The noticing of physical education teachers: a comparison of groups with different expertise

Background: Teachers’ important diagnostic abilities include noticing and interpreting students’ behaviors and learning processes. By focusing on noticing, I refer to the theoretical framework of professional vision. Professional vision includes the ability to notice what is occurring in complex classroom situations (selective attention) and the ability to give these events meaningful importance (knowledge-based reasoning).

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the noticing differences of groups with different expertise while they observe students’ activities in gym class.

Participants and setting: Sixty participants with different sport-specific and pedagogical expertise were asked to describe and interpret videotaped teaching sequences. Observational data were obtained from physical education classes. The focus was on motoric and social learning processes.

Research design: The groups were compared in a four-field design according to their observations and interpretations of students’ activities in gym class.

Data collection: The teaching sequences function as stimuli to activate selective attention and knowledge-based reasoning. The participants were questioned in guided interviews.

Data analysis: The participants’ comments were recorded, transcribed and analyzed based on qualitative content analysis. The analysis was performed with the software program MaxQDA. The comments were subsequently exported to the software program SPSS 20 for further analysis.

Results: By comparing groups with different sport-specific and pedagogical expertise, this study reveals new observation foci when people exclusively monitor students’ behaviors, not teachers’ behaviors, in authentic teaching situation along with different observation foci based on expertise.

Conclusions: The findings indicate that noticing is a characteristic of professionalization that should be given greater consideration in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Special observations tasks (e.g. focusing on social processes) and supplemental theoretical materials for specific issues in PETE programs that use video recordings could help improve learning to notice.     

Developing the practising model in physical education: an expository outline focusing on movement capability

Background: Physical educators currently have a number of pedagogical (or curricular) models at their disposal. While existing models have been well-received in educational contexts, these models seek to extend students’ capacities within a limited number of ‘human activities’ (Arendt, 1958). The activity of human practising, which is concerned with the improvement of the self, is not explicitly dealt with by current models.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to outline how a model of human practising related to movement capability could be enacted in physical education.

Findings: Building on a theoretical exposition of human practising presented in a separate paper, this paper provides a practically oriented discussion related to: (1) the general learning outcomes as well as teaching and learning strategies of the model; (2) an outline of five activities that describe how the model could be implemented; and (3) the non-negotiable features of the model.

Discussion: The model’s potential contribution to the ongoing revitalization of PE as an institutionalized educational practice is discussed. Points concerning how the model relates to wider physical cultures, its position regarding transfer of learning, standards of excellence, and social and cultural transmission are considered.

Conclusion: The paper is concluded with some reflections on pedagogical models generally and how they relate to the pedagogical model of practising movement capability presented in this paper.     

Conceptualizing minimalist footwear: an objective definition

Running has been plagued with an alarmingly high incidence of injury, which has resulted in the exploration of interventions aimed at reducing the risk of running-related injury. One such intervention is the introduction of footwear that mimics barefoot running. These have been termed minimalist shoes.

Minimalist footwear aims to reduce the risk of injury by promoting adaptations in running biomechanics that have been linked to a reduction in both impact and joint forces. However, some studies have found that minimalist footwear may be beneficial to the runner as they promote favourable biomechanical adaptations, whilst other studies have found the opposite to be true.

Reasons for these conflicting results could be attributed to the lack of a definition for minimalist footwear. The aim of this review article is to provide a structural definition for minimalist footwear based on studies that have examined the influence of footwear on biomechanical variables during running.

Based on current literature, we define minimalist footwear as a shoe with a highly flexible sole and upper that weighs 200g or less, has a heel stack height of 20mm or less and a heel-toe differential of 7mm or less.     

What benefits does team sport hold for the workplace? A systematic review

Physical inactivity is proven to be a risk factor for non-communicable diseases and all-cost mortality. Public health policy recommends community settings worldwide such as the workplace to promote physical activity. Despite the growing prevalence of workplace team sports, studies have not synthesised their benefits within the workplace.

A systematic review was carried out to identify articles related to workplace team sports, including intervention, observational and qualitative studies. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria.

The findings suggest team sport holds benefits not only for individual health but also for group cohesion and performance and organisational benefits such as the increased work performance. However, it is unclear how sport is most associated with these benefits as most of the studies included poorly described samples and unclear sports activities.

