TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the feasibility of the Education, Movement, and Understanding (EMU) program : a primary school-based physical education program integrating Indigenous games alongside numeracy and literacy skills
AU - Eather, Narelle
AU - Riley, Nicholas
AU - Babic, Mark
AU - Bennie, Andrew
AU - Maynard, John
AU - Morgan, Phil
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Human Kinetics, Inc.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Purpose : The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a 16-lesson integrated physical education program focusing on Indigenous games: Education, Movement, and Understanding (EMU). Method : The study aligned with current physical education, English, and mathematics syllabi and involved 105 children (9–12 years) from two primary schools (Awabakal Country, Australia; 2020). Children participated in sixteen 45–60 min EMU lessons over 8 weeks, with feasibility and preliminary efficacy outcomes assessed via mixed methods. Results : EMU was delivered successfully by the research team, with excellent student and teacher evaluations ( M = 4.36–5.0 across 20 items). Improvements resulted for children’s cardiorespiratory fitness ( d = 0.37, p = .001), enjoyment of sport ( d = 0.27, p = .024), physical self-perceptions ( d = 0.27, p = .043), and academic achievement (spelling d = 0.91, addition d = 0.40, subtraction d = 0.53, and division d = 0.68). No significant changes in well-being or multiplication scores resulted. Conclusion : Our results provide support for the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of EMU as a beneficial and enjoyable integrated primary school physical education program.
AB - Purpose : The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a 16-lesson integrated physical education program focusing on Indigenous games: Education, Movement, and Understanding (EMU). Method : The study aligned with current physical education, English, and mathematics syllabi and involved 105 children (9–12 years) from two primary schools (Awabakal Country, Australia; 2020). Children participated in sixteen 45–60 min EMU lessons over 8 weeks, with feasibility and preliminary efficacy outcomes assessed via mixed methods. Results : EMU was delivered successfully by the research team, with excellent student and teacher evaluations ( M = 4.36–5.0 across 20 items). Improvements resulted for children’s cardiorespiratory fitness ( d = 0.37, p = .001), enjoyment of sport ( d = 0.27, p = .024), physical self-perceptions ( d = 0.27, p = .043), and academic achievement (spelling d = 0.91, addition d = 0.40, subtraction d = 0.53, and division d = 0.68). No significant changes in well-being or multiplication scores resulted. Conclusion : Our results provide support for the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of EMU as a beneficial and enjoyable integrated primary school physical education program.
KW - English
KW - mathematics
KW - culture
KW - learning
KW - curriculum
KW - sport
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:71594
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181756244&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1123/jtpe.2021-0284
DO - 10.1123/jtpe.2021-0284
M3 - Article
SN - 1543-2769
SN - 0273-5024
VL - 43
SP - 50
EP - 61
JO - Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
JF - Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
IS - 1
ER -