Generalization and maintenance of skill trials from physical education to recess in elementary school

Background: Being skillful is a prerequisite for lifelong participation in physical activity (WHO 2022 WHO (World Health Organization). 2022. “Promoting Physical Activity Through Schools: Policy Brief.” https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240049567. [Google Scholar]). Hence, investigating the quality of children’s skill performance is important. If physical education wants to contribute to the development of a physically active lifestyle, demonstrating whether children apply skills learned in physical education in a less structured setting such as recess is worthwhile.Purpose: This study systematically replicated and extended previous work connecting the content of physical education (i.e. parkour) with voluntary organized physical activity during recess. It was investigated whether children would maintain participation in parkour recess after the parkour sport education season in physical education ended. The research questions in this study were: (1) How did children’s voluntary participation in parkour recess differ between the generalization and maintenance phase?; and (2) How did children’s performance of skill trials in parkour recess differ between generalization and maintenance phase in comparison to physical education? Sex effects were investigated in both research questions.Methods: Participants in this study were seven physical education teachers (2 females and 5 males) and 147 grade 2 children (55 girls and 92 boys, mean age: 8 years). Seven classes from different schools in Flanders (Belgium) received a 10-lesson sport education parkour season in physical education. During the generalization phase, parkour was taught in physical education and five voluntary 20-min parkour recess sessions were organized during lunch recess. During the maintenance phase, teachers taught other content during physical education instead of parkour and another five parkour recess sessions were organized during lunch recess. All physical education lessons and parkour recess sessions were videorecorded. Children’s voluntary participation in each parkour recess session was recorded and their correct skill trials in physical education and parkour recess were collected using systematic observation.Findings: Children’s voluntary participation in parkour recess significantly declined from generalization (77%) to maintenance phase (52%), p < .001. In parkour recess, children performed significantly more total skill trials (58 vs. 51, p = .013), skill trials per minute (4.20 vs. 3.49, p < .001), and correct skill trials per minute (1.67 vs. 1.45, p = .029) in the maintenance versus generalization phase. Girls had a higher proportion of correct skill trials than boys (42% vs 36%, p = .01) in maintenance phase. No sex effect was found on children’s performance of skill trials during physical education.Conclusions: More than half of the children continued voluntarily to participate in parkour recess during the maintenance phase. Both boys and girls performed more skill trials in organized parkour recess compared to physical education. Connecting organized recess with physical education provided children with an opportunity to apply what they had learned in physical education. This study provides evidence of physical education’s potential to contribute to the development of children’s volitional physically active lifestyles

Developmental psychology · Generalization · Mathematics education · Medical education · Physical education · Children's Physical and Motor Development · Mathematics · Medicine · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Physical Education and Training Studies · Psychology

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