Body Education in Primary School: Analysis and Determinations

Abstract

Social inclusion is widely recognized as a priority to be achieved at the international level; many institutions attribute a fundamental role in this direction to sport. Sporting activity, conceived and organised in its educational value, is generally considered an opportunity for pupils to develop their physical body (Landry & Driscoll, 2012), psychological and sociorelational, as well as increasing functional independence and the inclusion process (Valentini & Marinelli, 2021). The recent legislative innovation, introduced by Law n.234 of 2021, which provides for the use of specialist teachers to teach motor education in primary school, has awakened the debate that had already started on the occasion of the bill n.992 of 2018 which already provided for the introduction of the specialist teacher of motor education in primary school to guarantee “a real and qualifi ed teaching to children through suitable and targeted interventions from the point of view of motor development, but not only, also to produce effects on learning, prevention and socialisation”. Consequently, it is necessary to recall the assumption of a procedural habitus able to identify the most suitable didactic and methodological strategies to promote inclusion processes with the adoption of a physical and sporting practice that is “for everyone” and “of everyone” to facilitate access and physical practice in formal education for all students. Embracing the importance and the necessity of this qualitative approach to motor education, a research was conducted during the academic year 2022-2023 to answer the following question: is it possible to promote a process of sports literacy in children aged between 9 and 11 years? Through what actions is it possible to promote sports skills in students attending the fi fth grade of primary school? The intent is to pay attention also to the quantitative approach in response to the defi ciencies that the current generations are highlighting at the psycho-physical level and, after presenting a screening on a sample, to defi ne some possible integrated strategies, both qualitative and quantitative, to respond to the emerging problems of well-being concerning the developmental age. The design work responds to the backward design model (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005; 2007), which allows an analysis of the task aimed at clarifying what goals to pursue and how to give evidence of their achievement; makes it possible to clarify which teaching and learning objectives to pursue; it enables greater consistency between desired outcomes, key performance, and learning and teaching experiences. It has been decided to promote learning that derives from experience, with an orientation of relevance, since it develops in the person the awareness about his prerogatives, the personal project, and the path taken. The sample was composed of 449 Italian children, aged 9 to 11 years (Male=225; Female=224). The percentage distribution of students compared to the Motorfi t Lombardia 81 reference tables, showed the following results: 66% and 57% of participants were insuffi cient- poor respectively in the aerobic endurance test (Cooper 12m) and anaerobic endurance test (10x5 shuttle), only 27% in the fi rst test, and 34% in the second test, were good or excellent, the rest of the sample is suffi cient. Even in the explosive force of the lower limbs, 61% of the participants are insuffi cient-poor and 28% good-excellent, the rest of the sample is suffi cient. Better results, however, in tests of upper limb strength (60% good-excellent) and abdominal strength (57% good-excellent). The trend remains similar even when comparing sex, males versus females, where there are poor values both in aerobic resistance (64% vs 52%) and in anaerobic resistance (68% vs 63%) and in standing long jump (51% vs 59%). An experimental plan that offers some advantages over the