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Physical activity is an important part of children’s and young people’s healthy functioning, but evidence suggests many students are inactive to the extent that they are compromising their well-being. Traditionally, schools have played a minor role in contributing to physical activity, but it has held relatively low prestige. Some commentators have called for Whole-School or Active School approaches. Physical activity, in these models, is integrated into all aspects of school life. This article reports on a review of the most-cited elements of school-based physical activity promotion, assesses evidence of actual and potential contributions, and provides a tentative weight of evidence judgement for each component. A rapid reviewing methodology was followed, and the searches used a range of specialist academic databases (PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SPORTdiscus, CINAHL Complete), Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu, restricted to 2010–2021. Six settings were found to have the potential to add physical activity time, although none suffices alone: Active Breaks; Active Homework; Active Learning; Active Recess; Active Transport; and School Sports. Active Schools offer a plausible solution to the problem of physical inactivity by adding moments of movement and integrating physical activity in all aspects of school life, underlining the need for school-level change, the consideration of stakeholder groups, and the social and physical environments of school.

Using data from the Disentangling Inclusion in Primary Physical Education (DIPPE) Erasmus+ project, this study aimed at investigating teachers’ practices related to inclusion of children with addit...

This article reviews recent literature on the contribution of curriculum physical education to health-enhancing physical activity within the context of European countries. Recommended goals for student physical activity are discussed within a curriculum framework based on five ‘forms’ (concept, designed, implemented, results and effects). The study used a 'rapid reviewing' method, in which sources were identified and analysed using systematic reviewing techniques, but subsequent stages were adapted to facilitate flexible and practical interpretation. Results show that physical education lessons tend not to reach a putative 50% threshold of moderate-to-vigorous intensity. Given that the average time allocated for physical education in Europe is 100 minutes per week, strategies are needed to increase the intensity and duration of physical activity in lessons if they are to make a more meaningful ‘direct’ contribution to the European and WHO daily target of sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The authors therefore consider the plausibility of introducing an 'Active Schools' concept, in which physical education lessons designed to equip students with the prerequisite knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values supportive of a physically active lifestyle are augmented by other school-based contexts which provide the opportunity to actually meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity participation.

Background To date, few data on the quality and quantity of online physical education (P.E.) during the COVID-19 pandemic have been published. We assessed activity in online classes and reported allocated curriculum time for P.E. in a multi-national sample of European children (6–18 years). Methods Data from two online surveys were analysed. A total of 8395 children were included in the first round (May–June 2020) and 24 302 in the second round (January–February 2021). Results Activity levels during P.E. classes were low in spring 2020, particularly among the youngest children and in certain countries. 27.9% of students did not do any online P.E. and 15.7% were hardly ever very active. Only 18.4% were always very active and 14.9% reported being very active quite often. In winter 2020, we observed a large variability in the allocated curriculum time for P.E. In many countries, this was lower than the compulsory requirements. Only 65.7% of respondents had the same number of P.E. lessons than before pandemic, while 23.8% had less P.E., and 6.8% claimed to have no P.E. lessons. Rates for no P.E. were especially high among secondary school students, and in large cities and megapolises. Conclusions During the COVID-19 pandemic, European children were provided much less P.E. in quantity and quality than before the pandemic. Countermeasures are needed to ensure that these changes do not become permanent. Particular attention is needed in large cities and megapolises. The critical role of P.E. for students’ health and development must be strengthened in the school system.

Background: Physical activity is a familiar feature in schools worldwide. Its most common justification for inclusion is its distinctive contribution to students’ physical health and fitness and claimed benefits to non-physical aspects of education, such as social skills. Possible effects on cognitive and academic performance are less frequently assumed. This article examines the academic effects of ‘Active Learning’ practices in school classrooms. Our objective was to test the claim that physical activity can enhance curricular achievement and learning, specifically curriculum-focused physical activity and Learning Through Movement. Methods: Using a rapid review methodology, in this article we report on the evidence of contributions of active learning from peer-reviewed publications from 2010 to 2022. Results: The literature generally supported the central hypothesis that students in Active Learning conditions out-performed those in non-active conditions, both during Active Learning tasks and later. Whether this was due to the introduction of physical activity in the specific setting of classroom lessons or physical activity per se remains unclear. Conclusions: To ensure positive outcomes from Active Learning, practices should be planned in association with a series of favourable change mechanisms: proactive leadership, teacher engagement, the ease of finding and implementing Active Learning in sessions, and the genuine integration of Active Learning into curricula and lessons.

Basic motor competencies (in German: Motorische Basiskompetenzen; MOBAK) are performance dispositions empowering children to participate in the movement culture. For the diagnosis of basic ...

