18. Research in Sports Pedagogy
Paper
Exploring Teachers’ Attitudes and Experiences of Fitness Testing in Physical Education in UK Secondary Schools
Naomi Harte1, Chris Spray1, Laura Alfrey2, Lorraine Cale1
1Loughborough University, United Kingdom; 2Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Presenting Author: Harte, Naomi
There are growing concerns related to child and youth physical activity and health within and beyond the UK. Therefore providing opportunities for children and young people to learn about health is considered a global health priority (World Health Organisation, 2018). Schools, and particularly Physical Education (PE), have been identified as an appropriate context within which to educate children about health (Hooper, Harris and Cale, 2022) and the area is a component of the PE curriculum in most English speaking countries. This includes, for example, teaching children how to be healthy, developing positive associations with being physically active, and encouraging and developing pupils’ confidence to continue to be physically active outside of PE (Cale and Harris, 2009). Within the current National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) in England, health features in the overarching ‘purpose of study’ and ‘ensuring that all pupils: lead healthy, active lives’ represents one of the four aims for the subject (Department for Education, 2013).
Despite the above, researchers within the field have highlighted that the teaching of health within PE has a narrow focus with some key aspects such as ‘health benefits’ and ‘activity promotion’ being afforded less attention (Harris, 2009). It has been contested that although teachers adopt a ‘fitness for life’ philosophy (promoting physical activity to retain and enhance health), teachers generally enact a ‘fitness for performance’ philosophy in practice, teaching health in reductive, performance focused ways and emphasising measurable outcomes (Harris and Leggett, 2015; Stirrup and Damant, 2022). One such example is the practice of fitness testing.
Fitness testing has been identified as one of the most common practices to teach about health within PE across the globe (O’Keeffe, MacDonncha and Donnelly, 2020; Alfrey and Landi, 2023). Yet, it has also been one of the most fiercely debated topics within the field. Proponents advocate various educational purposes for testing whilst others contest the practice can lack meaning and be a negative, embarrassing, and demotivating experience for some pupils.
Good practice recommendations for physical educators regarding how to teach in, through and about fitness testing, to enhance its educational experience for pupils have been offered for some time (recent examples include those by Phillips, Marttinen and Mercier, 2017; Huhtiniemi et al., 2021). Although recommendations differ, they are largely underpinned by the same broad principles. For example, they recommend deemphasising the public nature of fitness testing, avoiding comparison and competition and preparing and encouraging pupils to independently participate in physical activity outside of school. Whilst welcomed, the extent to which such recommendations are reaching teachers and influencing fitness testing practice is unclear, with some researchers highlighting a gap between the recommendations and practice (Mercier, Phillips and Silverman 2016; Cale, Harris and Chen, 2014).
Considering the reported widespread prevalence of fitness testing as a PE-for-health practice, yet the long standing concerns regarding its educational purpose, and the apparent gap between recommendations and practice, an exploration of current thinking and practice surrounding fitness testing is needed. This study therefore aimed to i) determine the prevalence of fitness testing; and ii) explore teachers’ experiences and attitudes of the practice. To the authors’ knowledge, a study of this nature has not been conducted in the UK before.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedPrior to the commencement of the study, ethical approval was granted by the University’s research ethics committee. An online survey was developed to explore fitness testing practices in PE departments and teachers’ experiences of fitness testing. The following previously utilised and published surveys and scales were drawn on to inform the survey design and questions: the ‘Health, Activity and Fitness Monitoring’ survey (Chen, 2010), ‘Health Related Physical Fitness Testing in Physical Education: A National Review’ (O’Keeffe et al. 2020) and ‘Physical Education Teacher Attitudes toward Fitness Tests Scale (PETAFTS) (Keating and Silverman, 2004).
