How to Move & Learn E-Book

Bryn Llewellyn

• Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 203

Beschreibung

Foreword by Dr Andy Daly-Smith. We already know that increased physical activity and a reduction in the sedentary time spent sitting at desks have wide-ranging benefits (including to brain function), so what if there were also evidence that using movement in the learning process improves outcomes for children? What if we could then map out ways to support teachers in adapting their practice to make this a reality? In How to Move & Learn Bryn Llewellyn, Ian Holmes and Richard Allman do just that - sharing the latest research from around the world and providing teachers with the means and motivation to identify opportunities to integrate movement purposefully into the teaching and learning process. The links between health and education are paramount, and this book explores these connections and presents a wealth of ideas, activities and resources to help teachers unlock the potential of the school and outdoor environments for learning across all curriculum subjects. Suitable for all primary school teachers and leaders.

Leseprobe

Praise for How to Move & Learn

The authors of this book bring together physiology, psychology and philosophy and make us look differently at the embedded routines of schooling and how schools could break out of teaching as they always have and improve learning for pupils in the future.

It is an energetic, highly readable and fascinating book which challenges thinking and practice in order to propose ways forward. Can schools step up, jump to it and take up the running … or will they sit and watch the real world go by? This persuasive book will help those who want schools to be fit for purpose and our young people fit for learning.

Mick Waters, Professor of Education, University of Wolverhampton

As the pandemic created downward pressure on physical activity, this book could not have been timed more perfectly. In the quest for more physically active schools, classrooms and students, How to Move & Learn is the next must-have book on the topic! One of the great appeals of this project is how the authors align Move & Learn strategies with sound principles of instruction. The differentiation of Move & Learn Activators and Energisers is critical to classroom application. I was also impressed with the authors’ examination of school and classroom culture and environment. We need to do more to recognise the absolute importance of movement in the teaching and learning process and this book takes us to the next level.

Mike Kuczala, speaker, professional developer and co-author of The Kinesthetic Classroom series

This book is about changing learning and teaching for the better. The authors call for all educators to ‘move and learn’ with the times and ensure that physical activity is an everyday part of their lessons both outside and in – not simply something that happens during PE and playtimes.

The Move & Learn approach also values the benefits of play – both free play at playtimes as well as playful approaches to learning. It emphasises the need to consider the impact of the environment in which learning happens, including classroom, hall, corridors, playground, local green space and built environments.

Juliet Robertson, author of Dirty Teaching and Messy Maths

How to Move & Learn takes us into a journey of movement and its benefits. Through this text we are shown the importance and benefits of increased physical movement (and, in turn, decreasing sedentary times) on health, happiness and learning. Through this we see the potential flaw in generally expected classroom behaviour. We see that particularly in Western society most of our children are insufficiently active, and how through education we can change this. A strong case is made to show the impact of physical activity on learning – and it is a turnaround from what has traditionally been assumed; in fact, as the title suggests, movement and learning go hand in hand!

Now, the benefits of physical activity are not in themselves revolutionary – however, the knowledge that movement can increase the learning experience is. The book is a practical guide with strategies that can be not just put in place, but placed at the core of the learning environment.

Move & Learn is a joyous piece of work that gives us a sneaky peak into just how enriching a curriculum can be.

Chris Dyson, Head Teacher, Parklands Primary School

This book is timely and an essential read for all school-based Initial Teacher Education courses – indeed, a must for any teacher during their Early Career Framework period because they will find the ideas and examples help to extend their pedagogical repertoire of skills and knowledge. It should also be read by every primary head teacher before taking up post, since if they take note of the many examples and case studies in How to Move & Learn they will be even more successful – not just with improving children’s learning but also the mental health and well-being of pupils and colleagues alike.

It’s a super book and every teaching hub should be buying and distributing multiple copies.

Tim Brighouse, former Commissioner for London Schools

This is an interesting and timely book. It’s a well-researched entry into the debate about how we should teach and learn and it is well worth a read. I love the balance it displays – something rare in the current climate. It is also a really good mix of the academic and the practical and a fine antidote to the ‘sit down and learn’ messages that we seem to be getting too often these days.

