Training programme for novice physical activity instructors using Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model : a programme development and protocol

Abstract

Previous research indicates that programmes employing Hellison’s Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model in physical activity have had a positive impact on youth development by increasing participants’ positive values, autonomy, life skills, and prosocial behaviour. Despite encouraging results of the effects of TPSR-based programmes, there remains lack of research on the effective content of these programmes, and their implementation and evaluation. The current protocol article describes the development of a TPSR-based instructor training programme and a plan for an intervention study in which novice instructors learn to understand and apply the TPSR model in practice. The participants of the TPSR-based training intervention study are novice instructors who are matched and randomly allocated to a 20-hour TPSR-based training intervention and a six-hour control instructor training without the TPSR content. The proposed study examines whether the intervention is effective in teaching novice physical activity instructors to understand and apply the TPSR model, whether the instructors’ personal and social responsibility develops, and whether the training intervention is feasible.