Brendon Hyndman

Where to Next for School Playground Interventions to Encourage Active Play? An Exploration of Structured and Unstructured School Playground Strategies.

An emerging public health priority is to enhance children’s opportunities for active play. Children spend a large proportion of weekdays in schools, making schools an influential and suitable setting to promote children’s active play. Rather than continually increasing the burdens placed upon busy teaching staff, the use of school playground interventions have emerged as a critical strategy within schools to facilitate and develop children’s active play via an informal curriculum. This scholarly article provides a research-based commentary on a range of school playground interventions to encourage both structured and unstructured active play opportunities. Additionally, future research directions for school playground research to encourage children’s active play will be discussed. Teachers, educational leaders, designers, researchers and play professionals can consider the findings from this article for future school playground intervention and planning to facilitate children’s active play within school playgrounds.

Exploring the seasonal influences on elementary school children's enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the seasonal influences on elementary school childrens enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks. Methods: The Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play (LEAP) questionnaire and Physical Activity Childrens Enjoyment Scale (PACES) were used to measure childrens (N = 80) enjoyment of physical activity longitudinally during school breaks over 4 time points. Separate mixed regression models determined whether childrens enjoyment differed by sex and over time. Results: Childrens enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks was significantly higher in March (autumn in the southern hemisphere) in comparison with time points later in the school year. Conclusions: The findings suggest strategies could be implemented by schools to maintain and enhance childrens enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks later in the year.

A Qualitative Investigation of Australian Youth Perceptions to Enhance School Physical Activity: The Environmental Perceptions Investigation of Children's Physical Activity (EPIC-PA) Study

BACKGROUND There is more demand than ever for schools to equip children with the necessary skills to be physically active. The purpose of the Environmental Perceptions Investigation of Childrens Physical Activity (EPIC-PA) study was to investigate elementary and secondary school childrens perceptions to enhance the school physical activity environment. METHODS Four Australian government schools (2 elementary and 2 secondary) were recruited for the EPIC-PA study. During the study, 78 children were recruited aged 10 to 13 years. The focus group discussions consisted of 54 children (32 elementary and 22 secondary) and the map drawing sessions included 24 children (17 elementary and 7 secondary). RESULTS The findings from the EPIC-PA study revealed insight into uniquely desired features to encourage physical activity such as adventure physical activity facilities (eg, rock climbing walls), recreational physical activity facilities (eg, jumping pillows), physical activity excursions, animal activity programs and teacher-directed activities. In addition to specific features, childrens revealed a host of policies for equipment borrowing, access to sports equipment/areas, music during physical activity time and external physical education lessons. CONCLUSIONS Understanding the multiple suggestions from children of features to enhance physical activity can be used by schools and researchers to create environments conducive to physical activity participation.

Complementing the Australian primary school Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum: exploring children's HPE learning experiences within varying school ground equipment contexts

ABSTRACT This paper unearths how primary school children experience and can complement the Australian HPE curriculum within three unique school ground equipment scenarios that include an ‘empty’, ‘loose parts’ and a ‘traditional’ school ground context. Using direct observation, 490 scans were undertaken of the school grounds over five days. Field note observations recorded childrens HPE learning experiences according to the curriculum, and predominant physical activity types and intensities were recorded. Implementing a variety of school ground equipment provisions was revealed to be important compared to the ‘empty’ school ground context for primary school children to meet HPE curriculum objectives.

Novel research approaches to gauge global teacher familiarity with game-based teaching in physical education: an exploratory #Twitter analysis

ABSTRACT This paper examines the use of the microblogging platform Twitter as a tool for research in physical education. The research examined teacher use of game-based approaches (GBAs). A rolling Twitter conversation hosted over the course of 12 hours provided the data for the study. Participants were from 18 countries and they contributed on average 11.80 Tweets per person, and the Twitter conversation had a reach of 110,000 people. Two types of data analysis occurred. The first involved quantitative analysis using Twitter metrics. The second involved qualitative analysis using Leximancer software. The analysis showed ‘teacher’ and ‘questions’ as prominent themes. Although GBAs are proposed as student-centred the teacher remains the pedagogical gate-keeper as the choice to use a GBA was largely based on the feeling of the teacher about the use of the approach. The present study showcases a unique contribution to the literature by sharing a process of mixed method research using a contemporary communication platform.

