Experiences and Outcomes of Preschool Physical Education: an analysis of developmental discourses in Scottish curricular documentation

This article provides an analysis of developmental discourses underpinning preschool physical education in Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence. Implementing a post-structural perspective, the article examines the preschool experiences and outcomes related to physical education as presented in the Curriculum for Excellence ‘health and wellbeing’ documentation. The article interrogates the ways in which developmental discourses are evident throughout this and related documentation and how these discourses might ‘work’ to produce specific effects on practitioners and children as they are deployed and taken up in Scottish preschool education contexts. This analysis involves speculating about potential consequences for practitioners' and children's experiences and subjectivities. In conclusion, it is suggested that practitioners should critically engage with the curriculum, as uncritical acceptance of the discourses underpinning it could lead to practices that may have negative consequences. Furthermore, the article proposes that future research should investigate the ways in which the discourses privileged in the Curriculum for Excellence ‘health and wellbeing’ documentation are taken up and negotiated in Scottish preschool settings

Development of manipulative skills by children in primary grades

Différences selon l'âge et le sexe dans les habiletés de donner un coup de pied dans un ballon, dribler, attraper une balle, lancer une balle, faire rouler une balle chez 62 enfants entre 6,5 et 8,5 an

Qualitative aspects of teaching and manipulative skill enhancement: Is there any relationship?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between certain qualitative aspects of teaching and students' achievement in fundamental manipulative skills. Six elementary physical education teachers were required to teach to their students an eight-lesson unit in throwing and catching, as part of their normal curriculum. Students were pre- and post-tested on the above manipulative skills using the Test of Gross Motor Development (Ulrich, 1985) for the qualitative performance and the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP, 1984) for the quantitative performance. All lessons were video- and audio-taped, and coded using the Qualitative Measures of Teaching Performance Scale (QMPTS: Rink and Werner, 1989) to evaluate teaching performance. Results showed that the total QMTPS score was significantly correlated with a) quantitative performance on catching, and b) qualitative performance on throwing. A correlation (although not significant) was also found between the total QMTPS score and a) student overall performance, b) student overall quantitative performance. It seems that certain qualitative aspects of teaching contribute to fundamental manipulative skill enhancement

Reliability and validity of the matson evaluation of social skills with youngsters (MESSY II) in Greek context

The principal aim of this study was to confirm the “Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters in a Greek elementary school context. The internal consistency of the MESSY II was also examined. 614 students of the last three grades of primary schools were participated the survey. The Greek version of MESSY-II was used. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were checked by performing a confirmatory factor analysis and an internal consistency analysis. Also, descriptive statistics, T-test and One way Anova analysis were used. From the analysis we came to the following conclusions: a. The Greek version of MESSY II has shown stable psychometric properties, which partially support its use in Greek elementary school context. b. The sample does not present negative social skills. c. Gender turns out an element that differentiates the factors “Hostile”, “Appropriate” and “Inappropriate Assertive” while class attendance for factors “Appropriate” and “Inappropriate assertive”. © 2016, Univerzitet u Travniku. All rights reserved