An exploratory study of specialist and generalist teachers: predicting self efficacy in delivering primary physical education.

We aimed to determine whether primary school teachers’ motivational regulations to exercise and self efficacy in delivering a physical education (PE) lesson are different based on prior PE training. Two groups of qualified primary school teachers were recruited; PE specialists and a group of generalist primary school teachers who also teach PE. All teachers completed the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2, International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale. PE specialists demonstrated significantly higher levels of intrinsic motivation towards exercise participation and took part in more physical activity in comparison to the generalist teachers. Regression analysis showed that being a PE specialist predicted higher scores in instructional strategies and classroom management in PE. Our findings support the useof Self Determination Theory concepts in understanding teacher’s exercise participation motivations. These findings have implications for the modelling role of teachers in encouraging children to be physically active.

Physical Education or Playtime: which is more effective at promoting physical activity in primary school children?

Background School physical education (PE) and playtime provide important opportunities for physical activity (PA). However, little research has assessed PA during primary school PE using accelerometry or compared PA during different lesson types. There is also a lack of research comparing PA during PE and playtime, despite suggestions that playtime promotes more PA. The primary aim of this study was to determine which types of PE lesson are most facilitative of PA. The secondary aim was to determine whether children are more active during PE or playtime. Methods Descriptive and fitness data were assessed in 20 children aged 8-9years from a single school. Over eight consecutive weeks PA was assessed during PE lessons, which were classified as either team games or movement activities. At the mid-week of data collection playtime PA was also assessed. PA was assessed using accelerometry and the percentage of time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) calculated. Paired t-tests were used to compare MVPA during movement lessons and team games lessons and during PE and playtime. Results Children spent 9.5% of PE lessons in MVPA and engaged in significantly more MVPA during team games (P < 0.001). MVPA was also significantly higher during PE than playtime (P < 0.01). Conclusions Children do not engage in sufficient PA during PE, but are most active during team games lessons; whilst PA during playtime is lower than PE. Interventions to increase PA during both PE and playtime are therefore required. PE interventions should target games lessons as they dominate the curriculum, encourage most PA and present the greatest potential for change. Playtime interventions should encourage participation in active games through the provision of playground equipment and markings.

Social development of primary aged children through a movement education program

Unique in Canada, is a university based movement program offered to children aged 1-12 which is diverse and inclusive in its design to foster healthy physical, cognitive, affective and social development. The purpose of this study is to investigate how children's involvement in a weekly movement education program influences their social development. The primary-aged children involved in this research are participants in the university based Saturday morning program, The Children's Movement Program (CMP), in which creative dance, educational gymnastics and developmental games are employed to enhance optimal development. The 15 participants were systematically observed for 8 weeks as they naturally engaged in the program's activities. Interviews were conducted with both children and their caregivers throughout the duration of the program. Particular attention was paid to the perceptions of caregivers regarding the advantages of a program based upon principles of movement education. Results indicate that participation in the program increases children's opportunity to interact socially and address ways in which program content, pedagogy and context encourage social development. A figure was developed with these components to assist teachers in creating inclusive and meaningful movement experiences. 'Content' is referred to as the material to be learned or the desired outcome for the learner. 'Pedagogy' refers to the process in which the student will engage and 'Context' refers to the environment in which the experience occurs (eg. skating rink with playground balls). It is recommended that each is thoroughly addressed individually for its potential in lesson design.

Creation and re-creation of reading material for primary and secondary education.

Resumen tomado de la revista

Evaluaci??n de las medidas de atenci??n a la diversidad de la educaci??n primaria en Galicia : impacto escolar. 'Evaluation of the measures of attention to the diversity in the primary education in Galicia : school impact'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Con el apoyo econ??mico del departamento MIDE de la UNED

Primary music education: the misrepresentation of the ideals of curricula in research

The author starts from a historical viewpoint to suggest that, at primary level, we have tended to perpetuate a nineteenth-century notion of music education. This is evident in the selection and organisation of musical content in curriculum documents, the scope of the teacher-pupil transaction implicit in these and the assumptions about music education which underpin research on practice conducted at official policy level. In light of the introduction of the 1999 Revised Primary School Curriculum, with its change in emphasis, she notes that it is timely to reconsider the situation. Central to this is the need to challenge the notion of music as a set of delineated skills, to explore the relationship between the primary teacher and music, and to move towards a notion of research which acknowledges the richness of multiple interpretations teachers bring to the curriculum.

Literacy Practices in and out of School in Karagwe : The case of primary school literacy education in rural Tanzania

This study has investigated the question of relation between literacy practices in and out of school in rural Tanzania. By using the perspective of linguistic anthropology, literacy practices in five villages in Karagwe district in the northwest of Tanzania have been analysed. The outcome may be used as a basis for educational planning and literacy programs. The analysis has revealed an intimate relation between language, literacy and power. In Karagwe, traditional élites have drawn on literacy to construct and reconstruct their authority, while new élites, such as individual women and some young people have been able to use literacy as one tool to get access to power. The study has also revealed a high level of bilingualism and a high emphasis on education in the area, which prove a potential for future education in the area. At the same time discontinuity in language use, mainly caused by stigmatisation of what is perceived as local and traditional, such as the mother-tongue of the majority of the children, and the high status accrued to all that is perceived as Western, has turned out to constitute a great obstacle for pupils’ learning. The use of ethnographic perspectives has enabled comparisons between interactional patterns in schools and outside school. This has revealed communicative patterns in school that hinder pupils’ learning, while the same patterns in other discourses reinforce learning. By using ethnography, relations between explicit and implicit language ideologies and their impact in educational contexts may be revealed. This knowledge may then be used to make educational plans and literacy programmes more relevant and efficient, not only in poor post-colonial settings such as Tanzania, but also elsewhere, such as in Western settings.

Education in primary school as a strategy to control dengue

A proliferação do Aedes aegypti é propiciada pelo habito de permitir a formação de criadouros em vários tipos de recipientes. Uma das formas de controla-lo é a disseminação do conhecimento sobre o vetor, por conduzir a conscientização e a tomada de medidas contra a sua proliferação. Para avaliar um método de ensino sobre o vetor e a dengue, foram comparando alunos de 5ª e 6ª séries antes e após a intervenção didática. Os alunos com intervenção foram mais aptos em reconhecerem as fases do ciclo e tiveram um discernimento maior sobre a importância dos mosquitos para a saúde. Eles também foram mais aptos em reconhecerem quais medidas de controle são mais eficientes e viáveis, repercutindo em suas residências que apresentaram duas vezes menos criadouros em relação aos que não tiveram intervenção.

Expert opinion as an instrument for assessing investment in primary education

Includes bibliography