Teachers' perceptions of children's sport learning capacity predicts their fundamental movement skill proficiency.

In this study, we set out to determine whether in teachers' perceptions, higher sport-learning capacity (SLC) is associated with the level of fundamental movement skills, and the changes therein over 24 weeks in 7-year-olds. We assessed 170 children from eight primary schools in the Netherlands twice (T1, T2) in 24 weeks, using a tool to assess their FMS in applied settings (Platvoet, Elferink-Gemser, & Visscher, 2018). The schools' eight PE teachers used a digital questionnaire to score their perceptions of children's SLC (Platvoet, Elferink-Gemser, Baker, & Visscher, 2015). Based on their SLC, each child was then placed in the low (n = 33), average (n = 107), or high SLC-group (n = 30). We used a MANOVA to examine group differences, with the four subtests as dependent variables. The results revealed that regardless of SLC-group, children improved their FMS over 24 weeks (F(4,163) = 10.22, p < .05, Wilks Lamba = 0.800). An interaction effect was found for FMS assessment and SLC-group (F(8,326) = 2.23, p < 0,05, Wilks Lamba = 0.899). The children in the average and high groups improved more on the moving sideways subtest than those in the low group (p < .05). The MANOVA showed a main effect for SLC-group (F(4,163) = 4.69, p < .05, Wilks Lamba = 0.804). The average and high groups outperformed the low group on the measurements for walking backwards and moving sideways (p < .05). The high group also outperformed the low grou...
Source: Human Movement Science - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Hum Mov Sci Source Type: research