What’s in a concept? A Leximancer text mining analysis of physical literacy across the international literature:

Physical literacy is developing as a contested concept with definitional blurring across international contexts, confusing both practitioners and researchers. This paper serves the dual purpose of reporting on an interrogation of concepts associated with physical literacy in academic writing and exploring the use of a text mining data analysis tool. The Leximancer text mining software was applied to 49 research papers relating to physical literacy from 2001–2016, sourced from academic repositories and scholarly search engines. The findings from the text mining analysis revealed that the concept of physical literacy is used in a variety of contexts, specifically in connection with ‘education’, ‘activity’, ‘fitness’, ‘health’, ‘concept’, ‘competence’, ‘understanding’, ‘roles’, ‘curriculum’ and ‘assessment’. The concept with the most relevance connected to physical literacy is ‘education’, the very term that is commonly being replaced by ‘literacy’. A number of concepts were identified from the text mining analysis that were not explicitly mentioned within the definitions of physical literacy, including educational components such as ‘curriculum’, ‘teaching’ and ‘assessment’. It was also revealed that many of the strongest relational concepts from the text mining of the physical literacy literature were of a physical domain, with less relevance and connection to concepts of cognitive, social and emotional domains. The study fills an important gap in the literature by showing that while a multiplicity of conceptions of physical literacy exists, the concept gives dominance to the physical domain and the marginalisation of cognitive and affective domains in various constructions of physical literacy.

The rush to judgement: Mapping moral geographies of the primary school playground

This article is informed by two studies in Australian primary school playgrounds and provides a critique of the interaction between adults and children during recess breaks in the school day. The study investigates the contours/lines of force that shape the moral geographies of playgrounds through management and supervision strategies. This scholarly discussion is underpinned by categories, including play that is risky, unhygienic, worthwhile, an obsession, violent/aggressive and good. It is argued that supervising teachers in the primary school playground can often rush to judge the play that they observe. Although mostly well intentioned, such types of play can often negatively impact adult agendas and biases. At an individual school level, critical engagement with the points raised in this article provides an opportunity for schools to reflect on primary school playground strategies and practices that they implement. Improving understanding of the moral geographies within primary school playgrounds can raise awareness in schools of the implications of supervisory interactions and judgement on the health and wellbeing of pupils.

Monkey bars, noodles and hay bales: a comparative analysis of social interaction in two school ground contexts

ABSTRACT The school playground is recognised broadly in the literature as a crucial setting for children to develop social behaviours by engaging in a diverse range of physical and social activities. In this study, we examined children’s social interactions in two distinctly different primary school playgrounds – a school playground with fixed equipment, and a school playground with moveable play equipment. The aim of this research was to explore how primary school children’s social behaviours in schoolyard activities vary in two different playground contexts. Through field notes and observation scheduling, descriptions of the range of children’s social behaviours in the two school playgrounds emerged. This study provides some insights into how the development of schoolchildren’s social and emotional well-being can be supported, or hindered, by the physical design of playgrounds made available to children.

Are secondary school environments conducive for active play opportunities?: An objective assessment across Australian secondary school playgrounds

ABSTRACT The presence of school playground facilities has been reported to encourage active play, yet there is a paucity of research identifying the presence and quality of features within Australian secondary school playgrounds. The aim of this research study was to examine if secondary school playground environments are conducive for active play opportunities within the context of Australian secondary schools. A 44-item reliable and valid audit tool was employed to objectively assess the quality, quantity, presence of facilities and design of secondary school playground environments. It was revealed that fixed playground facilities, obstacle courses and coloured surface markings were largely absent. Findings revealed that secondary school playgrounds were more conducive for sporting opportunities than opportunities for active play and informal games. Understanding the secondary school playground environment options for active play opportunities is important for informing future, effective school interventions to facilitate positive health outcomes for Australian adolescents.

Is there a relationship between primary school children's enjoyment of recess physical activities and health-related quality of life? A cross-sectional exploratory study

Issue addressed An important strategy for increasing childrens physical activity is to enhance childrens opportunities for school recess physical activities, yet little is known about the influence of school recess physical activities on childrens health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between Australian primary school childrens enjoyment of recess physical activities and HRQOL. Methods The study consisted of children at two Australian primary schools (n=105) aged 8-12 years. The Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play questionnaire was used to measure school childrens enjoyment of school recess physical activities. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 was used to measure childrens HRQOL. Researchers applied linear regression modelling in STATA (ver. 13.0) to investigate the relationship between childrens enjoyment of school recess physical activities and HRQOL. Results It was discovered that primary school childrens enjoyment of more vigorous-type school recess physical activities and playing in a range of weather conditions was associated with childrens improved HRQOL. Conclusion The findings from this study suggest that health providers and researchers should consider providing primary school children with opportunities and facilities for more vigorous-intensity school recess physical activities as a key strategy to enhance childrens HRQOL. So what? Considering a social-ecological model framework of the key predictors of childrens enjoyment of school recess physical activities may provide valuable insight for school health providers into the multiple levels of influence on childrens HRQOL when developing school settings and activities for school recess.