Worth A Thousand Words – How Drawings Provide Insight into Children-s Attitudes and Perceptions of Physical Education
The benefits of physical activity for children are promoted widely and well understood; however factors which impact on children-s beliefs and attitudes towards physical education need to be explored in more detail. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how primary school children value and perceive their involvement in physical education (PE) classes through the use of drawings. While this type of data collection has been used previously to determine a child-s response to specific health education classes, such as drug education, to the best of our knowledge it has not been used in the context of PE. Results from this study showed that kindergarten children found PE classes fun and engaging. Children in Year 4 and Year 6 were less satisfied with PE classes because of the activities offered, the lack of opportunity to play sport, and perception that teachers did not appear to value this area of the curriculum.
[1] Pell T & Jarvis T ,2001, Developing attitude to science scales for use with children of ages from five to eleven years, International Journal of
Science Education, Vol 23 Issue 8 pg 847-862
[2] Livingstone, Sonia and Bovill, Moira, 2001 Families and the internet:
an observational study of children and young people's internet use.
Media@LSE, London, UK. Accessed on line 3rd October 2011
[3] Opdenakker, Raymond,2006, Advantages and Disadvantages of Four
Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research, Forum: Qualitative Social
Research, Vol.7, No.4 accessed on line 8th August 2011.
[4] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., (1998) Images and Curriculum
Development in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting
it Right. The Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage
Publications hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October
2008.
[5] Morgan, P, 2008, Teacher Perceptions of Physical Education in the
Primary School: Attitudes, Values and Curriculum Preferences ,
Physical Educator, Vol. 65, Issue 1, pg 45 – 56.
[6] Hands, B & Martin, M, 2003, Fundamental movement skills: children’s perspectives, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28.4; pg:47 – 53
[7] Bunker, L.K , 1991, The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, The Elementary
School Journal, Vol 91, Issue 5, 467 – 471
[8] Ulrich, D.A, 1985, TGMD Test for Gross Motor Development, Pro-ed,
Texas.
[9] Miller, J, 2006, Can’t catch, can’t throw! Assessment of primary schoolaged
children’s fundamental motor skills and coordination levels,
Research Series, Vol 2, No. 1, Armidale NSW.
[10] Wakley, J., Holland, B.,Treloar, R., & Probyn-Smith, H., 1993,
Fundamental motor skill proficiency of children, the ACHPER National
Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, Spring
[11] Semmler, A & Dickson, S, 1994, Age appropriateness for the
acquisition of specific rugby league skills in primary school children,
paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education
Conference, Newcastle.
[12] Ntoumanis N, Pensgaard A-M, Martin, C and Pipe K, 2004, An
Idiographic Analysis of Amotivation in Compulsory School Physical
Education, Journal of Sport and Exercise Physchology, Issue 26 pg 197-
214 Human Kinetics [13] Morgan, P., Bourke, S & Thompson, K., 2002, Physical Educators’ Perceptions about Physical Education: an Analysis of the Prospective and Practising Teacher, Paper presented at The Annual
Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education,
Brisbane.
[14] Landry, J.B., Solmon, M.A, Afeman, H., Rukavina, P., Hill, K., and Harrison, L, 2001, Children’s Definitions of Physical Fitness, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, March, 2001, pg 71 - 73 [15] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., 1998 Images and Curriculum Development
in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting it Right. The
Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage Publications
hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October 2008
[16] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., 1998 Images and Curriculum Development
in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting it Right. The
Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage Publications
hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October 2008
[17] Physical Education and Sport Policy 2009, Department of Education
and Training, www.det.act.gov.au accessed on line 8 August 2011.
[18] Wakley, J., Holland, B.,Treloar, R., & Probyn-Smith, H., 1993,
Fundamental motor skill proficiency of children, the ACHPER National
Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, Spring
[19] Ulrich, D.A, 1985, TGMD Test for Gross Motor Development, Pro-ed,
Texas.
[20] Miller, J, 2006, Can’t catch, can’t throw! Assessment of primary schoolaged
children’s fundamental motor skills and coordination levels,
Research Series, Vol 2, No. 1, Armidale NSW.
[21] Bunker, L.K, 1991 The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, The Elementary
School Journal, Vol 91, Issue 5, 467 – 471
[22] Morgan, P, 2008, Teacher Perceptions of Physical Education in the
Primary School: Attitudes, Values and Curriculum Preferences ,
Physical Educator, Vol. 65, Issue 1, pg 45 – 56.
[23] Silverman, S & Subramaniam, P.R, 1999 Student attitude toward
physical education and physical activity: A review of measurement
issues and outcomes. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Vol.19
(11), pg 97 - 125 [24] Cleland, V., Venn, A., Fyrer,J., Dwyer, T and Blizzard L., 2005, Parental exercise is associated with Australian Children’s extracurricular sports participation and cardiorespiratory fitness: A
cross-sectional study, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and
Physical Activity, Vol 2. Issue 3.
[1] Pell T & Jarvis T ,2001, Developing attitude to science scales for use with children of ages from five to eleven years, International Journal of
Science Education, Vol 23 Issue 8 pg 847-862
[2] Livingstone, Sonia and Bovill, Moira, 2001 Families and the internet:
an observational study of children and young people's internet use.
