Development of a teacher-oriented movement assessment tool for children aged 4-7 years

Children's competence in performing fundamental movement skills (FMS) is positively associated with physical activity levels, health-related fitness and healthier weight status. The early years of primary school provide a crucial platform for children to develop FMS. It has been recommended that teachers become more involved in assessing children’s FMS so that they can subsequently support their development of these skills more effectively. However, there is a shortage of FMS assessment tools available for teachers to use within primary schools. To address this shortfall, this research programme was conducted to develop a movement assessment tool (MAT) for primary school teachers to assess the FMS of children aged 4-7 years old. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were implemented across four studies. In the initial three studies, the perspectives of primary school teachers and experts from the field of children’s movement development and primary school Physical Education were sought to establish recommendations for the format of the MAT and to establish its content. Based on these findings, a prototype of the MAT was developed. In the final study, a Mixed-Methods Research design was implemented with primary school teachers to evaluate the feasibility of the MAT prototype being used in lesson time. Until now, there has been a paucity of literature discussing teacher-oriented assessment of children’s FMS. Therefore, the original contribution to knowledge presented in this thesis is the detailed understanding of how teachers should assess young children’s FMS in school settings. The findings of Study One signify that teachers perceive a need for a MAT that is simple to use, quick to administer, and that provides valuable feedback to guide future teaching and learning. In Study Two, three dichotomous dilemmas emerged from the data in relation to assessing children’s FMS competence. These dilemmas relate to the intended purpose of the assessment, the nature of its implementation and the context that it will be used. Study Three established content validity for the movement tasks within the assessment of FMS for children aged 4-7 years. The findings of Study Four revealed that the MAT is feasible for teachers to implement within PE lessons and teachers reported improvements in their awareness of assessing children’s FMS as a result of using the MAT. The overall findings present a MAT that allows primary school teachers to assess the FMS competence of children aged 4-7 years old within PE lessons. Considering the shortage of teacheroriented MATs, this protocol may be attractive to teachers as it enables them to better understand and support children's development of FMS.