Towards physical literacy : Classroom teacher students' perceptions and experiences about bring up of physical active lifestyle

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tarkoituksena on tuoda esille luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksiä ja kokemuksia liikunnalliseen elämäntapaan kasvattamisesta. Tavoitteena on tarkastella tekijöitä, joilla voidaan tukea perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelmassa (2014) asetetun tavoitteen: liikunnalliseen elämäntavan kehittymistä. Tutkimuksen kautta haetaan vastauksia koulun liikuntakasvatuksen vaikutuksesta aikuisiän liikunta-aktiivisuuden muodostumiseen, alakoulun roolista liikunnallisen elämäntavan edistäjänä sekä liikunnalliseen elämäntavan kehittymiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena teemahaastattelujen avulla. Haastatteluihin osallistui kahdeksan luokanopettajaopiskelijaa Helsingin yliopistosta. Tutkimushenkilöiden haastattelut toteutettiin etähaastatteluina keväällä 2021. Tutkimusote tässä tutkimuksessa oli fenomenografinen ja analysointikeinona hyödynnettiin sisällönanalyysiä. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä käytettiin Whiteheadin (2010) luomaa teoriaa liikunnan lukutaidosta, johon sisällytettiin Kosken (2013) merkityksiin perustuvaa liikuntasuhdenäkökulmaa sekä Decin ja Ryanin (2000) psykologisiin perustarpeisiin pohjautuvaa itsemääräämisteoriaa. Tutkimuksessa myönteisten liikuntakokemusten saavuttaminen nousi esille merkittävänä tekijänä elinikäiselle liikkumiselle. Haastateltavien peruskoulun liikuntakasvatuksesta jääneistä kokemuksista nousivat esille opettajan, oppiaineen, ryhmän sekä koulun tarjoamien puitteiden vaikutukset aikuisiän liikunta-aktiivisuuden muodostumiseen. Liikunnalliseen elämäntapaan kasvattamisen perustana nähtiin oppilaiden motivaation, itseluottamuksen ja fyysisen pätevyyden sekä tietoisuuden ja ymmärryksen tukeminen. Alakoulua pidettiin merkittävänä liikunnalliseen elämäntapaan kasvattavana ympäristönä, joka toimii sekä liikuntasuhteen muodostaja, että tarjoaa oppilaille mahdollisuuksia liikunta-aktiivisuuden toteuttamiseen. Liikunnalliseen elämäntapaan kasvattaminen koettiin tärkeänä tavoitteena liikuntakasvatuksessa, jossa oppilaiden liikunnan lukutaidon kehittyminen osoittautui keskeiseksi. Sen toteuttaminen koettiin kuitenkin haasteelliseksi ja vastuulliseksi tehtäväksi, johon toivottiin kouluyhteisöltä ja opettajakoulutukselta tukea.The aim of the stydy is to present the perceptions and experiences of classroom teacher students about the effects of school physical education on the adoption of physical active lifestyle. Secondly, the aim was to find out the views and knowledge of classroom teacher studets about the factors influencing the development of physical activity lifestyle in physical education and to find out whether physical education in primary school have effected on their subsequent formation of physical habits. Third goal was to find out how the classroom teachers experiences school´s responsibility in educating and motivating students towards a physical active lifestyle. The research was conducted as a qualitative study in which the data were collected through theme interviews. Eight classroom teacher students from the University of Helsinki were interviewed during this study. The thesis was phenomenographic because the purpose was to understand the meanings behind the experiences and try to understand the phenomenon of the study as comprehensively as possible. Content analysis was used as a means of analyzing the data in this study. Theoretical framework of this thesis consisted of studies of physical activity relationships, the self-determination theory and the physical literacy theory. The study highlighted the achievement of positive exercise experiences as a significant factor to maintain physical activity throughout the lifecourse. The interviewees' experiences of physical education in primary school highlighted the effects of the teacher, subject, group and the framework provided by the school on the formation of later physical education habits. The basis for physical activity lifestyle is formed of motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding. The physical lifestyle was considered as an important goal in physical education, although its implementation was perceived as a challenging task

Liikunnan lukutaidon tukeminen : Tapaustutkimus luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksistä

Physical literacy precedes and influences the physically active lifestyle, which is a key element of physical education. Especially, primary school physical education has an important task in the formation of the physically active lifestyle because it reaches all age cohorts. Classroom teachers are mainly in charge of implementing the curriculum in the primary schools. Thus, it is important to know more about their perceptions on physical literacy. Our research question was: How do classroom teacher students perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy? The data of this case study consists of four semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using content analysis. The concept of physical literacy, developed by Whitehead (1993), was used to categorize the data. Furthermore, the answers in the categories were combined in themes that the result of responses to the research question. As a key result of this study, it was found that classroom student teachers perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy as follows: 1) Motivation can be supported by atmosphere, teaching methods, contents and learning environments; (2) Physical competence and self-confidence is supported by experiences of success, developmentally appropriate physical activities and motor skills and 3) Knowledge and understanding can be supported by creating meanings and adjusted objectives, evaluation and individualization. Our results suggest that future classroom teachers have a quite broad understanding of supporting physical literacy, which is in line with their broad educational duties that differ from those of subject teachers. The results of our research are especially useful for classroom teachers. An approach that emphasizes personal potential can be one solution to challenges of immobility. In the future, it is important to study what kind of pedagogical practices based on physical literacy could lead to the development of teaching in physical education in primary schools.Physical literacy precedes and influences the physically active lifestyle, which is a key element of physical education. Especially, primary school physical education has an important task in the formation of the physically active lifestyle because it reaches all age cohorts. Classroom teachers are mainly in charge of implementing the curriculum in the primary schools. Thus, it is important to know more about their perceptions on physical literacy. Our research question was: How do classroom teacher students perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy? The data of this case study consists of four semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using content analysis. The concept of physical literacy, developed by Whitehead (1993), was used to categorize the data. Furthermore, the answers in the categories were combined in themes that the result of responses to the research question. As a key result of this study, it was found that classroom student teachers perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy as follows: 1) Motivation can be supported by atmosphere, teaching methods, contents and learning environments; (2) Physical competence and self-confidence is supported by experiences of success, developmentally appropriate physical activities and motor skills and 3) Knowledge and understanding can be supported by creating meanings and adjusted objectives, evaluation and individualization. Our results suggest that future classroom teachers have a quite broad understanding of supporting physical literacy, which is in line with their broad educational duties that differ from those of subject teachers. The results of our research are especially useful for classroom teachers. An approach that emphasizes personal potential can be one solution to challenges of immobility. In the future, it is important to study what kind of pedagogical practices based on physical literacy could lead to the development of teaching in physical education in primary schools.Peer reviewe