David Cameron, The Real David Cameron Ltd

While families are being told their children and young people need to be more active and healthy, the current educational trends decreed from on high are that they should sit still, follow the teacher with just their eyeballs and remain silent. In this delightful, timely and useful book, Bryn Llewellyn, Ian Holmes and Richard Allman offer us the research-informed, realistic and experience-led counterpoint to this sedentary state of affairs. How to Move & Learn is a powerful account of the benefits of enactive and active learning; a book that will be useful to anyone seeking the truth about and fun in learning. Get moving!

Hywel Roberts, travelling teacher, author and speaker

Finally we have a book which endorses what every teacher knows – children learn better when they move! Despite this, the majority of our lessons provide for sedentary learning. How to Move & Learn is not the usual must-read staffroom manual! It’s like cosying under a heated blanket to watch a favourite movie on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon. It’s a comforting read, confirms what we know, helps us to understand why we teach as we do and what the research tells us about active learning – and, most importantly, it’s packed with guidance on how we can change how we teach to integrate more movement into our lessons and trust ourselves to do what we know is right. I was one of hundreds of head teachers who worked with Bryn to integrate more movement into lessons throughout my school. We started with whole-staff training which, of course, included movement and we had 100% staff engagement with such incredible feedback that movement in every in-service training day became standard. Staff then found that in every lesson which planned for movement and learning there was 100% pupil engagement, improved behaviour for learning and increased attainment. It’s not rocket science but getting started can feel overwhelming and How to Move & Learn is the perfect guide. I’d say it’s a must-read for every staffroom library but as it’s the perfect accompaniment for planning, preparation and assessment time, you will need several copies.

Alison Kriel, leadership consultant, keynote speaker and founder of Above & Beyond Education

i

Foreword

Why do we sit children down to learn?

As you let that question resonate, perhaps I might be able to shed light on the reason why. Since Victorian times, the school system has aligned to prepare children to succeed in exams. Sadly, the promotion of a testing culture has detrimentally impacted their physical, social and emotional health. Surely there has to be another way; an education system that values a child’s holistic development, equally balancing their health with academic outcomes.

Despite COVID-19 shining a light on the wide-ranging importance of physical activity, the government narrative reinforced academic outcomes as the ‘catch-up’ priority,1 largely ignoring students’ physical and wider well-being needs and the ultimate impact they have on children’s personal and academic development. Yet all is not lost; emerging from among the debris are pioneering teachers, schools and educational establishments who place their students’ needs at the centre of the learning experience. While the term ‘pioneer’ is often bandied about, I do not use it lightly in reference to Bryn, Ian and Richard.

From our first encounter, Bryn showed passion and integrity in his mission to improve schools and classrooms. Having worked with over 300 schools, his knowledge and experience of embedding physically active learning (PAL) into everyday teaching practice is unrivalled. Six years on from our first meeting, I had the honour of presenting a TEDx Education talk on PAL with Bryn.2 We called for a paradigm shift – this book could provide the impetus. Next, I met Ian, a pioneering head teacher who was prepared to rip up his school’s timetable and integrate physical activity where most would least expect. Leading organisational change and building a new school culture that embraces physical activity takes time. Throughout his journey, Ian has shared his learning on an international stage and, more recently, has taken up the mantle of leading the implementation of the UK-based Creating Active Schools (CAS) Framework.3 The final musketeer, Richard, was a pioneering ii teacher who empowered teachers within his school and wider trust to embrace physical activity approaches throughout the school day. As with Ian and Bryn, he sought to learn from evidence-based research and practice, to develop innovative solutions to support teachers – particularly in relation to the adaptation of classrooms and use of wider school spaces as active learning environments.