The survey was centred on 6 themes: (1) The frequency and nature of fitness test use, (2) The place of fitness testing in the broader PE curriculum, (3) The design of fitness testing lessons, (4) The recording, monitoring and use of fitness test results, (5) Attitudes towards fitness testing, and (6) Factors influencing the implementation of fitness testing in PE. The survey contained mostly closed but also some open-ended questions, with the latter giving teachers the opportunity to describe their intentions, practices and reasoning behind implementing fitness testing. Further, Likert-type scales were included to measure teachers’ attitudes towards different aspects of fitness testing. Participants answered each item on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The survey was designed using Qualtrics (an online platform).
The survey was sent to PE teachers in secondary schools across the UK (n=4138). It was directed to the Head of Physical Education (HOPE) because they are responsible for the design and delivery of the PE curriculum in their schools. However, it was explained that the survey could be completed by another PE teacher in the department and that only one response was required per school. In total, 260 responses to the survey were obtained, representing an overall response rate of 7%. The response rates by country were as follows: England (6%), Wales (13%), Scotland (3%) and Northern Ireland (9%).
Once the survey closed, all quantitative responses were exported from Qualtrics into an excel spreadsheet for descriptive analysis. Qualitative data were uploaded to NVivo and then thematic analysis was employed, following Braun and Clarke’s ‘6-phase guide’ (Braun and Clarke, 2006). This included coding the data and identifying common themes in relation to the teachers’ responses to the open-ended questions.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe findings of the survey revealed that fitness testing is a common practice in secondary school PE in both core and examination lessons. Nonetheless, there was an unclear picture surrounding ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ teachers fitness tested, with varied attitudes and pedagogical practices evident.
Teachers’ attitudes towards fitness testing were mixed. For example 60% agreed that ‘fitness testing should be part of the curriculum in all schools’, whereas 40% were uncertain or disagreed. A range of learning intentions for fitness testing lessons were put forward, ranging from intentions of a performative nature, focusing heavily on scores to those where scores were referred to as ‘irrelevant’. Concerningly, some teachers commented that there were no learning intentions underpinning their fitness testing lessons.
The survey revealed varied pedagogical practices to be employed by teachers when fitness testing with only a few recommendations being adopted. Two thirds of teachers reported to be either unsure about or unaware of fitness testing recommendations and it is therefore no surprise that they weren’t implementing them. Some teachers showed awareness of the sensitivities surrounding fitness testing and the potential negative outcomes from testing. Over 60% of teachers (62%) were uncertain or agreed that fitness testing can have a negative impact on pupils’ psychological health, with only a small minority (2%) strongly disagreeing. These latter findings need serious consideration given the popularity of testing and if the practice is to continue in PE.
The study concludes that future research should explore pupils’ experiences and outcomes of fitness testing and additionally, create time and space for teachers to share their experiences of fitness testing further.
ReferencesAlfrey, L. and Landi, D. (2023) ‘Fitness Testing as a Debated and Contested PE-for-Health Practice’, in Cale, L. and Harris, J. (eds) Physical Education Pedagogies for Health. Oxon: Routledge.
Cale, L. and Harris, J. (2009) ‘Fitness testing in physical education – a misdirected effort in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity?’, Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 14(1), pp. 89–108. doi: 10.1080/17408980701345782.
Cale, L., Harris, J. and Chen, M. H. (2014) ‘Monitoring health, activity and fitness in physical education: its current and future state of health’, Sport, Education and Society, 19(4), pp. 376–397. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2012.681298.
Chen, M.-H. (2010) Healthy, physical activity and fitness monitoring within the secondary physical education curriculum in England. Loughborough.
Harris, J. and Leggett, G. (2015) ‘Influences on the expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales.’, Sport, Education and Society, 20(7), p. 908–923.
Hooper, O., Harris, J. and Cale, L. (2022) ‘Health-related learning in physical education in England’, in J, S. and Hooper, O. (eds) Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health, pp. 88–102.
Huhtiniemi, M. et al. (2021) ‘The relationships among motivational climate , perceived competence , physical performance , and affects during physical education fi tness testing lessons’, Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 26(1), pp. 1–15. doi: 10.1177/1356336X211063568.
