Supporting Durham Catholic School District teachers in implementing movement integration: understanding and addressing the barriers through teacher coaching

Abstract

Movement integration (MI) is short bursts of physical activity (PA) within classrooms during school hours. Despite cited benefits of MI, it is not well utilized by teachers. MI barriers include lack of time and confidence, safety concerns, and classroom disarray. Teacher coaching may help mitigate these issues. Teacher participants (n=12) at seven elementary schools were interviewed on their perceived barriers to MI. An MI specialist visited each teacher three times for five to ten minutes over three weeks to coach the teacher and class through MI activities. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in self-reported MI by teachers from pre to post-implementation (Z = -2.138, p = 0.0165, r = 0.6), improved teacher confidence (p = 0.048), and a strong, positive correlation (ꚍƅ = 0.627, p = 0.018) between confidence and competence. Findings indicate that teacher coaching may be an effective strategy to supporting teachers in overcoming barriers to MI.