Motor testing in education has gained in relevance in light of recent developments in educational systems (KöllerBaumert, 2012). The purpose of this systematic review was to identify studies using motor tests in primary school children aged 4 to 12 years and to synthetize information about the quality and application of the test instruments used. A systematic review of 910 records identified by a search of nine databases yielded 144 papers reporting motor testing in primary school age children, including 25 articles reporting on the quality of 20 test instruments. In the selected articles, tests grounded on the constructs of "motor abilities" and/or "motor skills" are the most frequent and are mostly used for monitoring purposes or for impact research. Tests based on the construct "motor competencies" have become popular only recently, being relevant for educational motor testing due to their curricular validity. The test instruments have been investigated towards their validity and reliability to different extents. However, for several test instruments factorial validity has not been established and more validation studies are needed to improve their psychometric quality especially if used in educational contexts.

In the past years, the European Physical Education Association (EUPEA) investigated the quality of Physical Education (PE) and School Sport (SS) on several occasions from different perspectives, presented and published as the antecedents of the European Physical Education Observatory (EuPEO) funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme. Partners from nine countries, including PE teacher associations and research partners, aimed to develop a Europe-wide PE monitoring system by developing the EuPEO webpage, a manual for external assessment (MEA) at Europe-wide and country levels, and a toolkit to prepare and provide internal self-monitoring (TIM) of quality PE and SS at the school level. In general, these two tools intend to provide a comparative view of QPE through common frameworks, tools and processes, while including as much as possible culturally sensitive conditions for QPE implementation, analysis, and decision-making. The core dimensions of the EuPEO framework for QPE were primarily established with an explicit reference to the 2015 UNESCO Quality Physical Education Framework.

Luis Lopes is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (CEECIND/01089/2017 and FCT/UIDB/00617/2020); Rute Santos is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (CEECIND/01069/2017 and FCT/UIDB/00617/2020); Jorge Mota, Carla Moreira, Cesar Agostinis-Sobrinho, Pedro Silva and Eduarda Sousa-Sa are supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT/UIDB/00617/2020); Erik Sigmund is supported by grant No. 19-03276S from the Czech Science Foundation; Irene Esteban-Cornejo is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RTI2018-095284-J-100) and by the Spanish Ministry of of Science and Innovation (RYC2019-027287-I); Jaime Carcamo-Oyarzun is supported by the National Commission for Scientific Research and Technology of Chile (CONICYT-FONDECYT 11170525); Jonatan Ruiz is supported by the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016 (Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health [UCEES]), by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), by the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades (ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR); Antonio Garcia-Hermoso is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FSE, CP18/0150)., Lack of physical activity is a global public health problem causing not only morbidity and premature mortality, but it is also a major economic burden worldwide. One of the cornerstones of a physically active lifestyle is Motor Competence (MC). MC is a complex biocultural attribute and therefore, its study requires a multi-sectoral, multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approach. MC is a growing area of research, especially in children and adolescents due to its positive association with a plethora of health and developmental outcomes. Many questions, however, remain to be answered in this field of research, with regard to: (i) Health and Developmental-related Associations of MC; (ii) Assessment of MC; (iii) Prevalence and Trends of MC; (iv) Correlates and Determinants of MC; (v) MC Interventions, and (vi) Translating MC Research into Practice and Policy. This paper presents a narrative review of the literature, summarizing current knowledge, identifying key research gaps and presenting questions for future investigation on MC in children and adolescents. This is a collaborative effort from the International Motor Competence Network (IMCNetwork) a network of academics and researchers aiming to promote international collaborative research and knowledge translation in the expansive field of MC. The knowledge and deliverables generated by addressing and answering the aforementioned research questions on MC presented in this review have the potential to shape the ways in which researchers and practitioners promote MC and physical activity in children and adolescents across the world., Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology FCT/UIDB/00617/2020 CEECIND/01089/2017 CEECIND/01069/2017, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic 19-03276S, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness RTI2018-095284-J-100, Spanish Ministry of of Science and Innovation RYC2019-027287-I, National Commission for Scientific Research and Technology of Chile (CONICYT-FONDECYT) 11170525, University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion, European Commission, Junta de Andalucia SOMM17/6107/UGR, Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FSE) CP18/0150

Enquadramento teorico : As competencias motoras (CM) basicas constituem um objetivo central da Educacao Fisica, sendo reconhecidas como fundamentais para a literacia fisica das criancas e jovens. Uma adequada avaliacao do nivel de desenvolvimento das CM e essencial para uma correta intervencao no processo de aprendizagem dos alunos. Recentemente foi proposta uma bateria de testes M OBAK («Motorische Basiskompetenzen» [MOBAQ]), valida para avaliar as CM em criancas do primeiro ano de escolaridade (6-7 anos de idade). Objetivos : O presente artigo pretendeu divulgar os primeiros resultados da avaliacao das CM em alunos portugueses, de seis anos de idade. Amostra : A amostra incluiu um total de 136 alunos, dos quais 76 raparigas (6,7±0,5 anos de idade) e 60 rapazes (6,4±0,3 anos de idade). Metodologia : Foi utilizada a bateria de testes MOBAK para avaliar as CM em duas areas principais: area do «objeto» (que inclui as CM «agarrar», «lancar», «driblar» e «conduzir»); e a area do «corpo» (que inclui as CM «equilibrio», «rolamento», «saltos» e «deslocamento»), fazendo um total de oito testes. A pontuacao possivel de se alcancar em cada teste varia entre zero e dois pontos. Para afericao de criterios de avaliacao foi efectuado um pre-teste com 10 criancas. O tratamento e analise dos dados foram realizados atraves do SPSS 21.0. O nivel de significância utilizado foi p

