Investigating levels and determinants of primary school children’s basic motor competencies in nine European countries

Abstract

Basic motor competencies (BMC) belong to the key learning goals of Physical Education (PE) in primary school curricula in Europe. These competencies are necessary to participate in sports inside and outside of school. Children should therefore achieve age-adequate BMC in PE and any need for educational motor support should be identified at an early stage. Studies in German-speaking countries showed that various endogenous and exogenous factors are related to children’s BMC, but international studies are missing. In the present cross-sectional study, the two BMC areas object movement (OM) and self-movement (SM) as well as the associations with endogenous (age, sex, body mass index) and exogenous (participation in extracurricular sports) factors were investigated in 1721 8‑ to 10-year-old primary school children from nine European countries. Over 25% of the children showed need for educational motor support in OM and over 20% in SM. BMC levels differed significantly between the country-specific subsamples. In all subsamples, boys showed better performances in OM, while girls scored better in SM. Older children performed better in OM and SM than younger children. Higher body mass index predicted lower BMC scores in both competence areas. Participation in ball sports was positively associated with OM and SM, and individual sports participation was a significant predictor of SM. As exogenous and endogenous variables consistently predicted BMC in all subsamples, there must be other reasons for variation in BMC levels. Future studies should address country- and school-specific characteristics like content and amount of PE.

Basic motor competencies in Slovak children from the 3rd and 4th grade elementary age group

“…Slovak third and fourth graders of both genders achieved a higher performance level compared to selected German peers ( 10 ). The comparison with pupils from Chile ( 2 ) and Athens, Foggia and Lisbon ( 4 ) is again in favor of the examined group of Slovak children. Pupils in the cities of Salzburg, Kaunas, and Zurich achieved a higher level of BMC, while a similar level to examined Slovak children was recorded in the cities of Brno and Gronigen ( 4 ).…”

“…The MOBAK test batteries have been used increasingly in the recent years to identify the BMC in children from preschool to the beginning of the second grade of primary school in many European countries ( 1 , 13 ), but also in other countries ( 2 ). The basic (preliminary) findings show that boys outperform girls in object movement tasks and, on the other hand, girls tend to show slightly better results in self-movement tasks ( 2 , 4 , 10 , 12 ). In the Slovak Republic, we only collected the data in Southern Slovakia ( 4 ); the remaining regions have not been analyzed yet.…”

“…The basic (preliminary) findings show that boys outperform girls in object movement tasks and, on the other hand, girls tend to show slightly better results in self-movement tasks ( 2 , 4 , 10 , 12 ). In the Slovak Republic, we only collected the data in Southern Slovakia ( 4 ); the remaining regions have not been analyzed yet. It was also necessary to confirm the construct validity when dividing the competencies into object movement and self-movement ( 1 , 2 , 10 , 12 , 13 ), and this issue has not been addressed in Slovakia at all.…”

“…BMC are becoming one of the most important topics in physical education ( 1 , 2 ). Physical education in primary school enables children to acquire and develop basic motor competences that strengthen the child's healthy motor development and encourages participation in physical and sports activities with peers ( 3 , 4 ). The level of BMC affects not only the child's physical development, but also cognition, mental and social aspects ( 2 , 5 – 7 ), while clarifying the importance of motor competences should be a vision of the holistic development of children at school ( 2 , 8 , 9 ).…”

“…The level of BMC affects not only the child's physical development, but also cognition, mental and social aspects ( 2 , 5 – 7 ), while clarifying the importance of motor competences should be a vision of the holistic development of children at school ( 2 , 8 , 9 ). The stated targets are elaborated in European (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice 2013) and non-European (e.g., SHAPE America 2014) mandatory pedagogical documents for teachers of physical education, as the subject of physical education is generally a compulsory subject in primary schools ( 4 ).…”