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| Feature | No.65 October 2013 |

An Investigation into Teaching Strategies and Assessment Methods to foster Physical Literacy

Claire Bannon

Abstract

Physically literate people are those who enjoy movement and appreciate the level of time, challenge and effort that is often required when involved in physical activity (Whitehead, 2010). It is this appreciation that I aimed to foster and promote within the pupils that I teach. The case study on which I report aimed to explore the potential of different teaching strategies in motivating young learners to want to be, and to be, physically literate.

Background

My first two years of teaching were spent in an inner London school. Typically, pupils in the school had very poor general health and comparative to other schools within the borough, our pupils underperformed physically in most sporting competitions. The school was also based in a community where success in PE was not prioritised by parents and children:

- Often parents refused to let their children take part in extra-curricular clubs or sporting competitions outside of lesson time.

- Parental engagement at parents’ evenings was also very low with pupils remarking that their parents didn’t think it was important to come to see their PE teachers.

- Diets followed by many pupils within the school were typically very poor.

This meant that many of our pupils had a greater chance of experiencing problems such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity and generally there was a lack of motivation towards physical activity and a very low recognition of the benefits of an active lifestyle.

As a result, a departmental aim of the PE department I worked within was to focus on improving the general fitness of pupils within the school. This resulted in compulsory Bleep tests for pupils, which were completed during lesson time, at the beginning and end of every term throughout the school year. Results were recorded and monitored to track progress. Results were also used to inform parents of the general fitness of their child in comparison to the national averages in an attempt to foster parental support for the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle.

It was felt that pupils did not generally enjoy the process of Bleep testing and during those lessons; pupil engagement was often notably low. Pupils often commented negatively about having to do the Bleep test and it was evident from the teacher’s perspective that pupils did not work as hard as they possibly could during this activity. Typically, across the department the trend was that pupils began to give up more readily as they progressed through the school. By KS4 it was a struggle to get pupils to begin the Bleep test, let alone reach an average level. As a PE teacher I began to feel as though the Bleep test was giving my pupils the wrong idea about PE and what it means to be physically active, or indeed physically literate. I was worried that it was disengaging pupils and impacting negatively on their motivation towards the subject. Yet, it was a departmental policy and practice that had to be followed. Therefore, I felt it necessary to attempt to change pupils’ opinions and attitudes towards the Bleep test by trying to integrate it into the process of working hard to achieve success – rather than a measurement of success. I wanted to re-engage pupils and attempt to show them that success has its own journey, and that the journey to success can be just as rewarding as success itself.

Methodology

Participants in the case study were a class of 21 female students aged 11-12 years old. Data was collected through the process of questionnaires, interviews, fitness testing and reflective journals kept both by the teacher and pupils. Questionnaires were focused on investigating pupil attitudes and opinions towards PE, the Bleep test, and how much they valued the importance of working hard to achieve success. Interviews were then conducted to probe further into pupil opinions. Two participants were selected for interviews based on their responses in the questionnaires – one whose responses had shown a positive opinion of PE, and one whose responses were negative. The Bleep test was also conducted and the results were included within the data collection to attempt to triangulate data.

Throughout the study reflective journals were kept in order to attempt to monitor effective teaching strategies or experiences. These journals allowed participants and the researcher to record their thoughts and reflections after each lesson together. Participants were also encouraged to use these as a way of recording their own progress through the use of ipsative assessment. Participants set their own targets each lesson relating to physical activity within the lesson and could then evaluate their success in reaching these targets in their reflective journal. Their homework every lesson was to reflect on why they had achieved, or not achieved their target for that lesson. It was hoped that recording these thoughts would allow me to understand what worked for pupils and what might need changing; what motivated them to continue along their journey?

At the end of the study, questionnaires and interviews were repeated in order to evidence any changes in opinions or attitudes. Bleep testing was also repeated in order to evidence whether real improvements had occurred and to attempt to identify any correlations between pupil opinions and pupil progress.

