of the quantitative data. In recent years, social research has showed increasing interest in the triangulation or combination of qualitative and quantitative data in the study of a phenomenon (Forni and De Grande, 2019). In this case, the qualitative analysis of the opinions of participants was closely related to the quantitative variable of self-control. First, fragments were found that directly alluded to self-control (how to maintain concentration when taking a free kick or corner, while hearing insults from the stands). In other texts, different strategies for conflict resolution and forgiveness were voiced. In this regard, linking quantitative and qualitative data on self-control and conflict resolution corroborates the findings of other studies that demonstrated the predictive relationship of self-control and conflict resolution (Vera et al., 2004). All this reinforces the effectiveness of the study in relation to the improvement of self-control and the consequences for the development of social values.
These results are of great interest because the transition period from childhood to adulthood is considered a stage during which an individual develops greater capacity for reasoning, resistance to illness, etc., while at the same time there is evidence of alarmingly low levels of self-control due to the incapacity to inhibit desires, emotions and other inappropriate behavior (Casey, 2015).
Furthermore, it should be noted that the students’ opinions at the end of the program reflected values of social ethics regarding the rules of the game, opponents and referees, promulgated by the International Olympic Committee and the fundamental principles of justice, such as, honesty in the game and ensuring the existence of fairness for all, whether or not it is beneficial to personal interests; and maximizing the positive experience of all those taking part (Lamoneda and Huertas, 2017); congratulating and recognizing good play of the opponent; being interested in the state of the injured player, having a dignified attitude in both victory and defeat, lending sports material, being compassionate with the player who arrives late. In this case, for the students of this study, most of the fragments referred to sports practices in PE class, with fewer fragments referring to their personal life. This finding reveals the difficulty found in the transfer of learning, with the participation of families being a determining factor in the education of values (Garbacz et al., 2018). In addition, values of social justice were given great importance, mainly those of respect and to a lesser extent honesty or pro-social attitudes. These results coincide with other studies such as Lamoneda and Huertas (2017) in the analysis of young Spanish footballers.
It has therefore been demonstrated that, within the context of sport and physical activity, it is possible to educate young people in values. This study made use of the Delphi Program (Cecchini Estrada et al., 2008), although there are other methodologies used in similar contexts, such as Hellison’s (2003) Model of Social Responsibility (2003), implemented by, among many others, Escartí et al. (2012) in PE classes of students aged 10–16, or Jung and Wright (2012), used with students at risk of social exclusion; the Effort Project (Martinek et al., 2006) implemented over the course of 6 months in primary education; the Sports for Peace Program, based on the theory of education for peace and the Sport Education model (Ennis, 1999).
Study Limitations and Future Lines of Research
The present study is highly relevant to the difficult work of educating moral values in schools. It would, however, also be interesting to conduct other experimental studies with larger samples. For future educational interventions with similar objectives, it would be necessary to: (1) codify the structure of the program in the timing of the sessions, taking into account the age and maturity of the students; (2) promote joint work between educational agents: facilitate the incorporation of families, tutors, cross-sectional relationship of PE with other subjects being studied; (3) influence the application of mixed methodologies (quantitative and qualitative).
Conclusion
This study confirms the validity of the Delphi Program in encouraging self-control through the practice of indoor football in PE classes. In addition, it provides interesting feedback from participants on the intervention carried out: Improving respect for the PE class. Others showed a transfer of learning to their own lives and mentioned topics such as honesty, pro-social attitudes and the improvement of social skills.
We have demonstrated the effectiveness of physical education as a means for the acquisition of moral values. In this case, we applied the theory of social and structural education as the basis for moral instruction and the transfer of learned values from sport and physical education to the personal lives of young people.
Data Availability Statement
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Ethics Statement
The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Comité de Ética Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.
Author Contributions
All authors collaborated in the development of the manuscript including (statistical analysis and writing data collection).
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s Note
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Keywords: sport, education, values, educational program, fair play
Citation: Smith-Palacio E, Alcalá-Recuero J and Lamoneda-Prieto J (2022) In Life as in Sport: Implications of a Program to Educate Spanish Youth on Values. Front. Educ. 7:899433. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.899433
Received: 18 March 2022; Accepted: 24 May 2022;
Published: 22 July 2022.
Edited by:
Luiz Sanches Neto, Federal University of Ceara, BrazilReviewed by:
Elvira Molina-Fernández, University of Granada, SpainElisabete dos Santos Freire, Universidade São Judas Tadeu, Brazil
Copyright © 2022 Smith-Palacio, Alcalá-Recuero and Lamoneda-Prieto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Eulisis Smith-Palacio, ZS5zbWl0aEB1ZnYuZXM=