Physical Education as a Means of Contributing to Environmental Care in Secondary School

Abstract

This study aimed to implement and evaluate a pedagogical proposal within Physical Education at the secondary school level, designed to strengthen environmental care by linking sports practice, the development of ecological values, and students' active participation in sustainable actions inside and outside the school setting. The research was conducted at the Ignacio Agramonte Basic Secondary Urban School (ESBU), in the municipality of Nuevitas, Cuba, during the 2024-2025 school year, using a convergent mixed-methods design that combined a quantitative component, based on a pre-post quasi-experimental approach, with a descriptive qualitative component supported by participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The study included the entire population of seventh- to ninth-grade students (120 students, aged 12 to 15) and the entire Physical Education teaching staff of the institution (8 teachers). Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to students, a systematic classroom observation guide, and semi-structured interviews with teachers, and were processed using percentage analysis and frequency distributions. By the end of the intervention, students' spontaneous recognition of the link between physical activity and environmental care rose from 23 % to 76 %, the use of disposable materials in classes decreased by 62 %, and student participation in cleanup, recycling, and reforestation campaigns increased by 85 %. Physical Education is concluded to be a privileged setting for linking physical development with environmental education and citizenship formation, although the risk of affinity bias inherent to teachers observing their own students is acknowledged as a limitation, partially mitigated through triangulation with questionnaire data.