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More physical activity and less sitting at school

Exploring the relation between teacher autonomy support and children’s musical creativity

In primary music education a key question is what teachers can do to stimulate students’ musical creativity. For the answer, delving into teacher-student interaction during the creative processes in the naturalistic setting of primary music lessons is required. Twenty-six music lessons from thirteen teachers and their classes of seven Dutch schools were recorded to explore the relation between teachers’ autonomy support and students’ divergent and convergent thought & action. Quantitative sequential analysis and thematic analysis were combined to examine this relation, using a framework offered by Complex Dynamic Systems theory and Enaction theory. In contrast to classical correla-tional analysis, sequential analysis focuses on the dynamics, and thus on the temporal relation in classroom interaction. The results show that mostly lower-level autonomy support was offered. Es-pecially in creative lessons, higher-level autonomy support is more likely to lead to higher-level student divergent thought and action. For convergent thought and action, the results were less con-clusive. An implication of the findings is that (research into) music education could benefit from interventions aimed at enhancing autonomy support in primary school music.

Dutch school policies for less sitting and more physical activity in primary schools

Purpose: A more dynamic school day that includes less sitting and more physical activity throughout the day may support health in primary school children. In this mixed methodologies study, we assessed which physical activity possibilities are incorporated in the school policies of Dutch primary schools and if this translates into more physical activity in pupils.Methods: Seven primary schools were included in the study. The head teachers completed a questionnaire on the incorporation of physical activity in the school policy. Physical activity policy was assessed for physical education, physical activity during breaks, scheduling of physical activity during lessons, after school physical activity and active transport to school. In each school, actual physical activity was objectively measured using accelerometers in pupils in two classes and planning and logging of PA by teachers.Results: We will assess the impact of the school policy on physical activity in pupils using logistic regression. We will assess the impact of the several school policies on total physical activity in pupils, and on the three (light, moderate and high) modalities of physical activity.Conclusion: The results of this study will give us more insight in the current role of physical activity in Dutch primary schools. The potential impact of the school policy on physical activity levels in pupils can be used as a starting point for a more integral dynamic school day approach.Support/Funding Source: This study was partially funded by “Stichting Westelijke Tuinsteden’

Student teachers’ future time perspective and teacher identity: A longitudinal study about students who will become primary school teachers

This three-wave study examined associations between a motivational construct future time perspective (FTP) and teachers’ identity (TI) in a sample of Dutch student teachers (N = 368). Additionally, gender and educational level were included as factors affecting FTP and TI. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that FTP and TI were moderately and positively correlated at the between-person level. At the within-person level, positive cross-lagged effects from wave 2 FTP on wave 3 TI were uncovered. Male student teachers and those that are academically educated reported weaker FTP and TI relations compared to their counterparts. Implications for practice are discussed.

How CREM strategies apply to primary school buildings

The purpose of this paper is to investigate which theoretical elements of adding value with? real estate are applied in practice in accommodating primary education and in what way these are elements relevant to the stakeholders. A literature study of usual CREM strategies has been used to build a theoretical framework with regard to the value a building can create for different stakeholders. Interviews were then held with various professionally involved people in order to understand to what extent the general theory is taken into account with regard to “added value” for the stakeholders of primary school buildings. The data show that CREM theory also can be applied to the “not for profit” school buildings, but that not all potential possibilities to add value with real estate for primary education seem to be applied in practice.

That’s what I like!

Enjoyment in primary physical education (PE) is a key factor in increasing children's physical activity engagement in PE and leisure time. While existing PE research has largely focused on a motivational PE climate and meaningful experiences in PE, research on children's perceptions of enjoyable teaching practices (TPs) in PE is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore primary school children's perspectives on TPs that foster PE enjoyment. In addition, we observed to what extent these TPs were applied in daily PE practice. Four focus groups with 10- to 12-year-old children (12 boys, 12 girls) from four primary schools were formed and inductive analysis resulted in 32 child-identified TPs categorized into 10 dimensions. Thirty-one PE lessons taught by 19 different PE teachers (11 generalists, 8 PE specialists) were recorded and coded using the child-identified TPs. Teachers regularly performed a substantial number of these TPs during their PE lessons. However, TPs such as the use of cooperative learning, instructional methods to promote children's (social) learning process, an emphasis on children's individual improvements, and consciously grouping were rarely observed. Moreover, PE specialists showed TPs supporting exploratory learning and children's individual learning processes more frequently than generalists. In addition, PE specialists provided challenging, differentiated tasks with a creative use of equipment more often than generalists. Including children's perspectives contributes to a comprehensive understanding of PE enjoyment and TPs that can promote enjoyable PE experiences. Children's voices need to be heard continuously by PE teachers to ensure enjoyable PE experiences for all children.