Leading a multi-country European project on school-based physical activity, I have met many PAL pioneers. The knowledge, skills and experience that Ian, Bryn and Richard possess place them at the forefront of international practice. To date, few teacher educators have bridged the research–practice gap. It is only by underpinning teaching practice with the latest research that we will make impactful and sustainable change within the education system. While their mission to embed PAL within schools has grown in prominence, it has not come without its challenges. In 2018, after the National Association of Head Teachers passed a motion to embrace PAL by 92%,4 the national press was less convinced, writing ‘Let children run around in class, headteachers told’.5 What followed was a barrage of uneducated abuse – yet, undeterred, the musketeers stuck to their mission. The rich advice that follows in this book is testament to their perseverance and excellence.

How to Move & Learn seamlessly integrates research with rich practical experience from training teachers in over 400 schools. Beginning with teachers, the book draws on the latest behaviour change theory to support you to embrace PAL and integrate it within your teaching practice. What makes the Move & Learn concept unique is the integration of behaviour change theory and educational principles. Combined, they move PAL beyond its simplistic origins that aimed to get children moving more, to PAL’s contribution as an engaging pedagogical approach within a more holistic educational experience. The beauty of this book resides in the bitesize chapters written to provide a teacher who is new to PAL with simple starter ideas. Similarly, the book will appeal to more advanced PAL practitioners who wish to enhance what they do and how they do it.

So, it is time to begin your Move & Learn journey. First, though, some tips I have learned through my work with teachers and schools on physical activity: start simple, have a go and don’t give up if it doesn’t work the first time. As you become iii comfortable with PAL, read the final chapter; this focuses on taking a whole-school approach in order to create impactful and sustainable change in our schools. The vital lessons within this chapter will support you to look beyond your own teaching practice – hopefully empowering you to influence other key stakeholders (fellow teachers, senior leaders, parents) to adapt their approach to making physical activity an enjoyable and habitual part of every child’s day.

All that is left to ask is a simple question: what will you do differently tomorrow to help your children Move & Learn?

Dr Andy Daly-Smith Reader and co-director of the Centre for Applied Educational Research, University of Bradford

1 C. Scutt, ‘Catch-up’ and recovery approaches: selected reading, Research Hub (n.d.). Available at: https://my.chartered.college/research-hub/catch-up-and-recovery-approaches-selected-reading/.

2 B. Llewellyn and A. J. Daly-Smith, Physically active learning – improving performance [video], TEDxNorwichED (16 July 2018). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tARSCzHLF5g.

3 See https://www.creatingactiveschools.org.

4 Tagtiv8, Trying to influence the decision makers – NAHT & beyond (n.d.). Available at: https://tagtiv8.com/influence-the-decision-makers/.

5 C. Turner, Let children run around in class, headteachers told, The Telegraph (May 2018). Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/04/let-children-run-around-class-headteachers-told/.

v

Acknowledgements

As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said of creating and nurturing this book. Where do we start? At the beginning (a very good place to start); in this particular case it was Leeds – a city synonymous with leading the way, though not necessarily from the front.

As practitioners, we are well-versed in matters regarding school leadership and teaching. What we lacked were connections with researchers – local, national and international; step forward Dr Andy Daly-Smith, who kick-started the movement and has been an inspiration ever since. Further academic rigour and inspiration come courtesy of Dr Anna Chalkley, Dr Victoria Archbold and Professor Geir K. Resaland. Their robust research methods, explanations and support have certainly helped us understand more about behaviour change and how research can empower us to enhance practice for the benefit of more children.

We are indebted to school leaders and teachers for pioneering ideas and providing case studies:

Paula Manser and her colleagues at Birkby Nursery and Infant School.Jez Whawell and his colleagues at Westerton Primary Academy.Alun Davies and teachers at Queensway Primary School and Melton Primary School.Chris Willan and his team at Water Primary School.Chris Dyson and all at Parklands Primary School.Chris Tolson, Niall O’Brien and the team at Academy St James’ Bradford for championing PA and PAL locally and nationally.Nicola Roth and everyone at Lilycroft Primary School, Bradford.

Big shout-outs too to innovative individuals and organisations for your pioneering spirit and making time to talk with us:

Jo Rhodes from Challenge 59.Henry Dorling. viJuliet Robertson.HundrED.Michael Follett and the OPAL team.