Our review highlights the need to explore and empirically understand the benefits of workplace team sport for individual, group and organisational health outcomes. Researches carried out in this field must provide details regarding their respective samples, the sports profile and utilise objective measures (e.g., sickness absence register data, accelerometer data).     

Toward a queer inclusive physical education

Background: Physical education has historically been a repressive place for queer persons. Since physical education spaces are predominantly heteronormative, research on sexual identity management has shown lesbian teachers often try to ‘pass’ as straight or distance themselves from their sexualities. There has been no research to date that examines the experiences of queer male physical educators.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use Deleuzo-Guattarian theory to reflect on my affective experiences as a queer male physical educator. A secondary goal is to transcend binary theorising that has shaped previous research in the field.

Design and Analysis: This paper uses autoethnographic examination to analyse experiences as a queer male physical educator. Data consists of narratives from my first year as a physical educator. These narratives are analysed using Deleuzo-Guattarian theory to map their affective implications.

Conclusion: I conclude the paper by reflecting on and recommending several initiatives that can help shift our field toward a Queer Inclusive Physical Education.     

Relative age effects in fitness testing in a general school sample: how relative are they?

When children or adolescents are grouped by age or year of birth, older individuals tend to outperform younger ones. These phenomena are known as relative age effects (RAEs). RAEs may result directly from differences in maturation, but may also be associated with psychological, pedagogic or other factors. In this article, we attempt to quantify RAEs in a simple fitness task and to identify the mechanisms operating.

Data come from a 5-year study of 2278 individuals that included repeated administrations of the 20 m shuttle run. We use mixed-effect modelling to characterise change over time and then examine residuals from these models for evidence of an effect for age relative to peers or for season of birth.

Age alone appears to account for RAEs in our sample, with no effects for age relative to peers or month of birth. Age grouping produces large disparities for girls under 12, moderate ones for boys of all ages and negligible ones for girls between 12 and 15.

RAEs for this task and population appear to arise from simple age differences. Similar methods may be useful in determining whether other explanations of RAEs are necessary in other contexts. Evaluation processes that take age into account have the potential to mitigate RAEs in general settings.     

‘I took this picture because … ’: accessing teachers' depictions of change

Background: Achieving teacher change and the lofty goals of educational reform initiatives necessitates professional development (PD) designed to help teachers rethink their practice. A key implication for physical education, therefore, is that PD must be organized in ways that utilize teachers' voice, providing opportunities for teachers to build or extend their own capacity to engage in ongoing learning. Yet, while the desired outcome of PD is capacity-building resulting in teacher change, teachers' needs and interests remain largely ignored.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of using participatory visual methods as a pedagogical and methodological tool to facilitate teacher articulation of change. Specifically, we sought to understand teachers' depictions of their own change.

Theoretical framework: The project was grounded in constructivist learning theory as the pedagogical use of visual methods provided teachers a way to understand, interpret, and think about the curriculum change and their teaching.

Participants and setting: Four physical education teachers, all female, were the participants.

Data sources: Data sources included (a) participants' digital photographs, (b) photo-elicitation interviews, and (c) field notes from observations of all PD sessions, conference presentations, and multiple lessons taught by the teachers.

Data analysis: Data were analyzed using two distinct yet overlapping processes derived from grounded theory: open and axial coding.

Findings: Visual methods allowed participants to articulate three distinct changes as a result of the curriculum development PD process: (a) changes in practice, (b) changes to interpersonal working relationships, and (c) intrapersonal changes. First, the use of visual methods allowed these teachers to identify four multidimensional student learning-focused changes to their teaching practice: outcomes based instruction, increased and differentiated practice, deliberate focus on the affective domain, and assessment to document learning. Second, changes to interpersonal working relations as a result of the curriculum development were documented. These changes provided the initial forum for collaboration as well as solidarity among the teachers to complete a defined task. Third, empowered by their increased skills and knowledge, these teachers experienced intrapersonal changes as they embraced their roles as teachers, professionals, and leaders. All four teachers expressed increased sense of self as a result of their changes in curriculum, assessment, and approach to teaching.

