Investigating the place and meaning of ‘physical education’ to preschool children: methodological lessons from a research study

Preschool physical education has not been extensively researched. Furthermore, research in physical activity and physical education rarely seeks young children's perspectives. The current paper focuses on one aspect of a post-structural study concerned with investigating the place and meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners and children at three preschool contexts in Scotland. The paper details the research methods employed to investigate the children's perspectives. It aims to encourage and assist other researchers to include young children in qualitative research related to physical education and physical activity. Furthermore, it is proposed that elements of the research approach taken, and methods and resources employed, may be transferable to other contexts, and therefore may assist in engaging other diverse populations in research related to physical education, physical activity and sport.     

‘Getting fit basically just means,like, nonfat’: children's lessons in fitness and fatness

Current concerns about a childhood obesity crisis and children's physical activity levels have combined to justify fitness lessons as a physical education practice in New Zealand primary (elementary) schools. Researchers focused on children's understandings of fitness lessons argue that they construct fitness as a quest for an ‘ideal’ (skinny or muscular) body. The conflation of fitness with thinness, however, is complex and problematic. In this paper, we draw from research conducted with a class of primary school children in New Zealand. Drawing on the theoretical tools of Foucault and utilizing a visual methods approach, we examine how children experience school fitness lessons and construct notions of fitness, health and body. The children's responses illustrated that obesity discourses and body pedagogies ‘collided’ in a way that shaped understandings of fitness lessons in ways inextricably connected with the avoidance of being fat. The children assumed that fitness lessons increased fitness and that being fit was demonstrated by a ‘correct’ corporeal appearance. We argue that body pedagogies inside and outside the school gates shape children's ideas about the body in ways which exclude other understandings of bodies, health, and physical activity.     

Touching the didactic contract—a student perspective on intergenerational touch in PE

A growing anxiety around intergenerational touch in educational settings has both emerged and increased in recent years. Previous research reveals that Physical Education (PE) teachers have become more cautious in their approaches to students and they avoid physical contact or other behavior that could be regarded as suspicious [Fletcher, 2013. Touching practice and physical education: Deconstruction of a contemporary moral panic. Sport, Education and Society, 18(5), 694–709. doi:10.1080/13573322.2013.774272; Öhman, 2016. Losing touch—teachers’ self-regulation in physical education. European Physical Education Review, 1–14. doi:10.1177/1356336X15622159; Piper, Garratt, & Taylor, 2013. Child abuse, child protection and defensive ‘touch’ in PE teaching and sports coaching. Sport, Education and Society, 18(5), 583–598. doi:10.1080/13573322.2012.735653]. Some also feel anxious about how physical contact might be perceived by the students. The purpose of this article is to investigate physical contact between teachers and students in PE from a student perspective. This is understood through the didactic contract. For this purpose, focus group interviews using photo elicitation have been conducted with upper secondary school students in Sweden. One of the major findings is that intergenerational touch is purpose bound, that is, physical contact is considered relevant if the teacher has a good intention with using physical contact. The main agreements regarding physical contact as purpose bound are the practical learning and emotional aspects, such as learning new techniques, preventing injury, closeness and encouragement. The didactic contract is in these aspects stable and obvious. The main disagreements are when teachers interfere when the students want to feel capable or when teachers interfere when physical contact is not required in the activity. In these aspects the didactic contract is easily breached. It is also evident that personal preference has an impact on how physical contact is perceived. In conclusion, we can say that physical contact in PE is not a question of appropriate or inappropriate touch in general, but rather an agreement between the people involved about what is expected. Consequently, we should not ban intergenerational touch, but rather focus on teachers’ abilities to deal professionally with the didactic contract regarding physical contact.     

Heart rate response and fitness effects of various types of physical education for 8- to 9-year-old schoolchildren