We believe that you need to surround yourselves with awesome people who lift you up to a level beyond that which you thought you could achieve. With this in mind, we offer massive thanks to David Bowman and the team at Crown House Publishing – your patience knows no bounds. Thanks too to Buzz Burman for seeing things differently and creating the graphics.

Last, but by no means least, thank you to our families and friends for an ongoing blend of support and provocation:

Kudos and hugs from Bryn to Dimitra, Joe, Ben, Andreas, Konstantinos, Robin and David.Ian is inspired every day by his amazing family and wants to thank his wonderful wife, Susie, and gorgeous children, Kathryn and Sam, for their unwavering support and patience. Without them this book would not have seen the light of day.Richard would like to thank the children, teachers, mentors and innovators that he’s learned from since 2010.

Contents

Title PageForewordAcknowledgementsChapter 1: An Introduction to Move & LearnChapter 2: Culture and EthosChapter 3: Move & Learn ApproachesChapter 4: Move & Learn Approaches Across the Pedagogical SpectrumChapter 5: Move & Learn Environments and ResourcesChapter 6: A Whole-School Approach to Move & LearnAppendix 1: Move & Learn Audit and Planning ToolAppendix 2: Case StudiesReferencesAbout the AuthorsCopyright

1

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Move & Learn

To Move and/or Learn?

When we have asked those with whom we work, ‘What does learning look like?’, most responses for children over the age of 6 outline students sitting at desks focusing on a ‘learning stimulus’ (e.g. teacher with/without an interactive smartboard). However, if ‘learning happens when people have to think hard’,1 as outlined by the Great Teaching Toolkit,2 do we also have evidence showing that we can think harder when sedentary? We already know that increased physical activity and reduced sedentary time have wide-ranging benefits (including brain function), so what if we could show evidence that using movement in the learning process improves outcomes for children? What if we could then outline ways to support you (the practitioner) in adapting your practice to make this a reality? This book aims to do just that, providing you with the capability, opportunity and motivation to integrate movement purposefully into the learning process for those you teach. As teachers and school leaders, we have an opportunity to choose:

An approach to learning that improves academic attainment as well as health and well-being outcomes, rather than seeing the two as mutually exclusive.To raise educational standards while bringing the joy of learning to our children.A culture of collaboration, curiosity and creativity.To be the teacher of the children who can’t wait to tell others how and what they have learned today.To Move & Learn. 2

Through this book – and our supporting continuing professional development (CPD) programme – we will:

Highlight the benefits of Move & Learn and why you should incorporate it into your teaching and children’s learning.Share knowledge, ideas and resources on how to integrate Move & Learn purposefully into lessons.Identify barriers to implementing Move & Learn and provide practical solutions.Connect practitioners to the latest research so that they can evolve their teaching practice in line with the most successful evidence-based approaches.

As a result, we seek to empower you and your school community to integrate movement as a key part of teaching and learning – to bring health and education together for the long-term benefit of the children we serve – to Move & Learn!

Move & Learn – what it is and what it isn’t

Strategies that integrate movement into learning have been around for a long time and are often referred to as PAL in both research and practice. PAL has recently been defined by researchers as ‘the integration of physical activity into lessons in learning areas other than physical education (PE)’3 and has been explored as a potential method of increasing activity in schools without detriment to educational time. If you walked into a staffroom or teacher training event and asked those present what PAL is and whether they had used such approaches with children in their class, you would probably get one or more of the following responses: 3

‘Why would I want to let children run around the classroom? It would be dangerous and cause chaos!’‘Children get plenty of time to be physically active during break time, lunchtime, PE and clubs. They don’t need it during lessons, especially not maths and English!’‘How am I meant to get them to sit down, listen and focus on their learning if they are being allowed to move?’‘Where can I fit this in? There’s just not enough time in the day!’‘What about Ofsted? What will they say?’