Conclusions: These teachers accomplished a great deal as they departed from what they knew well to try new practices and strategies. The use of visual methods documented this complex process. This study has several implications for the use of visual methods. The first is their value as a way for teachers to discuss their own learning and reflect on their practice. Second, the use of photographs and associated photo-elicitation interviews served as a valid research tool which successfully accessed teachers' implicit learning. Finally, a combination of methodologies provided different, yet complimentary information about teachers' depictions of change.     

Authentic inquiry-based learning in health and physical education: a case study of ‘r/evolutionary’ practice

Background: Greater understandings about how progressive pedagogies are interpreted and practiced within schools will be required if international calls to enhance relevance and meaning in Health and Physical Education (HPE) are to be realised. Little is understood about how inquiry-based units of work connected to real-life issues are enacted, engaged with, and generate deeper knowledge within a HPE context.

Purpose: This study explores learner outcomes and perceptions of engagement with an inquiry-based unit of work, Take Action, that aimed to provide young people with an opportunity to critically reflect on movement, investigate an issue important to them, and enhance their capacity to enact positive change for themselves and others.

Participants and setting: Forty-four students and three teachers from two secondary school settings participated in the research. Both schools were located in relatively low socio-economic status areas in southern metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Data collection and analysis: An exploratory and evaluative study design that employed naturalistic inquiry, using qualitative semi-structured interview data, observational data, and analysis of learner-produced artefacts were used. Analysis drew upon authentic learning frames to explore elements of knowledge construction through disciplined inquiry and real-life application.

Findings: Take Action provided a unique experience of HPE for the students and teachers who engaged with it. It was a collaborative, learner-centred inquiry-based experience that most learners found to be engaging and authentic. Both teachers and learners lacked the foundational knowledge of the discipline and a sound understanding of a critical-inquiry process that would have allowed them to deconstruct and reconstruct new ideas in deep interconnected ways.

Conclusions: More support for teachers and students is needed to legitimate these types of approaches within broader curriculum contexts to support student learning. Specifically, foundational understandings of: socially critical approaches to critical inquiry that serve to enhance knowledge relating to learner-identified topics; learning intentions and authentic assessment and how these might align with inquiry-based learning; forming connections with external experts to support learners early in an inquiry process; and how to extend explorations and elaborations within the constraints of a congested and contested curriculum.     

Student voice as risky praxis: democratising physical education teacher education

Background: Student voice agendas have been slow to permeate higher educational institutions. Curricula in universities, like those in primary and secondary education, are still usually made for students by teachers who, while they may have the best interests of the students in mind, rarely if ever engage students in curriculum decision-making. The need for more equitable, dialogic and democratic engagement by students is particularly relevant in the context of teacher education. It has been argued that pre-service teachers should experience democratic practices during their teacher education experiences in order to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to support democratic opportunities in schools.

Purpose: Through the participatory action research project described in this paper we sought to position pre-service teachers as pedagogical consultants who would design feedback strategies, gather feedback with faculty and co-construct physical education teacher education (PETE) curricula. We saw this process as a democratic possibility that might create opportunities for pre-service teachers to critique and transform their own educational experiences. In this paper we detail the process we used to support dialogue about teaching and learning between students and faculty members and draw on the perspectives of the students, pedagogical consultant, lecturer and teaching and learning advocate involved in this project.

Participants and setting: The project was undertaken with one cohort (77) of pre-service teachers during the final year of a four-year undergraduate PETE programme in an Irish university and focuses on the democratization of one PETE course.

Data collection: Data were generated with and by the pre-service teachers, the pedagogical consultant, the lecturer and the regional teaching and learning advocate. The primary data collection methods were interviews and observation.

Data analysis: The data were reviewed repeatedly looking for patterns, themes, regularities, paradoxes, variations, nuances in meaning and constraints [Rubin and Rubin 1995. Qualitative Interviewing. The art of Hearing Data. London: Sage]. The authors coded all data sets independently using constant comparison [Glaser 1965. “The Constant Comparative Method of Qualitative Analysis.” Social Problems 12 (4): 436–445] and then shared their processes and subsequent codes. Our analysis engages Greene’s [1988. The Dialectic of Freedom. New York: Teachers College Press] dialectical theory, to explore how naming and holding the tensions involved in this research and pedagogical enterprise was not stultifying but generative.