Media@LSE, London, UK. Accessed on line 3rd October 2011
[3] Opdenakker, Raymond,2006, Advantages and Disadvantages of Four
Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research, Forum: Qualitative Social
Research, Vol.7, No.4 accessed on line 8th August 2011.
[4] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., (1998) Images and Curriculum
Development in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting
it Right. The Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage
Publications hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October
2008.
[5] Morgan, P, 2008, Teacher Perceptions of Physical Education in the
Primary School: Attitudes, Values and Curriculum Preferences ,
Physical Educator, Vol. 65, Issue 1, pg 45 – 56.
[6] Hands, B & Martin, M, 2003, Fundamental movement skills: children’s perspectives, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28.4; pg:47 – 53
[7] Bunker, L.K , 1991, The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, The Elementary
School Journal, Vol 91, Issue 5, 467 – 471
[8] Ulrich, D.A, 1985, TGMD Test for Gross Motor Development, Pro-ed,
Texas.
[9] Miller, J, 2006, Can’t catch, can’t throw! Assessment of primary schoolaged
children’s fundamental motor skills and coordination levels,
Research Series, Vol 2, No. 1, Armidale NSW.
[10] Wakley, J., Holland, B.,Treloar, R., & Probyn-Smith, H., 1993,
Fundamental motor skill proficiency of children, the ACHPER National
Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, Spring
[11] Semmler, A & Dickson, S, 1994, Age appropriateness for the
acquisition of specific rugby league skills in primary school children,
paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education
Conference, Newcastle.
[12] Ntoumanis N, Pensgaard A-M, Martin, C and Pipe K, 2004, An
Idiographic Analysis of Amotivation in Compulsory School Physical
Education, Journal of Sport and Exercise Physchology, Issue 26 pg 197-
214 Human Kinetics [13] Morgan, P., Bourke, S & Thompson, K., 2002, Physical Educators’ Perceptions about Physical Education: an Analysis of the Prospective and Practising Teacher, Paper presented at The Annual
Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education,
Brisbane.
[14] Landry, J.B., Solmon, M.A, Afeman, H., Rukavina, P., Hill, K., and Harrison, L, 2001, Children’s Definitions of Physical Fitness, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, March, 2001, pg 71 - 73 [15] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., 1998 Images and Curriculum Development
in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting it Right. The
Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage Publications
hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October 2008
[16] Wetton., N & McWhirter, J., 1998 Images and Curriculum Development
in Health Education: Chapter 17, in McWhirter, J, Getting it Right. The
Case for Risk Education. Accessed online through Sage Publications
hej.sagepub.com/cg/content/refs/63/4/307 10 October 2008
[17] Physical Education and Sport Policy 2009, Department of Education
and Training, www.det.act.gov.au accessed on line 8 August 2011.
[18] Wakley, J., Holland, B.,Treloar, R., & Probyn-Smith, H., 1993,
Fundamental motor skill proficiency of children, the ACHPER National
Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, Spring
[19] Ulrich, D.A, 1985, TGMD Test for Gross Motor Development, Pro-ed,
Texas.
[20] Miller, J, 2006, Can’t catch, can’t throw! Assessment of primary schoolaged
children’s fundamental motor skills and coordination levels,
Research Series, Vol 2, No. 1, Armidale NSW.
[21] Bunker, L.K, 1991 The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, The Elementary
School Journal, Vol 91, Issue 5, 467 – 471
[22] Morgan, P, 2008, Teacher Perceptions of Physical Education in the
Primary School: Attitudes, Values and Curriculum Preferences ,
Physical Educator, Vol. 65, Issue 1, pg 45 – 56.
[23] Silverman, S & Subramaniam, P.R, 1999 Student attitude toward
physical education and physical activity: A review of measurement
issues and outcomes. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Vol.19
(11), pg 97 - 125 [24] Cleland, V., Venn, A., Fyrer,J., Dwyer, T and Blizzard L., 2005, Parental exercise is associated with Australian Children’s extracurricular sports participation and cardiorespiratory fitness: A
cross-sectional study, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and
Physical Activity, Vol 2. Issue 3.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:51378", author = "Sandy Daley and Sandra Jones and Don Iverson", title = "Worth A Thousand Words – How Drawings Provide Insight into Children-s Attitudes and Perceptions of Physical Education", abstract = "The benefits of physical activity for children are promoted widely and well understood; however factors which impact on children-s beliefs and attitudes towards physical education need to be explored in more detail. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how primary school children value and perceive their involvement in physical education (PE) classes through the use of drawings. While this type of data collection has been used previously to determine a child-s response to specific health education classes, such as drug education, to the best of our knowledge it has not been used in the context of PE. Results from this study showed that kindergarten children found PE classes fun and engaging. Children in Year 4 and Year 6 were less satisfied with PE classes because of the activities offered, the lack of opportunity to play sport, and perception that teachers did not appear to value this area of the curriculum.
", keywords = "attitudes, physical education, primary school
children, write and draw", volume = "6", number = "6", pages = "1120-5", }
