Teachers’ Beliefs about Implementing a Physical Literacy Program for Children & Youth

• Author / Creator

  Wohlers, Brendan Richard

• Physical literacy is assumed to be important for the development of youth physical activity. In essence, those who are physically literate should lead active lives. For this reason, it is being incorporated into Canadian physical activity reports and policies. One area that physical literacy is rapidly gaining traction is in the education sector. However, it is a new construct and limited empirical evidence is available to guide physical literacy implementation in schools. The purpose of this thesis was to conduct an independent investigation of the self-efficacy and outcome expectations of teachers participating in a provincial physical literacy promotion initiative compared to an uninvolved group of teachers. This initiative is an ongoing project started by Ever Active Schools that took place in approximately 103 schools in Alberta during the 2017/2018 academic year. Teachers at 31 of these schools were administered a survey that included questions about their self-efficacy and expected outcomes of incorporating physical literacy into their teaching. A group of 90 teachers from nine other schools were recruited to act as a comparison group. Subsequent comparative analyses found no significant differences between the intervention and uninvolved teachers. Additional analyses revealed that teachers’ outcome expectations and self-efficacy are moderately related and that teaching experience may have small effects on teachers’ expected positive outcomes for fostering physical literacy in youth. These results suggest that future investigation of effective methods for physical literacy promotion and evaluation strategies in school contexts are needed.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • schools
  • physical activity
  • comprehensive school health framework
  • physical literacy
  • children & youth

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-v9wd-ex13

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.