How are Fundamental Movement Skills Perceived in Primary Education Assignment

Assignment Task

Abstract

This research study was intended to explore the perception and teaching of fundamental movement skills by educators in primary education within Northern Ireland. This project intended to discover the opinions of a group of teachers teaching classes in primary schools and the opinions of external school sports coaches who were also working in a primary education environment. The study wanted to understand how prevalent fundamental movement skills were in school sports and what factors may influence how an educator uses these in their sessions. The study looked at the educator’s background and relationship with sport along with their ideologies and what the educators generally notice about school-based sports and physical education.

This study used a qualitative method involving semi-structured interviews. Six interviewees from different schools and coaching companies within NI were used. Three teachers from school and three being sports coaches from within the areas of Belfast and Ballymena.

The results showed that generally there is some form of understanding of what fundamental movement skills are and how they can have an influence on the participation of primary school pupils. However, this knowledge is not up to the most efficient standard especially within teachers which has led to the use of more sports coaches who are specially trained to be used in school sports. A range of factors explored throughout the research have caused this and this study provides recommendations on how the school system could continue to develop positively. The clear results from this study is that the teachers, who in many primary schools are taking the physical education classes and the extracurricular school sports need continued sports specific training to be kept or brought up to date with continuously developing practices. If this is unachievable then the use of qualified sports coaches could be the answer across all primary schools to bridge the gap in knowledge and support teachers in their work. By allowing coaches to generally take over physical education and any physical activity in primary schools. This will allow for teachers to have some pressure taken off them which can be focused elsewhere on the curriculum and allow for school pupils to avail from a highly specialised educator which may help build a strong relationship between the pupil and physical activity which has health benefits but will promote the continued participation in physical activity in the future.

Introduction

Physical education (PE) is a compulsory part of the primary education curriculum at key stages 1 – 3 (KS). This education is taught through PE classes and designated games times in which pupils are allowed to participate in sport and physical activity under supervision of a teacher or sports coach. Included within the aims for PE is that students learn “fundamental movement skills that will improve body management, co-ordination, locomotion and manipulation (gross and fine motor skills)” (CCEA, NI Curriculum – Primary, 2019).

A National Health Survey commissioned by the Department of Health for Northern Ireland provided an insight into the distribution of children’s physical health in primary education. This survey showed that 27% of children aged 2 – 10 years were “obese or overweight”, with this broken down as 8% obese and 19% overweight. (HSNI 2020). This shows a large proportion of children in primary education are at risk of health problems and yet there is a structured curriculum set out for PE and sport in schools which should be educating young people in how to counteract these issues. The curriculum for subjects such as Math and English do not have any evident short comings however the data shows that there is a clear issue in the health of children in primary school. The researcher is aiming to identify why there is a shortfall in physical education. One intervention to this issue is by improving how PE and sport is provided in schools. This can be done by looking at the sport educators, reviewing whether their knowledge of the core skills and foundations of sport can influence how they lead PE and sport sessions and to see what differences exist to ultimately improve the physical education of these young people (Hong-jie Yu 2020).

The author is aiming to complete research to discover any differences how educators lead a sports session in Primary Schools and how possible differences in perception, knowledge and leadership style can influence their sessions. The author will also be looking into what typology of power the educator believes they use and how different backgrounds in sport can influence an educator. This study will help provide a recommendation for the primary education sector as to what actions must be taken to ensure the most effective teaching is conducted in school sports.

The next chapters of this research will lead to a conclusion providing detailed recommendations for further improvement. The next chapter; the Literature Review will investigate the subject surrounding PE in primary schools and discuss what factors influence the subject. This section will discuss thoughts on educator’s perceptions of PE, their education in sport and barriers that occur when teaching PE and sport to children.

Once the background of the theory surrounding this project has been reviewed, how the data will be gained will be discussed. The Methodology chapter covers all aspects of the methodology used by the researcher to collect and store the data required for the project.

Upon understanding of how the research will be conducted and the raw data collected and analysed, the Data Analysis chapter will clearly lay out the results from the studies findings and provide a discussion around these results. Key trends and analysis of the interview responses will be included here.

Finally, a Discussion and Recommendation chapter will complete the research. This section will bring together the study and provide any recommendations from the researcher into how PE in schools can be improved or changed to improve the lives of the children involved.

Literature Review

 Introduction

Sports and PE is an incredibly crucial part of a child’s development. It is compulsory in the teaching curriculum for NI and allows for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development to be nurtured (Bailey et al, 2009). There has been lots of historical research over the years supporting the benefits of Physical Education and School Sports (PESS) with UK national policies such as the Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links Strategy (DfES 2003) and Every Child Matters (HM Treasury 2003) supporting such beneficial claims of school sport. The NI curriculum states that PE should allow participants to be competent and confident in physical activity. By participating in regular PE, the benefits of activity should be learnt, and a positive relationship developed between physical activity and being healthy (NI Curriculum, 2007). This study is focusing on the perception and teaching primarily of FMS. The NI Curriculum contains a list of aims of what PE should develop in a child with the number one aim being to develop;

“fundamental movement skills that will improve body management, co-ordination, locomotion and manipulation (gross and fine motor skills)” (NI Curriculum, 2007; pg. 102)

By understanding this is a core element of school sport clearly outlined in the curriculum the researcher can look to understand the deeper meaning behind this subject and how it is being used in school sport.

The Department for Education NI states that it is up to the school themselves to decide how much PE a student gets in a week however their recommendation is that a minimum of two hours be achieved each week for both primary and secondary schools (Sport NI, 2013). This does not include the opportunity for extra-curricular sport and is during the normal teaching week. The Sport Matters document states that only around a third of schools have been able to provide the full two hours of PE time in an average teaching week which means that for many schools, their pupils are getting below the recommended amount which could be influencing their development and health (Sport NI, 2013). Evidence shown by Griggs (2010) has suggested that in many primary schools PESS especially in the United Kingdom is being taught by an external sports coach who may not have any form of formal teacher training. The question can be asked as to whether by going down this route, are educators with specific sporting knowledge the way to improve the physical lives of young people or is it taking away by not providing the quality of teaching you would expect from a qualified teacher. Literature has suggested that outsourcing of this work has been a considerable feature in recent years across Australasia and the United Kingdom amongst other countries (Griggs 2010).

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