- Title
- 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
- Creator
- Eather, Narelle; Riley, Nicholas; Babic, Mark; Bennie, Andrew; Maynard, John; Morgan, Philip J.
- Relation
- Journal of Teaching in Physical Education Vol. 43, Issue 1, p. 50-61
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2021-0284
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- 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.
- Subject
- mathematics; English; sport; curriculum; culture; learning
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1506449
- Identifier
- uon:55873
- Identifier
- ISSN:0273-5024
- Language
- eng
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