Abstract

The present study investigated the heart rate (HR) response to various types of physical education (PE) activities for 8- to 9-year-olds (five school classes, n = 93) and the fitness effects of a short-term PE training programme (three of the five classes, n = 59) with high compared to low-to-moderate aerobic intensity. HR was recorded during small-sided indoor soccer (SO), basketball (BB), unihockey (UH), circuit training (CT), walking (W) and Nintendo Wii Boxing (NWB) and Nintendo Wii Tennis (NWT). Maximal HR (HRmax) and physical fitness was determined by the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 Children's test (YYIR1C) test. Following cluster randomisation, three classes were tested before and after 6 wks with 2 × 30 min/wk SO and UH lessons [high-intensity (HI), 2 classes, n = 39] or low-to-moderate intensity PE lessons (CON, 1 class, n = 20). Average HR in SO (76 ± 1% HRmax), BA (77 ± 1% HRmax) and UH (74 ± 1% HRmax) was higher (P < 0.05) than in CT (62 ± 1% HRmax), W (57 ± 1% HRmax), NWB (65 ± 2% HRmax) and NWT (57 ± 1% HRmax). Time with HR > 80% and 90% HRmax, respectively, was higher (P < 0.05) in SO (42 ± 4 and 12 ± 2%), BB (41 ± 5 and 13 ± 3%) and UH (34 ± 3 and 9 ± 2%) than in CT, W and NW (0–5%), with time >80% HRmax being higher (P < 0.05) in SO than UH. After 6 wk, YYIR1C performance was increased (P < 0.05) by 22% in HI (673 ± 57 to 821 ± 71 m), but unaltered in CON (674 ± 88 to 568 ± 81 m). HR 2 min into YYIR1C was lowered (P < 0.05) in HI after 6 wks (92.4 ± 0.8 to 89.1 ± 0.9% HRmax), but not in CON. In conclusion, ball games elicited high aerobic loading for young schoolchildren and a short-term, low-volume ball game PE-intervention improved physical fitness. Traditional PE sessions had no effects on intermittent exercise performance.     

Child abuse,child protection,and defensive ‘touch’ in PE teaching and sports coaching

This text introduces recently completed research on ‘no touch’ sports coaching, by placing it in a broader social context which problematises the way child abuse and child protection (or safeguarding) are conceived and discussed in terms of policy and practice. It also provides a brief indicative summary of the research findings and offers a discussion of moral panic, risk society and worst case thinking, before drawing on Foucault's work on governmentality to offer an explanation of how the current situation arose. The authors suggest that the approach to discussing child abuse, and the guidelines and training stemming from the dominant discourse, for the most part initiated by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit, together create an environment in which many coaches and PE teachers are confused and fearful, and consequently unsure of how to be around the children and young people they teach and coach.     

Influence of personal and lesson factors on caloric expenditure in physical education

BackgroundIncreasing caloric expenditure in physical education is considered an effective school-based approach to addressing the child obesity epidemic. This study was designed to determine synergistic influences of student characteristics and lesson factors on caloric expenditure in elementary and middle school physical education.MethodsThe study used a multi-level design. Level-1 factors included personal characteristics: age, gender, and body mass index. Level-2 factors included lesson length, content, and school level. Based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention age–gender adjusted growth chart, students in 87 classes from 14 elementary and 15 middle schools were pre-screened into “Overweight”, “Healthy weight”, or “Thin” groups. One boy and one girl were randomly selected from each group in each class as data providers (264 elementary and 294 middle school students). Caloric expenditure was measured in 243 physical education lessons using accelerometers.ResultsAnalysis of variance revealed and hierarchical linear modeling confirmed separate age by body mass index, age by gender, and content by lesson–length interaction effects, suggesting that the personal and lesson factors influenced caloric expenditure independently. Older male and heavier students burned more calories in all lessons. Students burned more calories in 45–60 min sport skill or fitness lessons than in shorter (30 min) or longer (75–90 min) game or multi-activity lessons.ConclusionsThe hypothesized cross-level interaction was not observed in the data. Caloric expenditure can be optimized in 45–60 min sport skill or fitness development lessons. It can be recommended that schools adopt 45–60 min lesson length and provide skill and fitness development tasks in physical education to maximize caloric expenditure.     

中职学校体育课分班教学模式研究

提高中职学校体育课教学质量,增强学生体质,培养学生终身体育意思是中职体育教师的职责。如何上好体育课,提高学生的身体素质,学会一项体育技能,了解体育知识与文化,是我们体育工作者一直在探讨的问题。要达到好的教学效果体育课必须使用分班教学模式。     

新角度思考现代女大学生体育意识的培养

运用文献综述法,从体育意识的培养在女大学生体育教学中的重要性人手,以新的角度阐述了体育教学中体育意识范围内的体育认识、体育情感、体育意识的培养,并提出对征对现代女大学生的个性特点,提出体育意识培养途径及方法的建议,以帮助现代女大学生建立起终身体育观.     

