Can we skill and activate children through primary school physical education lessons? "Move it Groove it" - a collaborative health promotion intervention

Background: Physical education (PE) lessons are an ideal setting to improve child fundamental movement skills (FMSs) and increase physical activity (PA) for optimal health. Despite this, few studies have assessed the potential to do both simultaneously. The “Move It Groove It” primary school intervention in New South Wales, Australia, had this opportunity.

Methods: A whole school approach to implementation included establishment of school project teams, a teacher “buddy” system, project Web site, teacher training workshops, and small grants for equipment. The quasi-experimental evaluation involved 1,045 year 3 and 4 children (aged 7 to 10 years) in nine intervention and nine control rural primary schools (53% boys/47% girls). It utilised pre- and postobservational surveys of (1) mastery or near mastery levels for each of eight FMSs, (2) proportion of PE lesson time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA), and (3) teacher- and lesson-related contextual covariates. Data were analysed by hierarchical logistic multiple regression.

Results: For FMSs, overall mastery or near mastery level at baseline was 47% ranging from 22.7% for the overarm throw among girls to 75.4% for the static balance among boys. The intervention delivered substantial improvements in every FMS for both genders ranging from 7.2% to 25.7% (13 of 16 comparisons were significant). For PA level, mean MVPA at baseline was 34.7%. Baseline MVPA for boys was 38.7% and for girls was 33.2%. The intervention was associated with a nonsignificant 4.5% increase in MVPA and a significant 3.0% increase in VPA. This translates to a gain of <1 minute of MVPA per average 21-minute lesson.

Conclusions: This is the first study to show that by modifying existing PE lessons, significant improvements in FMS mastery can be gained without adversely affecting children’s MVPA and VPA. To increase PA levels, we recommend increasing the number of PE lessons per week.

How active are rural children in Australian physical education

Physical education lessons offer a venue for children to accrue valuable and health-conferring time being physically active. The first Australian direct observational data are presented on activity of year 3 and 4 children during physical education. Analysis accounts for the nested nature of the data through multi level logistic regression using 13,080 records within 231 lessons within 18 randomly selected schools. Activity was analysed in relation to lesson context (focus of lesson), child gender, school year of child, teacher gender, lesson duration and start time. Children spent 36.7% of a lesson in moderate to vigorous and 12.9% in vigorous activity. Most of the lesson was spent in the context of management/instruction (37.4%), followed by games (25.0%), skill (21.4%), and fitness (14.7%). The highest level of moderate to vigorous activity was observed in the fitness lesson context (61.9%), followed by skill (46.4%), games (42.6%) and management/instruction (17.1%). Moderate to vigorous activity was significantly higher for boys than girls. There was no significant difference in moderate to vigorous activity in lessons led by male or female teachers. However vigorous activity was significantly higher for female led lessons. Children participated in less physical activity during physical education lessons timetabled in the afternoon, compared to physical education lessons time-tabled in the morning. Physical activity levels were not related to lesson duration. Physical education lessons can potentially be more active. However improvement rests on school capacity and may require a health promoting schools approach to implement curricular policy.

Declining participation in computing education : an Australia perspective on the "gender and lT" problem

Participation in post-compulsory computing education has declined over recent years, both in the senior years of secondary school and at university. This trend has been observed in most developed countries, despite reported and projected skills shortages in Information Technology (IT) industries. Within the computing education enrollment mix, girls and women continue to be under-represented and recent years have seen female participation fall even more rapidly than that of males. This article reports on findings of an Australian study which explored secondary school students’ beliefs about and attitudes towards computing education and careers in IT. Factors that might discourage girls in particular from pursuing post-compulsory computing education and careers are discussed, along with broader implications for school education in an era when information and communication technologies are an integral part of our daily lives. Findings include the persistence among both boys and girls of inaccurate and outdated views of the field of IT and low expectations of both school IT curricula and pedagogy in terms of their relevance and interest for students. Many of the issues identified as discouraging students in general from pursuing computing education appear to have a greater discouraging effect on girls, and this is compounded by stereotypical views of the field as male-dominated and unwelcoming to women and girls.

Perceptions of athletic competence and fear of negative evaluation during physical education

Background. Physical education (PE) aims to enhance self-esteem, develop sporting interests and to encourage a physically active life-style. However, little is known about how a fear of negative evaluation (FNE), the socially evaluative aspect of social anxiety, affects children's attitudes to PE.

Aim. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between perceived athletic competence and FNE within PE lessons, specifically looking at differences between boys and girls and primary and secondary schools.

Sample. The participants were 192 children in three primary schools (N=85, mean age=9.5±1.1 years) and two secondary schools (N=107, mean age=14.5±0.8 years) from rural areas of North Wales and the Midlands region of England.

Methods. The participants completed the Brief-FNE Scale and the Self-Perception Profile for Children immediately post-lesson on one occasion.

Results. Girls had higher FNE but lower perceptions of athletic competence than did boys. Older girls had higher FNE and lower perceived competence than the remaining three groups. Additionally, a significant and reverse but weak correlation was observed between girls' perceived athletic competence and FNE.