These views are the first set of barriers to the successful implementation of Move & Learn strategies in any setting, and therefore it is essential to address both concerns and misconceptions so that they can be used purposefully and effectively by practitioners to enhance outcomes for children. Firstly, it is crucial that we understand what we mean by movement in the context of learning. Does it include:

Sitting up straight – as we need to use our core muscles to do this?Handwriting – as we are moving our arms and hands, and again using our core muscles to sit appropriately?Other fundamental movement skills that we often see during PE lessons, school sport or through children’s play (e.g. running, pushing, pulling, throwing, catching, balancing, climbing, digging)?

Let’s consider this in the context of the widely accepted definition of physical activity: ‘Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure.’4

This already outlines that movement will sit on a spectrum, as a child will expend more energy playing tig for 15 minutes than they will sat still (although they may still be making minor movements to support the way they are sitting). However, this definition frames physical activity as a specific mechanistic act, and a recent paper has amended this definition for teachers, researchers and policy-makers to acknowledge the ‘dynamic, complex and evolving array of reasons and emotions’ involved in physical activity in the 21st century.5 Piggin goes on to recommend 4 that we consider physical activity as: ‘People moving, acting and performing within culturally specific spaces and contexts, and influenced by a unique array of interests, emotions, ideas, instructions and relationships.’

We have used this definition in relation to our Move & Learn strategies, as it also explores the cognitive and emotive elements of physical activity, which are hugely relevant to its purposeful use in the learning process and for children in the 21st century. Its reference to spaces and contexts highlights the need for practitioners to consider the intensity and type of physical activity used when integrating movement into learning based on the relevant physical (e.g. classroom, hall, outdoor space) and social environments (e.g. class dynamics, staff dynamics) available. We can consider the spectrum of physical activity in a learning environment with some simple examples:

Sedentary – no or minimal physical activity

Light physical activity (LPA)

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)

Sitting6 – whether it be on the carpet, on a chair or at a desk

Balancing and stretching (body shapes)

Casual walking/ movement over short distances for a short period of time

Brisk walking

Running

Skipping

Climbing

Digging

Jumping

Dancing

Throwing and catching

Pushing and pulling 5

We can then think about how appropriate the type of physical activity is to the physical environment (spaces and places available) and social environment (how children and teachers engage and support each other with the process) before deciding on how, when and whether it should be blended with academic content. You would never plan a running relay race in a classroom with desks, for example – whether they be in groups or rows – in order to collect facts on a new aspect of learning. You would need to take the learning to a more suitable space (hall or outdoors). Alternatively, if using the classroom, you might post facts on the walls and allow small groups of children to walk to collect them (modelling effective behaviour for others), before then sharing this information with the whole class. Taking into account these physical and social environmental factors, we would define the Move & Learn approach as a learning sequence that either directly or indirectly incorporates an appropriate type of physical activity to enhance the learner’s development. We can unpick this definition further:

Learning sequence: This highlights that we recognise it is unlikely that integrating movement for a whole lesson will genuinely benefit the learner; therefore, it is important to consider when in the process it is used and when being able to sit is actually more purposeful for learning.Directly or indirectly: This references the point that sometimes movement will be directly linked to the learning process (e.g. retrieving information from around a classroom to use in the next phase of learning), and sometimes movement will be indirectly linked (e.g. 5-minute movement break to allow children to reset and refocus during complex problem-solving tasks).Appropriate type of physical activity: This links to the type of movement (e.g. walking, running, jumping, stretching) and considerations of the physical and social environments in place.Enhance the learner’s development: This is essential as, ultimately, by integrating movement, the learner should benefit more than they would by using traditional sedentary methods. This will hopefully be in relation to academic attainment, but provided academic attainment is not negatively impacted, the benefits could be related to improved focus, engagement, enjoyment and wider well-being. 6

We believe it is key that all of these elements are taken into consideration when planning how to Move & Learn, and we will explore this in more detail in Chapter 3. So, what does this look like in practice? This could be as simple as:

A child making body shapes behind their desk to represent different multiple-choice answers when reviewing learning.A child doing star jumps on the spot in the classroom as they recite their four times tables.A child writing letters or words in chalk on a playground.A child building their own representation of a 2D or 3D shape using sticks, twigs and twine from the forest area.Children moving around the school grounds outside, searching for clues as a team to solve a problem.