Keating, X. D. and Silverman, S. (2004) ‘Teachers’ use of fitness tests in school-based physical education programs’, Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 8(3), pp. 145–165. doi: 10.1207/s15327841mpee0803_2.
Mercier, K., Phillips, S. and Silverman, S. (2016) ‘High School Physical Education Teachers ’ Attitudes and use of Fitness Tests’, The High School Journal, 99(2), pp. 179–190.
O’Keeffe, B. T. et al. (2020) ‘Health-related fitness monitoring practices in secondary school-based physical education programs’, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 39(1), pp. 59–68. doi: 10.1123/jtpe.2018-0336.
O’Keeffe, B. T., MacDonncha, C. and Donnelly, A. E. (2020) ‘Students ’ attitudes towards and experiences of the Youth-fit health- related fitness test battery’, European Physical Education Review, 27(1), pp. 41–56. doi: 10.1177/1356336X20917416.
Phillips, S. R., Marttinen, R. and Mercier, K. (2017) ‘Fitness Assessment : Recommendations for an enjoyable student experience’, Strategies, 30(5), pp. 19–24. doi: 10.1080/08924562.2017.1344168.
Stirrup, J. and Damant, E. (2022) ‘Health, Physical Education And The Curriculum’, in Stirrup, J. and Hooper, O. (eds) Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health. Routledge, pp. 14–26.
18. Research in Sports Pedagogy
Paper
Chinese Young People’s Experiences of High-Stakes Fitness Testing in School Physical Education
Jing Yang1, Gillan Bartle2, David Kirk1, Dillon Landi1
1University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom; 2University of Dundee, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Yang, Jing
Introduction
High-stakes fitness testing has become a dominant form of assessment used in China that is administered to young people in schools (Chen & Brown, 2013). These assessments are used to evaluate teachers’ effectiveness (Supovitz 2009), motivate students (Göloglu Demir & Kaplan Keles, 2021), and carry considerable weight on secondary and university admissions (Chen & Brown, 2013). In China, there are two ‘high-stakes’ assessments that carry important consequences for young people. One of the tests, the Gaokao, is a senior high school assessment that counts towards university admission. The focus of this paper is on the Zhongkao, an assessment for junior high school students whereby the results are used to inform admission decisions for entry into senior high school (Wu, 2015). Thus, the use of ‘high-stakes’ assessments is not a ‘neutral’ tool to simply measure student learning (Farvis and Hay 2020) but rather is a social and political process that has material consequences for many young people’s lives (Ryan 2002).
As part of the Zhongkao, the physical education section is comprised of a physical fitness test. Physical fitness tests are a polemical issue within physical education (e.g., Alfrey & Gard, 2019). On the one hand, some have argued that fitness testing has some benefits including an association with increased motivation amongst young people (Jaakkola et al. 2016; Simonton, Mercier, and Garn 2019). On the other hand, there has been growing body of evidence illustrating not so positive experiences with fitness testing. This includes research on motivation (Jaakkola et al. 2016) and attitudes (Goudas, Biddle, and Fox 1994), young people more broadly (Hopple and Graham 1995; Wrench and Garrett 2008), young women (O’Keeffe, MacDonncha, and Donnelly 2021), as well as Black, Latinx and LGBTQ young people (Safron & Landi, 2022). Within this debate, there is an overarching belief that has pervaded the physical education research community that it is ‘not the test’ that is bad, but rather the approach to teaching the test (Silverman et al., 2009).
WithinChinese culture,high value is placed on assessment and this increases pressure on young people, parents, teachers and schools (Chen and Brown 2013; Wu 2015). Within physical education (and fitness testing), such competitive practices have been shown to produce negative experiences amongst young people in schools (Aggerholm, Standal, and Hordvik 2018). We believe China is an interesting place to examine the ‘approach’ debate because high-stakes fitness testing is mandated for teachers and young people to follow. Further, there is a lack of research with Chinese young people about their fitness testing experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese young people’s experiences of the physical education component of the Zhongkao. The specific research questions that informed this research were:
(1) What are Chinese young persons’ reflective perceptions of the physical education assessment in the Zhongkao?
