Fundamental Movement Skills and their Assessment in Primary Schools from the Perspective of Teachers

Abstract

Background Evidence suggests that significant numbers of school children fail to acquire age-appropriate fundamental movement skills (FMS), despite the importance of FMS in facilitating participation in physical activities. This has led to calls for an increase in routine screening of children’s FMS in school settings. However, there is limited research exploring teachers’ knowledge of FMS, and the capacity of schools to conduct such assessments. This project therefore aimed to explore primary school teachers’ knowledge of FMS, and investigated what factors might influence the acceptability of FMS assessments in primary schools. Methods Primary school staff working in roles that directly impact the learning of children were invited to take a brief (10–15 minutes) online questionnaire developed using the COM-B Behaviour Change Model. Results Primary school staff (n = 851) from 32 countries (UK: n = 746, 88%) completed the questionnaire. A majority reported that knowledge of their pupils’ FMS ability would be beneficial (65.3%), and 71.8% said they would assess FMS if appropriate support was provided. Identified barriers to school-based FMS assessments included: Capability – few (15%) possessed knowledge of FMS; Opportunity – teachers reported that 30–60 minutes would be acceptable for assessing the FMS of a whole class, a substantially shorter period than current assessments require; Motivation – 57.2% stated FMS assessments would increase workload stress and 48% of teachers would be influenced by their peers. Solutions to these issues are discussed using the COM-B theoretical framework. Conclusions Current FMS assessment tools are not acceptable, or feasible for use in schools. There is a need for existing measures to be modified, or new tools to be developed, underpinned by the considerations outlined in this paper, if FMS screening in schools is to become a reality.

Developing and validating a school-based screening tool of Fundamental Movement Skills (FUNMOVES) using Rasch analysis

“…Two of the guidelines relate to implementation time, in which the authors suggest that (i) assessment tools should last no longer than ten minutes per child, and (ii) that they should measure FMS using less than six items. These guidelines are consistent with teachers reporting that 30-60 minutes is an acceptable amount of time to spend assessing the FMS of a whole class [35]. This is particularly important as prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers were reporting feeling time pressures on teaching 'core' curriculum subjects (e.g.…”

“…Post-pandemic, it is likely that children will have fallen behind with school work in these 'core' subjects, and thus schools will likely spend a large proportion of time on getting children 'up to speed' with the assessed aspects of the curriculum [38]. Therefore, if schools are going to be asked to universally screen FMS, it is crucial that assessments can be completed quickly and efficiently, so teachers do not feel increased pressure on workload [35]. Additional criteria for feasibility include the resources necessary for schools to be able to implement the assessment tool.…”

“…One of these criteria is that the assessment tool should utilise equipment that is readily available in schools [34]. A survey of primary school teachers (n = 851) identifying commonly available equipment in schools included: beanbags, chalk, a tape measure or metre ruler, and a stopwatch [35]. It is particularly important to minimize the cost of FMS assessment tools for schools as it is anticipated that, despite the government allocating additional money for schools in the recent budget, the pressure on school budgets will remain [39].…”

“…Additionally, proposed resource feasibility criteria suggest that assessments of FMS in schools should be able to be completed in less than six metres of space, or in the corner of a room [34]. A survey of school teachers recently confirmed that over 85% of schools represented had a suitable space this size indoors (87%), and outdoors (98%) [35].…”

“…With a lack of specialist P.E. teachers within the UK [41], and FMS training for school staff and thus knowledge [35], it is likely that process-oriented assessments would not fit within feasibility guidelines which states that school-based assessments should be able to be delivered by school staff who have received less than half a day of training [34]. Less intensive training is required for product-oriented assessments, as they have a focus on functional movement, rather than the form of a movement.…”