Benefits of multi-sports physical education in the elementary school context

Abstract

Objective: In many countries, physical education (PE) is taught by classroom teachers (generalists) during the formative years of elementary school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical and psychological outcomes of multi-sports PE taught by qualified PE teachers (specialists) and how they contribute to children’s physical and mental health development. Design: Experimental study with non-random assignment. Setting: Four elementary schools in Italy (Rome) stratified by urban district. Method: One hundred and twenty-five upper elementary school children (10-11 years) were assigned to an eight month multi-sports or traditional PE programme taught by a PE specialist or a generalist, respectively. Pre- and post-intervention tests assessed children’s fitness (aerobic fitness, abdominal strength and endurance, and hamstring flexibility) and coordination (kinesthetic discrimination ability, response orientation ability), goal (task and ego) orientation, perceived physical ability and social self-efficacy. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were performed on physical and psychological test measures. Results: The results demonstrated that the multi-sports approach to PE induced more pronounced improvements in aerobic fitness and kinesthetic discrimination ability, as well as small but significant improvements in task orientation, ego orientation and social self-efficacy, when compared to traditional PE taught by a generalist. Conclusions: A multi-sports approach to elementary school PE contributes to the development of children’s physical fitness and goal orientations, which support engagement in physical activity. These findings highlight the role of qualified PE specialists and multi-sport, skill-based curricula to obtain positive physical and psychological outcomes that may facilitate the development of a healthy child.

Multi-Teaching Styles Approach and Active Reflection: Effectiveness in Improving Fitness Level, Motor Competence, Enjoyment, Amount of Physical Activity, and Effects on the Perception of Physical Education Lessons in Primary School Children

“…Our findings are in line with Pesce et al [54,55] showing that the integration of motor and cognitive tasks, and a wide range of PE stimuli based on multifaceted tasks accommodating individual skill differences may improve both fitness and motor competence in children.…”

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“…This could be explained with the variety of preparatory exercises and modified games, aiming at the improvement of track and field skills. These findings are in agreement with investigations which claim that providing children with a wide variety of drills and multi-sport activities can have a positive outcome on their physical fitness (Kirk, 2005;Pesce, Faigenbaum, Crova, Marchetti, & Bellucci, 2012). The biggest improvement was primarily found for speed and agility and secondarily for endurance and flexibility (figure 2).…”

Sixty minutes of what? A developing brain perspective for activating children with an integrative exercise approach

“…A multisport approach to physical education (introducing a sampling of varied experiences tied to multiple sports in a coordinated fashion to students, matched to ability and interest) induces a more pronounced improvement in aerobic fitness and kinaesthetic discrimination ability, as well as improvements in task orientation and self-efficacy, when compared with traditional physical education 78. Collectively, these observations support the contention that motor skill training and the consequent inducement of regular physical activity may enhance corticomotor development as well as academic performance in school-age youth.…”