Deakin University
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

The impact of gymnastics on children’s physical self-concept and movement skill development in primary schools

journal contribution
posted on 2017-04-03, 00:00 authored by J R Rudd, Lisa BarnettLisa Barnett, D Farrow, J Berry, E Borkoles, R Polman
This study evaluated the effectiveness of an 8-week gymnastics curriculum on children’s movement competence and their physical self-concept. There were 113 children (46% girls, 49% intervention) with a mean age of 9.4 years (SD = 1.8) that participated. Intervention children underwent 8 weeks of gymnastics and the comparison group continued with their standard curriculum. Age was a significant co-variate, a separate analysis was conducted on the lower (grades 2 and 4) and upper (grade 6) groups. The lower age group showed significant improvement in favor of the gymnastic group in fundamental movement skills. The upper age group showed a significant improvement for the control group in general body coordination and fundamental movement skills. For all grades, the physical self-concept showed a significant main effect in favor of the gymnastics group. The gymnastics intervention was found to be of particular benefit for developing children’s movement competence and physical self-concept in younger children.

History

Journal

Measurement in physical education and exercise science

Volume

21

Issue

2

Pagination

92 - 100

Publisher

Routledge

Location

Abingdon, Eng.

ISSN

1091-367X

eISSN

1532-7841

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, Taylor & Francis Group