Findings: Three key dialectics were constructed from the data: student–teacher, critical reflection–learning and responsibility–accountability. We speak to each of these themes from the perspectives of the students, the pedagogical consultant and the lecturer who participated in this project.

Discussion and conclusion: Our discussion turns to the challenges and benefits associated with the pursuit and realization of democratic possibilities in PETE.     

‘The life of crime does not pay; stop and think!’: the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds

Purpose: This study discusses the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds.

Participants and settings: This six-month activist research project was conducted in a soccer program in a socially vulnerable area of Brazil in 2013. The study included 17 youths, 4 coaches, a pedagogic coordinator and a social worker. An expert in student-centered pedagogy and inquiry-based activism assisted as a debriefer helping in the progressive data analysis and the planning of the work sessions.

Data collection/analysis: Multiple sources of data were collected, including 38 field journal/observation and audio records of: 18 youth work sessions, 16 coaches’ work sessions, 3 combined coaches and youth work sessions, and 37 meetings between the researcher and the expert.

Findings: The process of co-construction of this prototype pedagogical model was divided into three phases. The first phase involved the youth and coaches identifying barriers to sport opportunities in their community. In the second phase, the youth, coaches and researchers imagined alternative possibilities to the barriers identified. In the final phase, we worked collaboratively to create realistic opportunities for the youth to begin to negotiate some of the barriers they identified. In this phase, the coaches and youth designed an action plan to implement (involving a Leadership Program) aimed at addressing the youths’ needs in the sport program. Five critical elements of a prototype pedagogical model were co-created through the first two processes and four learning aspirations emerged in the last phase of the project.

Implications: We suggest an activist approach of co-creating a pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds is beneficial. That is, creating opportunities for youth to learn to name, critique and negotiate barriers to their engagement in sport in order to create empowering possibilities.     

The role of the referee in physical education lessons: student experience and motivation

Introduction: Social roles in physical education (PE) classes have been much studied, especially mentoring and coaching roles. The studies have shown that mentoring and coaching are beneficial not only for motor learning, but also for methodological and social learning. To our knowledge, the role of the student referee in PE lessons has never been specifically studied. Yet refereeing is essential in many sports, including team sports, and provides an experience of responsibility that many teachers want to offer their students. Encouraging students to take on this role can nevertheless be difficult.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to gain access to students’ lived experiences as referees in order to determine their strategies for being effective. We particularly wanted to determine which concerns organized their activity so that we could identify a refereeing typology that would be useful for PE teaching. Our study is original in that we did not rely exclusively on experiential data to understand student refereeing activity. We also collected data on the students’ motivation in order to better understand their experiences. For this purpose, the study was conducted within the methodological framework of course-of-action theory and self-determination theory.

Method: Seventy-four students from three classes in the third year of middle school (about 13 years old) participated in the study. Among them, four (two girls and two boys and not experts in the sports in which they were going to referee) had volunteered to be filmed and to participate in self-confrontation interviews. The other students completed two questionnaires to provide information on their motivation for refereeing. The situations studied were basketball and handball matches held at the end of the lessons.

Two categories of data were collected: qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative data were based on audiovisual recordings of the students as they refereed matches and verbalization data from self-confrontation interviews; these data were used to document the students’ courses of experience during the activity period under study. The quantitative data were collected using two questionnaires, one to assess the determinants of motivation and the other to assess self-determined motivation.

Results and discussion: The qualitative analysis highlighted three typical student involvements: fulfilling the role of referee, getting help, and occasionally dropping out of the role. The quantitative analysis revealed that the students in the social role of referee mainly expressed amotivation, external regulation, and intrinsic motivation toward knowledge and accomplishment.

The results are discussed around two major points: (1) the students’ strategies of alternation from which their refereeing activity emerged and (2) proposals for PE teacher interventions.     

Associations between anxiety,self-efficacy,and outcomes by gender and body size dissatisfaction during fitness in high school physical education

Background: Noteworthy proportions of adolescents – particularly females – report negatively about their experiences regarding fitness and the testing of it during physical education (PE). These accounts often coincide with lower levels of body image, fitness, motivation, and physical activity and higher rates of attrition from optional PE.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test path relations between body size dissatisfaction (BSD), test anxiety (TA), self-efficacy, and fitness-related outcomes during fitness in PE and to determine whether these differ as a function of gender and level of BSD.

Method: Survey data were collected from 394 9th and 10th-grade students in southern Ontario, Canada. A previously validated BSD measure was used that consisted of a series of nine gender-specific silhouettes ranging from very thin/slender to very large/overweight. Students’ dissatisfaction score involved subtracting self-ratings of their ideal body size from current body size estimates. Fitness indices in PE (FIPE)was the z-score of the sum of self-reported fitness level, fitness grade in PE, and frequency of active exercise at least 30 minutes per day. Self-efficacy and TA were assessed using established scales from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire.

Data analysis: Multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess group differences whereas gender-specific confirmatory factor and path analyses were used to test the proposed path in which relations between BSD and FIPE were manifest indirectly through TA and self-efficacy.

Findings: The hypothetical path fit the data in the overall sample and fit better for females than for males. Females reported a higher BSD and a lower self-efficacy and FIPE than males. BSD was evident in both genders with most females desiring a thinner body compared to boys who had relatively equal proportions wanting to be bigger and thinner. Males wanting to be smaller reported significantly lower self-efficacy and FIPE than males with little BSD or those wanting to be larger. Females desiring a thinner body reported significantly more TA and lower FIPE than females with no BSD.

Conclusion: Body image concerns and elevated levels of anxiety appear to undergird the influence of self-efficacy on FIPE. This is particularly so in females, although both females and males with a BSD are susceptible to lowered fitness motivation and achievement in PE. Suggestions are provided to help physical educators to structure fitness curricula and pedagogy to better minimize this vulnerability. These include catering to the gender-specific needs and preferences for fitness activities during PE including the testing of fitness.     

Reliability of the virtual elevation method to evaluate rolling resistance of different mountain bike cross-country tyres

Although a low rolling resistance is advantageous in mountain bike cross-country racing, no studies have used the virtual elevation method to compare tyres from different manufacturers as used in international competitions so far. The aims of this study were to assess the reliability of this method, to compare the off-road rolling resistance between tyres and to calculate the influence on off-road speed.

Nine 29-in. mountain bike cross-country tyres were tested on a course representing typical ground surface conditions 5 or 6 times. The coefficient of rolling resistance was estimated with the virtual elevation method by 3 investigators and corresponding off-road speeds were calculated.

The virtual elevation method was highly reliable (typical error = 0.0006, 2.8%; limits of agreement <0.0005, r ≥ 0.98). The mean coefficient of rolling resistance was 0.0219 and differed from 0.0205 to 0.0237 (P < 0.001) between tyres. The calculated differences in off-road speed amounted to 2.9–3.2% (0% slope) and 2.3–2.4% (10% slope) between the slowest and the fastest tyre.

The reliability of the method and the differences in rolling resistance between the tyres illustrate the value of testing tyres for important competitions on a representative ground surface using the virtual elevation method.     

The Dutch language anterior cruciate ligament return to sport after injury scale (ACL-RSI) – validity and reliability

The ACL-Return to Sport after Injury scale (ACL-RSI) measures athletes’ emotions, confidence in performance, and risk appraisal in relation to return to sport after ACL reconstruction. Aim of this study was to study the validity and reliability of the Dutch version of the ACL-RSI (ACL-RSI (NL)).

Total 150 patients, who were 3–16 months postoperative, completed the ACL-RSI(NL) and 5 other questionnaires regarding psychological readiness to return to sports, knee-specific physical functioning, kinesiophobia, and health-specific locus of control. Construct validity of the ACL-RSI(NL) was determined with factor analysis and by exploring 10 hypotheses regarding correlations between ACL-RSI(NL) and the other questionnaires. For test–retest reliability, 107 patients (5–16 months postoperative) completed the ACL-RSI(NL) again 2 weeks after the first administration. Cronbach’s alpha, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), SEM, and SDC, were calculated. Bland–Altman analysis was conducted to assess bias between test and retest.

Nine hypotheses (90%) were confirmed, indicating good construct validity. The ACL-RSI(NL) showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.94) and test–retest reliability (ICC 0.93). SEM was 5.5 and SDC was 15. A significant bias of 3.2 points between test and retest was found.

Therefore, the ACL-RSI(NL) can be used to investigate psychological factors relevant to returning to sport after ACL reconstruction.     