Conclusions. The findings suggest that girls with a high FNE report lower perceptions of their athletic competence. Individuals who are high in FNE behave in ways to avoid the prospect of being evaluated negatively. However, they may seek feedback from significant others as a signal that unfavourable evaluations have been avoided. Therefore, positive, encouraging feedback used in child-centred learning strategies may foster feelings of competence in boys and girls and could reduce the girls' social anxiety.

Educational and mental health implications of the multidimensional model of the self-concept for adolescent girls : comparison of clinical and non-clinical samples

The importance of a positive self-concept as an educational outcome and a facilitator of other desirable outcomes are well established within the education research field. Although the multidimensional and hierarchical model of the self-concept is widely accepted within the educational psychology, this perspective is not widely used within the mental health research. Hence, the purpose of the present investigation is to compare the psychometric properties of the short version of the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQII-S) based on responses by a large sample of female adolescent high school students (N= 829) and a clinical sample of adolescent girls who have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (N= 75). The well-established psychometric properties of the longer version of the SDQII generalise well to both samples of adolescent girls, and analyses provided good support for the invariance of the factor structure across the two samples. Furthermore, analyses employing new structural equation modelling approaches to comparing the latent mean differences indicated that there were differences (although surprisingly small) between the two groups that were generally consistent with a priori predictions. The important educational and clinical implications of these results are discussed.

Actual/ideal body images of high school girls and how it affects their self-esteem : implications for educational and clinical institutions

Given that adolescence is a critical period for the development of a positive self-concept and body image, it is imperative that educators have an understanding of adolescent students' body image and their dieting practises and behaviours. Negative body image is an issue that is rife within the adolescent student population in Australia and around the world, and is a factor that is commonly associated with and linked to disturbed eating behaviours and chronic eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Despite the intuitive appeal and importance of investigating adolescents' body image in terms of what adolescents would like to look like and what they think that they look like now, very little research has investigated these concepts. Furthermore, very little research has explored whether there is a difference between these two constructs how this may affect adolescents' self-esteem. This study therefore aimed to explore the actual and ideal body images of adolescent high school girls aged between 12 and 18 years in two samples of adolescents, one with eating disorders (n=76, clinical sample) and one without (n=823 high school sample). Additionally, this study investigates these constructs in relation to self-esteem levels. The results of this study have important implications for educators and clinicians within educational and clinical settings.

Effects of a daily school based physical activity intervention program on muscle development in prepubertal girls

This 12-month prospective controlled intervention evaluated the effect of a general school based physical activity program on muscle strength, physical performance and body composition in prepubertal girls. Fifty-three girls aged 7–9 years involved in a school based exercise program [40 min/day of general physical activity per school day (200 min/week)] were compared with 50 age-matched girls who participated in the general Swedish physical education curriculum (mean 60 min/week). Body composition (DXA), isokinetic peak torque (PT) of the knee extensors and flexors at 60 and 180°/s, and vertical jump height (VJH) were assessed at baseline and 12 months. The annual gain in weight was similar between the groups, but there was a greater increase in total body and regional lean mass (P < 0.05) and fat mass (P < 0.01) in the exercise group. Mean gains in knee extensor PT at 60 and 180°/s were 7.0–7.6% greater in the exercise group (P ranging <0.05–<0.001). No significant differences were detected in VJH. In conclusion, increasing school based physical education to at least 3 h/week provides a feasible strategy to enhance the development of muscle strength and lean mass in prepubertal girls.

Raunch culture goes to school? : young women, normative femininities and elite education

Public concern about popular culture’s sexualisation of women and girls is regularly voiced in the Australian media. Young women grow up against a backdrop of ‘raunch culture’ (Levy, 2005), which for some scholars represents a ‘new’ femininity (Gill, 2007), in which ‘hyper-sexual’ forms of (hetero)sexual expression are now expected of young women and girls, despite ostensibly being about choice and personal empowerment. In this article, I explore the constructions of girlhood and femininity amongst young women attending an elite, single-sex, private school in Melbourne, Australia. Elite schooling for girls is often associated with highly classed notions of (hetero)sexual modesty and propriety, epitomised in the reality television program Ladette to Lady. Here I consider how hyper-sexualities are configured within students’ constructions of themselves and others, and I explore their relationship to classed expectations of identity for privileged girls. I examine the role that classed norms of identity play in mediating these girls’ negotiations of hyper-sexualities.

'Go Grrrl!' : constructions of femininity in the textual practices of elite girls' schooling

In this paper I consider the utility of discourses of ‘girl power’ for understanding, and complicating, the way youthful femininities are produced in schooling. The paper is concerned with expanding the possibilities for how queer theoretical resources might be utilized within studies of girls and schooling. Existing studies have drawn upon Judith Butler’s notion of a ‘heterosexual matrix’ for understanding, and attending to, the way normative discourses of heterosexuality underpin the school-based production of youthful femininities. The term ‘heterofemininities’ has been used in order to label these school-produced intersections of sex/gender/sexuality. Drawing on discourses of ‘girl power’ that gather around ‘voice’ and responsibility, I propose that the production of ‘hetero-femininities’ within educational contexts might be further explored, and thus complicated, when the significance of discourses of ‘girl power’ is considered. I analyse young women’s discussions of key ‘girl power’ icons in popular culture, generated through fieldwork in an elite girls’ school in Australia. In this analysis I explore the intersections of gender/sexuality/girl power that are produced in the young women’s textual practices.