Inter-individual differences in the responses to aerobic exercise in Alzheimer’s disease: Findings from the FIT-AD trial

Background:Despite the strong evidence of aerobic exercise as a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease(AD)in animal models,its effects on cognition are inconsistent in human studies.A major contributor to these findings is inter-individual differences in the responses to aerobic exercise,which was well documented in the general population but not in those with AD.The purpose of this study was to examine inter-individual differences in aerobic fitness and cognitive responses to a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention in community-dwelling older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia due to AD.Methods:This study was a secondary analysis of the Effects of Aerobic Exercise for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease(FIT-AD)trial data.Aerobic fitness was measured by the shuttle walk test(SWT),the 6-min walk test(6MWT),and the maximal oxygen consumption(VO2max)test,and cognition by the AD Assessment Scale-Cognition(ADAS-Cog).Inter-individual differences were calculated as the differences in the standard deviation of 6-month change(SDR)in the SWT,6MWT,VO2max,and ADAS-Cog between the intervention and control groups.Results:Seventy-eight participants were included in this study(77.4±6.3 years old,mean±SD;15.7±2.8 years of education;41%were female).VO2max was available for 26 participants(77.7±7.1 years old;14.8±2.6 years of education;35%were female).The SDR was 37.0,121.1,1.7,and 2.3 for SWT,6MWT,VO2max,and ADAS-Cog,respectively.Conclusion:There are true inter-individual differences in aerobic fitness and cognitive responses to aerobic exercise in older adults with mild-tomoderate dementia due to AD.These inter-individual differences likely underline the inconsistent cognitive benefits in human studies.     

‘Safeguarding’ sports coaching: Foucault,genealogy and critique

This paper offers a genealogical account of safeguarding in sport. Drawing specifically on Foucault's work, it examines the ‘politics of touch’ in relation to the social and historical formation of child protection policy in sports coaching. While the analysis has some resonance with the context of coaching as a whole, for illustrative purposes it focuses principally upon the sport of swimming. Our analysis demonstrates how the linked signifiers of ‘abuse’, ‘protection’ and ‘safeguarding’ produce both continuity and change in the philosophy and meaning around coaching practice, giving rise to particular notions of ‘government’ and regulation, risk aversion and prohibitions, and values. Within a culture of fear in sports coaching and society, the analysis traces the development of swimming policy following the exposure of select high-profile cases or critical incidents, where such historical events prompted a series of authoritative statements about the nature of child protection discourse in sport and education, and practice.     

中日体育法对比研究——基于法律文本的政策工具量化分析

日本依法治体的经验值得我国参考与借鉴。基于Rothwell和Zegveld的政策工具分类思想,本研究立足体育强国建设需求,构建政策工具二维分析框架,对《中华人民共和国体育法》与日本《体育基本法》进行对比研究。发现：日本《体育基本法》在政策工具的结构配置、功能协同、需求支持、配套体系等方面具有一定优势,《中华人民共和国体育法》在完善过程中,可借鉴日本《体育基本法》的优势。建议：进一步调整政策工具结构,发挥政策工具协同作用;统筹政策工具合理配置,契合体育强国建设需求;弥补政策工具缺位,完善法律体系;加强政策工具配合机制,提升政策可操作性。     

Influence of Involvement in the Girls on Track Program on Early Adolescent Girls' Self-Perceptions

The Model of Competence Motivation (Harter, 1978) highlights how self-perceptions are influenced by individual and socialization factors. Using this model, the present study investigated, quantitatively with a pretest and posttest design (N = 34) and qualitatively via individual interviews (N = 8), how involvement in the Girls on Track program (GOT) influenced the perceived competence and self-worth of sixth-grade girls. GOT is a program that uses training for a 5-km race as a means to teach life skills. The self-perceptions of the participants showed increasing trends from pre- to posttest. Interviewed girls discussed their acquisition of interpersonal skills and of positive feelings about themselves. The discussion emphasizes how program involvement can influence the development of self-perceptions in early adolescent girls.     

试论高校体育教学中的美育

文章针对体育与美育的天然联系，指出体育是学校美育的重要途径。从体育美和美育存在于体育中两方面论述了在体育教学中实施美育的必要性，以及就如何在体育教学中实施美育提出了自己的见解。