Teachers’ Perception and Understanding of Integrating Physical Activity and Movement in the Classroom with Secondary School Students.

Author(s):

Henrik Taarsted Jørgensen(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

08. Research on Health Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

08 SES 12 A, Implementation, Methodology, Integration - Lessons Learnt

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-25

09:00-10:30

Room:

K3.24

Chair:

Catriona O'Toole

Contribution

Denmark had a new school reform in 2014 and one of the big differences is that all students have to be physically active for 45 minutes each day. The main purpose, supported by research, is to promote health (van Sluijs, McMinn, & Griffin, 2008), well-being (Ahn & Fedewa, 2011) and academic achievement (Rasberry et al., 2011) for all students. Teachers in Denmark are now trying to cope with the new policy and manage how to integrate physical activity and movement during lessons as active teaching, brain breaks etc.

It seems, however, that physical activity and movement has not been as great a part of the students’ school day as intended. The first studies from the National Institute of Municipalities and Regions Analysis and Research (KORA) shows that only 16% of teachers use movement every day in the classroom, 78% at least once a week, 20% rarely and 2% never (KORA, Jacobsen, Hønge, Og, & Søndergaard, 2015). The study also shows a difference between primary and secondary teachers. 67% of teachers in primary school use physical activity and movement at least twice a week. In secondary school it is just 36% of the teachers (KORA et al., 2015). The same trend is seen when asking students; The older the students, the less physically active they are during the school day. And generally, boys are more physically active than girls. A difference which increases with age (SFI, Nielsen, Hansen, Jensen, & Arendt, 2015).

From some internationally studies we know that teachers perceive a lack of time, space, knowledge and support (Benes, Finn, Sullivan, & Yan, 2016; Cothran, Kulinna, & Garn, 2010; Stylianou, Kulinna, & Naiman, 2016), but we do not know much about how teachers understand and experience the concept of movement and physical activity.

This research project investigates how teachers in Denmark perceive and manage the new requirements as a result of the reform and how teachers understand the concept of physical activity and movement during lessons and school day.

Method

The project uses the case study as a research method (Flyvbjerg, 2010). The case study is ideal as it is designed to go deeper and develop knowledge in and about the specific situations and contexts rom different sources of data. The study collects data through focus group and individual interviews and through observations from four schools. Four schools are selected as cases from the principle of maximum variation compared to demographically diversity on the assumption that there may be differences in the barriers and opportunities regarding implementation of physical activity and movement. The use of schools which differ from one another also minimizes the risk of conditions being underexposed. At each school 3-4 teachers are selected. That gives a total of 13 informants at the four schools. The research questions will be answered through: a) observation of classroom lessons and the use of physical activity and movement in practice for students in secondary classes, b) a focus group interview at each school and c) semi-structured individual interviews with 13 teachers. The research began in Feb. 2015 and ends Jan. 2019.

Expected Outcomes

The initial analysis shows that there is a rather big difference in the way that teachers understand the concept of movement and physical activity in the classroom. Some teachers have a wide understanding, covering all forms of movement, including standing up and moving to another table, to go up to the blackboard, to perform laboratory work in physics and so on. The way teachers understand and perceive physical activity and movement in the classroom can be a way of coping the new requirements as a result of the school reform, but it also may suggest that the new law doesn’t work as intended. The research points to the need for teachers training, changes in teacher’s education and the development and agreement of movement policies at each school.

References

Ahn, S., & Fedewa, A. L. (2011). A meta-analysis of the relationship between children’s physical activity and mental health. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 36(4), 385–397. http://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsq107 Benes, S., Finn, K. E., Sullivan, E. C., & Yan, Z. (2016). Teachers ’ Perceptions of Using Movement in the Classroom, 73, 110–135. Cothran, D. J., Kulinna, P. H., & Garn, A. C. (2010). Classroom teachers and physical activity integration. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(7), 1381–1388. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.04.003 Flyvbjerg, B. (2010). Fem misforståelser om casestudiet. In Svend Brinkmann & Lene Tanggaard (Ed.), Kvalitative metoder (pp. 463–487). København: Hans Retzels Forlag. Jørgensen, H.T. (2017): Bevægelse kan fremme elevernes sundhed, trivsel og læring - Et overblik over det forskningsmæssige grundlag for indførelsen af motion og bevægelse i skolen. Unge Pædagoger (2017/1) (Accepted, in press) KORA, Jacobsen, R. H., Hønge, L., Og, F., & Søndergaard, N. M. (2015). En længere og mere varieret skoledag - Kortlægningsrapport 2015. København. Rasberry, C. N., Lee, S. M., Robin, L., Laris, B. A., Russell, L. A., Coyle, K. K., & Nihiser, A. J. (2011). The association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance: A systematic review of the literature. Preventive Medicine, 52(SUPPL.), S10–S20. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.027 SFI, Nielsen, C. P., Hansen, A. T., Jensen, V. M., & Arendt, K. S. (2015). Folkeskolereformen. Beskrivelse af 2. dataindsamling blandt elever. SFI - Det Nationale Forskningscenter for velfærd. Stylianou, M., Kulinna, P. H., & Naiman, T. (2016). “ … because there ” s nobody who can just sit that long ’: Teacher perceptions of classroom-based physical activity and related management issues. http://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X15613968 van Sluijs, E. M. E. M. F., McMinn, A. M. A. M., & Griffin, S. J. S. J. (2008). Effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity in children and adolescents: systematic review of controlled trials. Bmj., 42(8), 653–657. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39320.843947.BE

Author Information

Henrik Taarsted Jørgensen (presenting / submitting)

University of Southern Denmark,

Active Living Unit, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics.

Aarhus C

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