Data analysis took place after the study to evaluate the impact of the investigation. As questionnaires had been constructed using Likert scaling, results were easily quantifiable. Results were then compared between the beginning and end of the study in order to analyse whether there had been any changes in pupil opinion or attitude.

Four themes emerged from interview transcripts which were then used to code transcripts.

- Prior learning/previous experiences.

- Controlled learning environment.

- Psychological responses.

- Value of experience.

Transcripts of interviews were compared from the beginning and end of the study to identify whether responses under the four emerging themes had changed. Reflective journals were also coded using the same emerging themes identified from the interviews. This was in order to attempt to understand possible causal factors of changes in questionnaire and interview responses.

Participants’ Bleep test scores were compared to identify whether progress in this area had been made. Where a participant’s score improved, questionnaire responses from the same participant where then analysed to identify whether changes in opinion, or attitude, had occurred. The same process was followed if participants’ scores did not improve, or if they decreased. This was in order to evaluate whether there were any correlations between attitudes and opinions of pupils and their scores in the Bleep test.

Findings

Participants’ opinion of and attitude towards PE changed dramatically from a very negative or undervalued subject, to one of their favourite. Similarly, Bleep test scores improved quite dramatically. Every single participant’s score improved, some by over two whole levels.

Analysis of data collected throughout the study suggested causal factors to be:

- Quality/Type of feedback – relevant to the individual and based on own prior attainment rather than comparatively to others in the class, or even national averages. For example, phrases such as “you have worked extremely hard there”, or “You’ve improved since last time” were valued more than phrases such as “you’ve got a good score”.

- Supportive culture – participants noted that having mutual respect for all within the class provided an environment where mistakes would not be ridiculed. Therefore, pupils were more likely to attempt activities with the potential of achieving success, even if they were afraid that this success might not be instantly recognised. It was also noted frequently that help from peers encouraged pupils to continue, and that they also enjoyed helping others to be successful.

- Celebrating success – participants and researcher all noted that celebrating success, no matter how small, was a rewarding experience that motivated pupils to want to continue. Participants also noted that knowing success was possible encouraged them to work hard. This was linked back to “Feedback” – by the end of the study participants believed that hard work was necessary to achieve success, but that all have the potential to be successful. This was due to the feedback they received from their teacher who emphasised the need to work hard, but who also celebrated and praised participants who did this. Participants’ attitude towards success shifted from an end outcome towards the work they did to get there; they believed they were successful if they had worked hard and made small improvements, rather than believing they were unsuccessful because they didn’t get the top level.

- Target setting – participants noted that the process of Ipsative assessment and the use of target setting as teaching strategies were effective. Comments in reflective journals evidenced a motivation towards trying to beat own personal scores, and how using previous scores as targets gave pupils something to aim towards. This, again, linked to feedback as participants noted that being praised by their teacher, or “friends”, for beating their score encouraged them to keep trying.

Moving forward

Accelerated progress of many of the previous under achievers resulted in a narrowing of the gap between them and the higher achievers in the co-hort. This initially threw up a very interesting finding in that it highlighted the need to push the higher achievers as their resilience appeared to be impacted negatively by the success of their less able peers. Similar to Dweck’s (2000) findings, it appeared that higher achieving girls were less willing to take risks with activities where they were not confident in achieving an outcome that sustained their high achieving status. The success of less able peers appeared to threaten their confidence in their own ability, or their motivation to continue their involvement. Current work aims to address this issue.

There was clear evidence from this investigation that through modified teaching strategies and assessment methods, learners became more motivated and confident. They set their own goals and accepted responsibility for their own learning. These are all traits that indicate that these learners were making progress on their physical literacy journey.

References

1. Dweck, C.S. (2000), Self-theories. Hove: Psychology Press.

2. Whitehead, M.E. (2010) Physical Literacy throughout the Lifecourse. London; Routledge.

Contact

Claire Bannon
Bentleywood High School

http://www.icsspe.org/