Cosmo girls : new configurations of class and femininity in elite educational settings

In this paper we offer a unique contribution to understandings of schooling as a site for the production of social class difference, by bringing together recent work on middle-class educational identities in neoliberal times (O’Flynn and Petersen 2007, Reay et al 2007, 2008) with explorations of classed femininity from the field of critical girlhood studies (Harris 2004, Ringrose and Walkerdine 2008). Drawing on data generated in two recent research projects in Australia and the UK our aim will be to explore how class mediates the construction of young femininities in the private girls’ school. Our particular focus will be on exploring how articulations of identity within such schools are configured through discourses of mobility and global social responsibility. In line with the broader ‘cultural turn’ in the social sciences (Devine 2005) we discuss class and femininity in this paper in cultural and symbolic terms. We draw on Butler’s (1993) notions of performativity to understand the multiple and processual nature of identity constitution and Bourdieu’s (1987) understandings of class (based on symbolic struggles for capital in social space) to enable us to explore the ‘subjective micro distinctions’ through which class is expressed, embodied and lived; viewing class as a set of fictional discourses that inscribe and produce identities (Walkerdine et al 2001). This understanding of class, as something that is ‘done’ rather than something that ‘we are’, was deemed particularly important in these studies of elite education, for the research was undertaken in schools where class was apparently ‘everywhere and nowhere’, never named or ‘directly known as class’ (Lawler 2005, Skeggs 2004). This underplaying of class identity is often linked to neo-liberalism, and in this paper we would like to link these constructions of ‘the private school girl’ with neoliberal subjectivity by focusing on two main characteristics. First we will consider the notion of mobility, where we will discuss the ways in which these girls constructed themselves as ‘cosmo’ girls (global citizens at ease with traversing national borders) and the ways in which the schools supported this through educational practices which enabled the students and their families ‘to exploit and strategically pursue economic and cultural capital’ (Doherty et al 2009). We will also focus on the struggles that the schools and students encountered as they attempted to juggle these discourses of global mobility with more traditional discourses of privilege (often associated with national boundaries and based within a predominantly British model of schooling steeped in colonial history). Second, we will look at discourses of responsibility, to explore how these girls were incited to take responsibility for themselves and their futures but also to embrace diversity and to commit themselves to social service. We will also examine the competing discourses of instrumentalism and social justice that were at play in these schools.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between parenting style and adolescent girls' physical activity

Background Understanding the influences on physical activity is crucial, particularly among important target groups such as adolescent girls. This study describes cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between parenting style and girls’ participation in organized sport, walking/cycling trips and objectively assessed moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

Methods Data were collected from adolescent girls (n=222) and their parents in 2004 and again in 2006. Parents self-reported their demographic characteristics and parenting style. Girls self-reported their organized sport participation and weekly walking/cycling trips, while MVPA was assessed using accelerometers. Linear regression and interaction analyses were performed. Interactions between socio-demographic factors and parenting style with organized sport, walking/cycling trips and MVPA are presented.

Results There were cross-sectional associations between authoritative (B=−0.45, p=0.042) and indulgent (B=−0.56, p=0.002) parenting and the number of walking/cycling trips, and authoritarian (B=0.27, p=0.033) parenting and frequency of organized sport. Significant interactions included those between: family status, authoritative parenting and daily (p=0.048) and week day (p=0.013) MVPA; education, indulgent parenting and MVPA on weekend days (p=0.006); and, employment, authoritarian parenting and duration and frequency of organized sport (p=0.004), highlighting the complexity of these relationships. Longitudinal analyses revealed significant decreases in organized sport and MVPA, significant increases in walking/cycling trips and no significant associations between parenting and physical activity.

Conclusion Parenting styles appear to influence walking and cycling trips among adolescent girls, though not physical activity within other domains. Socio-demographic characteristics interact with the relationships between parenting and physical activity. While these findings can inform the development of family-based interventions to improve child and adolescent health, the direction of the observed associations and the number of associations approaching significance suggest the need to further explore this area.

Sacrificial girls : a case study of the impact of streaming and setting on gender reform

This article reports on research funded by the Australian Research Council to investigate school responses to gender equity. It addresses the efforts of a disadvantaged school to tackle what they perceived to be gender inequalities, but in the process of constructing a top-set and bottom-set/ stream class they are developing new forms of old inequalities and new forms of inequalities. This research indicates that despite popular assertions that girls’ education has become the priority of schools and education systems, girls are being further disadvantaged through attempts to implement market strategies coupled with gender reform agendas grounded in liberal notions of equity and relying on unsophisticated notions of affirmative action. In addition, this study highlights the extent to which a media-driven debate about boys’ education has influenced the constitution of boys as the ‘new disadvantaged’ with the capacity to determine the nature of gender reform agendas and programmes in schools.