THE SOCIAL CONTEXT AS 26
the relative homogeneity of the sample in terms of ethnicity and type of school, the
uniqueness of each case is emphasized throughout the text. This underscores the
importance of considering the PE teacher as an individual. Second, this study focused on
the teaching context from the perspective of the PE teacher. An interesting contrast to this
study may be the examination of the school context from the students’ perspective. This
type of study may also shed light on specific issues concerning different types of students.
Third, despite the present study using SDT as its guiding framework; it did not intend to
analyze the applicability of SDT to the experiences of PE teachers. Future research may
wish to compare the postulations of SDT with themes generated by PE teachers that do
not conform to the theory. Fourth, this study was conducted through the lens of SDT, and
in particular how teachers’ promote self-determination within students. Studies using
different theoretical perspectives will logically view teachers’ strategies from an
alternative angle, thus, different contextual determinants may arise in the PE teachers’
narratives. Finally, one of the key characteristics of qualitative research is a tolerance for
complexity (Gubrium & Holstein, 1997). The possible determinants discussed have been
presented in isolation to attempt to provide some clarity in the discussion. It is not the
intention of this paper to isolate each variable in a “contextual vacuum”. Rather, we
wished to highlight in a clear manner that there are many different aspects of the teaching
context to consider. In particular, the complex relationships associated with the student-
based determinants are noteworthy. For example, the links between teachers’ perceptions
of student motivation and student age or gender means it may be advantageous to study
relationships between these factors.
Conclusions
The present study extends the current literature by offering an in-depth account of
possible social-contextual influences on PE teachers’ motivational strategies. SDT was used