According to a new study, international programmes to improve children's physical health in schools are failing due to a lack of professional development for teachers.
The study's findings were published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity.
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge undertook a study to look into the training given to in-service teachers who are in charge of introducing new physical education lessons, sports, active breaks, and other programmes to increase physical activity in schools. They discovered that critical factors were frequently lacking from teacher training.
They examined data from hundreds of schools in 19 different nations, half of which were located in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. They discovered that the teachers were not given specific goals to strive toward, did not receive regular feedback on their practise, nor were given resources to encourage the program's incorporation into the school day.
Flaw in pedagogy
According to the study, the above flaws make it far less likely that health-promoting activities would be continued by teachers or have a favourable influence on students.
The findings could explain why many global programmes to boost children's physical activity in schools are failing, according to several reviews.
Many governments are presently supporting school-based physical activity programmes in response to rising childhood obesity rates and concerns that most children and adolescents are not physically active enough.
Multiple scholarly reviews of the evidence have revealed limited effects. Cambridge University researchers discovered in 2019 that the impact of 17 different school-based programmes on children's physical activity was "non-existent and non-significant."
Investing in Physical Education
More recently, a larger assessment of 66,000 children's programmes showed that they resulted in "little to no gain" in physical activity.
Mairead Ryan, a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Education and Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, stated that schools required clearer instructions on how to invest in appropriate training.
"Schools invest a lot of time and resources in professional development for their staff, but providers often fail to include key ingredients that support meaningful change," she said. "Our findings highlight features in professional development programmes that school staff can look for and that providers should include."
