Prompting Pedagogical Change through Promoting Active Lifestyles Paradoxes.

Jo Harris,Lorraine Cale,Oliver Hooper

doi:10.3390/ijerph17217965

Abstract

This study explored approaches to promoting active lifestyles (PAL) in schools which aimed to inform and develop physical education (PE) trainees and teachers’ health-related philosophies and pedagogies. Thirty-two secondary school PE trainees and teachers involved in a University-based Initial Teacher Education partnership in England participated in this study during the period 2015–2019. The participants were involved in professional development which included an introduction to research-informed PAL ‘paradoxes’ associated with promoting active lifestyles. Participants were asked to review their own health-related philosophies and practices in light of these paradoxes and were encouraged to use them to influence their own pedagogies as well as those of colleagues/peers. Participants found the PAL paradoxes interesting, surprising and perplexing; expressed a keen desire to address and solve them; and experienced the joys and challenges of influencing colleagues’/peers’ health-related philosophies and pedagogies. The findings suggest that this innovative low-cost, flexible and accessible approach to pedagogical change has the potential to engage PE teachers, increase their effectiveness as promoters of physical activity, and to greatly enhance the subject’s contribution to public health. This is significant, given calls for new pedagogical approaches and teachers’ previously reported lack of engagement in professional development in this area.

Highlights

It is widely advocated that schools can and should play a major role in contributing to public health [1]
Similar to other studies focusing on the promotion of physical activity in school settings [21,22], it embraced the social ecological model which acknowledges the interactive characteristics of individuals and environments that underlie health outcomes [23] and emphasises that children’s physical activity behaviour is influenced by multiple levels associated with individual, social, environmental and policy factors (Salmon and King) [24]
Analysis of the survey and interview data led to the emergence of three major themes associated with the promoting active lifestyles (PAL) paradoxes, these being that participants (i) found the PAL paradoxes interesting, surprising and perplexing; (ii) expressed a keen desire to address and solve the PAL paradoxes; and (iii) experienced the joys and challenges of influencing colleagues’/peers’ health-related philosophies and pedagogies

Summary

Introduction

It is widely advocated that schools can and should play a major role in contributing to public health [1]. This can create tension between education and health outcomes as the priority of schools is clearly education and they have limited capacity and funding to take on additional public health outcomes [2]. The above has led to calls for evidence-based PE-for-health pedagogies [11,12]. This is rapidly becoming a developing area

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion