Teacher Perceptions of Daily Physical Activity and Perceived Contextual Barriers to the Implementation of Daily Physical
Physical activity can be very broadly defined as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure” (Miller, Wilson-Gahan, & Garrett, 2018, p. 5). It is generally agreed that, for children aged between 5 and 17 years
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troduction Physical activity can be very broadly defined as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure” (Miller, Wilson-Gahan, & Garrett, 2018, p. 5). It is generally agreed that, for children aged between 5 and 17 years of age, the ideal scenario includes the accumulation of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity on a daily basis (Australian Government Australian Institute of
N. Williams (*) Fairholme College, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia e-mail: [email protected] H. N. Perera University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 J. Donovan et al. (eds.), Curriculum, Schooling and Applied Research, Palgrave Studies in Education Research Methods, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48822-2_6
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Health and Welfare, 2019; Australian Government Department of Health, 2019; Australian Medical Association, 2014; World Health Organisation, 2018). The concept of daily physical activity is distinctive to the Health and Physical Education Key Learning Area. The Movement and Physical Activity strand in the Health and Physical Education curriculum aims to educate students of the physical, through the physical, in a socially constructed course of developmentally appropriate opportunities (Miller et al., 2018, p. 5). The development and implementation of a daily physical activity program is not aligned to, nor has any bearing upon, the Health and Physical Education curriculum. These are two separate entities with notable differences in foundations and implementation. The implementation of a daily physical activity program is facilitated by the classroom teacher and, for a myriad of reasons including the proliferation of technology usage, fears for the safety of children and the cost of coordinated sporting opportunities, the onus to provide opportunities for children to engage in daily physical activity has been increasingly placed on the education system in structured and non- structured ways. This includes opportunities via the curriculum, daily physical activity programs, organised activities through recess breaks and the provision of opportunities in outside school hours care facilities. The school environment, whilst not solely responsible for fulfilling all physical activity requirements, does play an integral role in the provision of physical activity programs. These opportunities make a unique contribution to the educational experience of students through the teaching and learning of movement skills, and a commitment to developing positive, lifelong, health and well-being choices (Morgan & Bourke, 2008). Schools are able to provide an environment where all children, regardless of gender, families’ socioeconomic status, or cultural background, can engage in physical activity. Cowley, Hamlin and Grimley suggest if schools do not, or cannot, provide these opportunities, the responsibility falls back on families and communities to do so. This does have th
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