Basic motor competencies (in German: Motorische Basiskompetenzen; MOBAK) are motor performance dispositions formulated as minimum standards that empower children to participate in the culture of human movement. In opposition to movement-specific and process-oriented fundamental movement skills assessing the quality of movement execution, basic motor competencies are context-specific and product-oriented and focus on the mastery of minimum motor demands. Consequently, the promotion of basic motor competencies is a central goal of physical education, as they are essential prerequisites to be able to develop a physically active lifestyle. For the diagnosis of basic motor competencies, teachers need valid survey instruments that can help them to adapt their didactic-methodical action. For this purpose, a test battery for the assessment of the basic motor competencies of third graders was developed (MOBAK-3) and subjected to empirical validation (N = 399; 50.4% female; M = 8.45 years, SD = .52). The exploratory structural equation modeling indicates a structure with three factors named “Locomotion,” “Object-control” and “Moving in water”. This structure could be confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFI = .998; RMSEA = .009) and there was no differential item functioning (DIF) between boys and girls and the age. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the test instrument with regard to pedagogical diagnosis was confirmed based on a normative definition of support needs in motor competence. The MOBAK-3 test battery satisfies the requirements of test theory and is suitable for an analysis of basic motor competencies and the identification of motor deficiencies in students.

Basic motor competencies (BMC) belong to the key learning goals of Physical Education (PE) in primary school curricula in Europe. These competencies are necessary to participate in sports inside and outside of school. Children should therefore achieve age-adequate BMC in PE and any need for educational motor support should be identified at an early stage. Studies in German-speaking countries showed that various endogenous and exogenous factors are related to children’s BMC, but international studies are missing. In the present cross-sectional study, the two BMC areas object movement (OM) and self-movement (SM) as well as the associations with endogenous (age, sex, body mass index) and exogenous (participation in extracurricular sports) factors were investigated in 1721 8‑ to 10-year-old primary school children from nine European countries. Over 25% of the children showed need for educational motor support in OM and over 20% in SM. BMC levels differed significantly between the country-specific subsamples. In all subsamples, boys showed better performances in OM, while girls scored better in SM. Older children performed better in OM and SM than younger children. Higher body mass index predicted lower BMC scores in both competence areas. Participation in ball sports was positively associated with OM and SM, and individual sports participation was a significant predictor of SM. As exogenous and endogenous variables consistently predicted BMC in all subsamples, there must be other reasons for variation in BMC levels. Future studies should address country- and school-specific characteristics like content and amount of PE. Deutsche Version Untersuchung des Niveaus und Determinanten der motorischen Basiskompetenzen von Grundschulkindern in neun europäischen Ländern Motorische Basiskompetenzen (basic motor competencies; BMC) gehören zu den wichtigsten Lernzielen des Sportunterrichts in den Lehrplänen der europäischen Grundschulen. Diese Kompetenzen sind notwendig, um innerhalb und außerhalb der Schule Sport treiben zu können. Kinder sollten daher im Sportunterricht altersgemäße BMC erwerben und etwaiger Förderbedarf sollte frühzeitig erkannt werden. Studien im deutschsprachigen Raum zeigten, dass verschiedene endogene und exogene Faktoren mit den BMC der Kinder zusammenhängen, jedoch fehlt es bisher an internationalen Studien. In der vorliegenden Querschnittsstudie wurden die beiden BMC-Bereiche Etwas-bewegen (object movement; OM) und Sich-bewegen (self-movement; SM) sowie deren Zusammenhänge mit endogenen (Alter, Geschlecht, Body-Mass-Index) und exogenen (Teilnahme an außerschulischem Sport) Faktoren bei 1721 8–10-jährigen Grundschulkindern aus neun europäischen Ländern untersucht. Über 25 % der Kinder wiesen Förderbedarf im Bereich OM auf und über 20 % im Bereich SM. Die BMC-Werte unterschieden sich signifikant zwischen den länderspezifischen Stichproben. In allen Teilstichproben zeigten die Jungen bessere Leistungen im OM, während die Mädchen im SM besser abschnitten. Ältere Kinder erbrachten bessere Leistungen als jüngere Kinder. Ein höherer Body-Mass-Index prognostizierte niedrigere BMC-Werte in beiden Kompetenzbereichen. Die Teilnahme an Ballsportarten stand in einem positiven Zusammenhang mit OM und SM, und die Teilnahme an Individualsportarten war ein signifikanter Prädiktor für SM. Da die exogenen und endogenen Variablen die BMC in allen Stichproben übereinstimmend vorhersagten, muss es andere Gründe für die Unterschiede im BMC-Niveau geben. Künftige Studien sollten länder- und schulspezifische Merkmale wie Inhalt und Umfang des Sportunterrichts untersuchen., +repphzhbib2022A