Childrens active lifestyles in the school community a socioecological examination of teacher underst

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Childrens active lifestyles in the school
community a socio-ecological examination of
teacher understandings
Brown, T., OConnor, J., and Payne, P. (2007)
Project Summary The understandings about physical
activity held by teachers in four
socio-geographically diverse primary schools in
the Mornington Peninsula will be examined in this
case study, mixed method, interpretive project. A
distinctive socio-ecological theory of physical
activity will be used to interpret a) teacher
and whole-school understandings of childrens
physical activity and its personal, social and
environmental influences and b) teachers role
in schools in developing childrens physically
active lifestyles. The empirical study will
advance socio-ecological theory, its research use
in and application to school pedagogy and policy,
and contribute school-based research to the
upstream health promotion literature.
Socio-ecological Model for Active Schools The
health promotion literature is moving from the
'downstream' model of illness treatment to the
identification of the 'upstream' determinants of
positive health and wellbeing. Within
multi-dimensional models of wellness, physical
activity remains strongly associated with better
physical and mental health outcomes. To date,
physical activity literature has only partially
examined the upstream role of schools while the
education literature has paid little attention to
teachers' understanding of their unique role in
promoting physical activity. This study of four
socio-geographically diverse primary schools will
examine the understandings about physical
activity held by stakeholders in and across each
school and 'test' them against the research
teams' theoretical formulation of a
socio-ecological pedagogy of physical activity.
Our approach provides a major point of departure
from the current preoccupation with the 'obesity
epidemic' that focuses public attention on
childrens individual behaviors (diet/sedentary
lifestyles and weight measurement) and limits
options in schools for developing alternative
curricula/policy/environmental strategies. An
empirically-qualified theory of social ecology
relevant to a range of school-based practices
about physical activity and health promotion will
be advanced via conference and publication. This
robust theory development will add to the health
promotion and population policy literature by
clarifying the current blurring of
socio-cultural theory and socio-ecological
theory. This project represents phase 1 of an
ARC Discovery application planned for 2008,
advances Monash's 'Sport, Health and Outdoor
Recreation' research strength focus on social
ecology, and contributes to the establishment of
the Peninsula campus's 'Health and Wellbeing
Precinct' with links to the community. The lack
of research into teacher understandings and
school social ecologies demands an adequate
theoretical frame to inform the research design,
and multilevel instrumentation, data collection
and interpretation. The concept of social
ecology has emerged only recently within the
discourse of health promotion (Stokols et al.,
1996 Maller at al., 2006). The concept of
social ecology embraces a broad array of social,
cultural, environmental and geographic
influences, or upstream determinants, that
shape population, family, and individual lives,
identities and lifestyles. Social ecology has
only partially been proposed in the emergent
transdisciplinary study of physical activity
(King et al, 2002 Spence Lee, 2003). In
education, Cale (2005) has developed an
ecological model of physical activity/health
promotion known as the Active School it
incorporates school ethos and policies, the
environment, care and support, community links,
the physical education curriculum, and the
informal curriculum as the principal
contributors. Wattchow and OConnor (2003) argue
that natural systems supporting healthy life have
not found a voice in the discourses of the
physical in the Health/PE curriculum.