A Transformational Teaching Intervention: Adolescents in Motion (AIM) Trial

Physical inactivity among adolescents has been linked to a vast array of physical and mental health problems. One potential vehicle to foster adolescent involvement in physical activity relates to physical education in schools.

A potentially important framework, that has recently been applied to educational and health promotion contexts, relates to transformational leadership theory. Transformational leadership involves the demonstration of behaviors that empower and inspire others to achieve higher levels of functioning, and has been consistently found to be associated with greater motivation, self-efficacy, well-being, and performance in those being led. From an applied perspective, a growing body of evidence also suggests that transformational behaviors can be developed in leaders through short-term interventions (e.g., one-day workshops), which subsequently result in positive changes in followers' attitudinal and behavioral responses.

With this in mind, the overall goal of this Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is to test the efficacy of a theory-driven evidence-based transformational teaching intervention for use within school-based physical activity settings. In this 5-month trial, physical education teachers from 36 schools from three provinces across Canada (British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia) will be provided with (through a one day work shop and follow-up support program) the resources they need to implement transformational teaching behaviours in their day-to-day teaching practices. The primary hypothesis for this RCT is that students taught by teachers in the intervention condition will display greater adoption and maintenance of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behaviors outside of school hours in comparison to control students, after controlling for baseline levels. A process evaluation will also be conducted with teachers to evaluate the procedures embedded within the intervention.