Kristy Howells
Biographic Data
| ID | 6687997 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kristy Howells |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kristy |
| FAMILY NAME | Howells |
| SIGNATURE | HOWELLS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Canterbury Christ Church University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0758-7532 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
From Dough to Data
Introduction: Declines in children’s fine motor skills (FMS) are increasingly reported across UK primary education, raising concerns for school readiness, independence, and long-term health. This study examined whether structured classroom-based cooking activities could enhance FMS in children aged 7–8 years. Methodology: Informed by physical literacy and experiential learning, a six-week intervention (n = 30) used progressive pizza-making sessio…
Complexity and the reframing of the school curriculum
This second paper in our series exploring how complexity thinking can help to reframe school physical education (PE) introduces ‘Physical Education is for Life’ (PEL): an innovative vision for school PE as the ‘connective catalyst’ for the life-wide and lifelong physical activity journeys of all young people. To set the case for PEL, we first consider how the school PE curriculum has evolved from its physical training beginnings to become a ‘wick…
A Model for Effective Learning in Competition
To date, little research on competition has focused on young children (6-7-year-olds). A total of ninety-seven participants (51 boys and 46 girls) from two English primary schools completed two physical education (PE) lessons, which included three different activity challenges. The control group undertook the same activities in both lessons. The experimental group did likewise but were set high-, low-, or mid-level targets in lesson two based on …
Supporting Young Children’s Physical Development through Tailored Motor Competency Interventions within a School Setting
Background/Objectives: This study investigated how tailored motor competency (MC) interventions within a bespoke Scheme of Work (SOW) can support young children's physical development (PD) by enhancing fine motor skills (FMS) and gross motor skills (GMS). The objective was to enable children to meet curriculum developmental physical milestones. Methods: The longitudinal case study design was conducted over 19 weeks across three academic terms and…
Student experiences of learning how to teach primary physical education during the Covid-19 pandemic
This paper offers a snapshot into the unexpected and yet positive results of a small-scale survey about learning to teach Physical Education within initial teacher education and school-based settings. It shares data from four institutions about how pre-service teachers explained their learning and teaching experiences within Physical Education during the COVID-19 pandemic, often working within a number of social and physical restrictions and teac…
Becoming physical education
In this paper, we present the view that an ontological shift to complexity thinking will be significant in the future of physical education (PE). Complexity thinking not only moves PE beyond long dominant modernist approaches but also offers the opportunity to integrate many of the postmodern perspectives that currently seek to frame PE. Four interconnected complexity commonalities, becoming, lived time, self-organisation and boundaries, are pres…
Face and Content Validity of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence in Young Children
An international group of experts have developed a pictorial tool to measure perceived water competence for children aged from 5 to 8 years old: the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC). The aim of the present study was to verify the validity of this tool. In the first part of the study, 120 children were interviewed to investigate face validity of the PSPWC to ensure that all pictorial items were understandable. In the second pa…
The Forgotten Age Phase of Healthy Lifestyle Promotion? A Preliminary Study to Examine the Potential Call for Targeted Physical Activity and Nutrition Education for Older Adolescents
To date, little research on healthy lifestyle promotion has focused on older adolescents (16-18-year-olds), yet this is a key time that habitual healthy lifestyles could be developed. Ninety-three participants (thirty-nine males; fifty-four females) (mean age = 16.9, (SD 0.4) years), from three low socio-economic high schools in England, completed an online questionnaire on their self-reported: (i) daily physical activity (PA), (ii) active transp…
Children’s Perceived and Actual Physical Activity Levels within the Elementary School Setting
To date, little research has longitudinally examined young children's physical activity (PA) during school hours, nor questioned children's perceptions of their own PA behaviours. This study investigated 20 children's actual physical activity levels (APA) and their perceived physical activity levels (PPA) (10 infants, mean age 6.6 years; 10 juniors, mean age 9.5 years). APA was evaluated using accelerometers across 36 whole school days (371 min p…
Teachers’ Perceptions and Understanding of Children’s Fluid Intake
No public health data exists on elementary teachers' perceptions of both their own fluid intake and of their elementary school aged children's fluid intake. A total of 271 (20 males, 251 females) teachers in developed areas of Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America completed an online questionnaire (Feb-Mar 2019) on: (i) their fluid intake, (ii) their perception and understanding of children's…
Becoming physical education