Barriers and facilitators to using digital technologies in the Cooperative Learning model in physical education

Background: The influence of technology on children’s everyday lives is significant in today’s society, with children described as digital natives and/or the iGeneration. There are also a range of digital technologies available for use in education and a number of pedagogical approaches reported to support technology integration and pupil learning in physical education contexts. The use of technology by practitioners at present, however, is far from omnipresent. Consequently, the mechanisms that can support practitioners to use digital technologies to help pupils learn optimally in physical education requires further attention.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers and facilitators to purposeful technology integration when using the Cooperative Learning model in physical education.

Research design: Data are presented from an action research project that focussed on how a teacher-researcher used iPads (tablet personal computers) within the Cooperative Learning model to support pupil learning. An athletics (track and field) unit was taught to 2 separate classes (36 pupils in total) using the key features of the Cooperative Learning model. The teacher-researcher used action research as a professional learning mechanism to refine her practice through gathering data from focus groups interviews with pupils, teacher-researcher reflections and a colleague’s observation.

Data analysis: Data analysis was ongoing throughout the athletics units as part of the action research design. Following the unit, data were analysed through inductive analysis and constant comparison and the authors engaged in a peer examination process.

Findings: Unfamiliarity with technology and poor group cooperation were identified as initial barriers to pupil learning when integrating technology. Action research, however, and the process of reflection and collaborative inquiry acted as key facilitators for the teacher-researcher to learn how to use digital technology to support learning.

Conclusion: Findings challenge existing literature which position the ‘digital natives’ or iGeneration of today’s society as competent and able to use digital technologies to learn in formal educational contexts. Moreover, this study shows that selecting a well-defined pedagogical approach that has been previously reported to support technology use, such as Cooperative Learning, will not automatically result in positive learning experiences for pupils. If practitioners are to purposefully integrate digital technologies into physical education and ensure technology can help students to learn optimally, practitioners should engage with a reflexive process of learning, such as action research, to refine and develop their practices.     

Human runners exhibit a least variable gait speed

This study characterises the relationship between gait variability and speed in runners using data from trunk accelerations in each axis.

Twelve participants of varying fitness ran on the treadmill with three sessions of six randomly ordered self-selected speeds. A VO_2max test was conducted on the fourth session. Running gait was tracked with inertial sensors. The occurrence of a mid-range speed was analysed for the anterior–posterior, vertical and lateral directional coefficient of variation (CV) of root mean square (RMS) acceleration data.

One participant with noisy gait signals was omitted. The results show all remaining participants consistently showed significant quadratic U-shaped relationships between vertical RMS CV acceleration and speed. Neither anterior–posterior nor lateral RMS CV acceleration were clearly related to speed. These least variable gait speeds were similar to estimates of optimal speed derived from minimum cost of transport with speed.

In conclusion, there exists a mid-range speed for each runner with the least variable gait in the vertical direction, and this occurred significantly more often than would be expected by chance (P < 0.05). However, there are no prominent patterns for the anterior–posterior and lateral directions. This finding supports anecdotal evidence from runners and coaches concerning gait consistency.     

A systematic review of school-based physical activity interventions on children’s wellbeing

Purpose: The aim of this study was to review the effect of school-based physical activity interventions on children’s wellbeing.

Method: A systematic search of school-based physical activity studies was conducted using EBSCOhost PsycInfo, EBSCOhost Medline and Web of Science. Initially 995 studies were retrieved and, following the removal of duplicates, the titles and abstracts of 984 studies were screened. This screening identified 53 relevant studies from which 42 were excluded, resulting in 11 articles being reviewed.

Results: Three studies reported a positive increase in wellbeing; however, only one of those studies also significantly increased physical activity. It was apparent that the measurement of wellbeing and physical activity was inconsistent across studies, making conclusions difficult to draw. The wellbeing measures used neglected to account for the children’s perspectives of wellbeing.

Conclusions: The effect of a physical activity intervention on increasing wellbeing appears to be more complex than originally believed. The complexity may in part be due to methodological issues and the choice of wellbeing and physical activity measurement. We recommend that future physical activity interventions include a measure of wellbeing developed from the child’s perspective, and that future reviews narrow the search to only interventions that have had success at increasing physical activity before exploring effects on wellbeing.