In this paper, we present the view that an ontological shift to complexity thinking will be significant in the future of physical education (PE). Complexity thinking not only moves PE beyond long dominant modernist approaches but also offers the opportunity to integrate many of the postmodern perspectives that currently seek to frame PE. Four interconnected complexity commonalities, becoming, lived time, self-organisation and boundaries, are pres…
Teachers’ Perceptions and Understanding of Children’s Fluid Intake
No public health data exists on elementary teachers' perceptions of both their own fluid intake and of their elementary school aged children's fluid intake. A total of 271 (20 males, 251 females) teachers in developed areas of Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America completed an online questionnaire (Feb-Mar 2019) on: (i) their fluid intake, (ii) their perception and understanding of children's…
Children’s Perceived and Actual Physical Activity Levels within the Elementary School Setting
To date, little research has longitudinally examined young children's physical activity (PA) during school hours, nor questioned children's perceptions of their own PA behaviours. This study investigated 20 children's actual physical activity levels (APA) and their perceived physical activity levels (PPA) (10 infants, mean age 6.6 years; 10 juniors, mean age 9.5 years). APA was evaluated using accelerometers across 36 whole school days (371 min p…
Face and Content Validity of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence in Young Children
An international group of experts have developed a pictorial tool to measure perceived water competence for children aged from 5 to 8 years old: the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC). The aim of the present study was to verify the validity of this tool. In the first part of the study, 120 children were interviewed to investigate face validity of the PSPWC to ensure that all pictorial items were understandable. In the second pa…
The Forgotten Age Phase of Healthy Lifestyle Promotion? A Preliminary Study to Examine the Potential Call for Targeted Physical Activity and Nutrition Education for Older Adolescents
To date, little research on healthy lifestyle promotion has focused on older adolescents (16-18-year-olds), yet this is a key time that habitual healthy lifestyles could be developed. Ninety-three participants (thirty-nine males; fifty-four females) (mean age = 16.9, (SD 0.4) years), from three low socio-economic high schools in England, completed an online questionnaire on their self-reported: (i) daily physical activity (PA), (ii) active transp…
Student experiences of learning how to teach primary physical education during the Covid-19 pandemic
This paper offers a snapshot into the unexpected and yet positive results of a small-scale survey about learning to teach Physical Education within initial teacher education and school-based settings. It shares data from four institutions about how pre-service teachers explained their learning and teaching experiences within Physical Education during the COVID-19 pandemic, often working within a number of social and physical restrictions and teac…
Becoming physical education
In this paper, we present the view that an ontological shift to complexity thinking will be significant in the future of physical education (PE). Complexity thinking not only moves PE beyond long dominant modernist approaches but also offers the opportunity to integrate many of the postmodern perspectives that currently seek to frame PE. Four interconnected complexity commonalities, becoming, lived time, self-organisation and boundaries, are pres…
A Model for Effective Learning in Competition
To date, little research on competition has focused on young children (6-7-year-olds). A total of ninety-seven participants (51 boys and 46 girls) from two English primary schools completed two physical education (PE) lessons, which included three different activity challenges. The control group undertook the same activities in both lessons. The experimental group did likewise but were set high-, low-, or mid-level targets in lesson two based on …
Supporting Young Children’s Physical Development through Tailored Motor Competency Interventions within a School Setting
Background/Objectives: This study investigated how tailored motor competency (MC) interventions within a bespoke Scheme of Work (SOW) can support young children's physical development (PD) by enhancing fine motor skills (FMS) and gross motor skills (GMS). The objective was to enable children to meet curriculum developmental physical milestones. Methods: The longitudinal case study design was conducted over 19 weeks across three academic terms and…
From Dough to Data
Introduction: Declines in children’s fine motor skills (FMS) are increasingly reported across UK primary education, raising concerns for school readiness, independence, and long-term health. This study examined whether structured classroom-based cooking activities could enhance FMS in children aged 7–8 years. Methodology: Informed by physical literacy and experiential learning, a six-week intervention (n = 30) used progressive pizza-making sessio…
Complexity and the reframing of the school curriculum
This second paper in our series exploring how complexity thinking can help to reframe school physical education (PE) introduces ‘Physical Education is for Life’ (PEL): an innovative vision for school PE as the ‘connective catalyst’ for the life-wide and lifelong physical activity journeys of all young people. To set the case for PEL, we first consider how the school PE curriculum has evolved from its physical training beginnings to become a ‘wick…
Medicine (7 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Children's Physical and Motor Development (5 works) · Physical Education and Pedagogy (5 works) · Physical activity (4 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works) · Medical education (3 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (3 works) · Physical education (3 works) · Physical therapy (3 works)