(2) What were the Chinese young persons’ reflective experiences of participating in the physical education assessment in the Zhongkao?
Paradigm
The paper is grounded in a pragmatist paradigm of research (Morgan, 2014). The pragmatist paradigm informs its background, methods and interpretation of the results drawing on previous insights from an epistemic community (Lawson, 2009). As such, this paper was informed not by an overarching theory, but rather the contextual factors and disciplinary traditions within physical education research. Yet, we were reflexive in our own thinking process in order to be critical of the dominant and discursive power structures within physical education research so we did not un-wittingly reproduce the inequities caused by epistemic dominance within the field (Landi, 2023).
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedDesign
The overarching design of this research project was a qualitative exploratory study drawing on conversational inquiry (Leavy 2017). Given the purpose of the study, to understand perceptions and experiences of young people, a conversational (Leavy 2017) approach was chosen because it is meant to discuss, unpack and contextualize lived events. For this paper, a conversational approach was used to better understand the experiences of high-stakes physical fitness assessments in physical education in China.
Setting and Participants:
This study took place at Sheng Wang School (pseudonym) a private secondary school in Shanghai. The study participants comprised of 24 students enrolled in Year 11 physical education. These students were chosen based on ‘convenience sampling’ because they were enrolled in physical education. Further, the lead author is a former teacher at this school and used ‘insider’ status to gain access. The students in this study were aged between 16-17 years old at the time of interviews. Each student participated in the physical education component of the Zhongkao assessment two years prior to the interview.
Data Generation and Analysis:
Data were generated using four semi-structured group interviews (Kvale 1996). Each interview was comprised of six students and lasted between 40-50 minutes. Given that events may be forgotten (Marshall and Rossman 2006), the use of groups were used to produce dialectic encounters (Rubin and Rubin 2005) that ‘jar’ participants’ memories based on other students responses. Interviews were conducted via Teams and were audio-recorded as well as transcribed from verbal data (Mandarin) into transcripts (Chinese). They were then translated from Chinese into English by the first author and reviewed by another person.
For data analysis, the first and last author first went through a process of ‘concept coding’ (Saldaña 2013). After this first round of concept coding, the first and last author undertook a round of conceptual mapping where they mapped codes in relation to one another. Using grouped data excerpts that were conceptually mapped, the first and fourth author used each cluster to write up the initial results. This draft acted as analytical memos (Marshall and Rossman 2006) where the second and third authors read and provided critical feedback. The critical feedback challenged the results in relation to the literature. The first and fourth author then conducted two additional revisions connecting findings to make a unique contribution (presented below).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsFinding/Conclusion
Most students valued physical education and believed it was an important part of the curriculum. Students believed the inclusion of physical education in the Zhongkao assessment is necessary because it shows the subject holds equal importance. One student stated this:
I think the physical education test is necessary. After all, students should develop morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically and comprehensively.
Physical education was seen as a subject that taught unique and important topics. The students believed physical education represented a different way of learning. Physical education was also fun and enjoyable, and even acted as a break from the monotony of schooling. Therefore, teachers know how to teach physical education to make it enjoyable and valued by students.
As a result of the physical fitness assessment, however, teachers would change their teaching practices for the 2-3 months leading up to the exam. This had a negative affect on young people’s experiences. One student said:
Two or three months before the PE test, went for an intensive training. Personally, I think it's a bit of a torture…
Students believed the over-emphasis on test scores led to a shift in teaching by teachers. What was previously a fun and enjoyable experience turned into a ‘training session’ to prepare for the test. The shift in teaching instigated by the test led young people to dislike physical education. They argued it was ‘boring’, ‘painful’, ‘torture’, amongst many negative adjectives. Young people claimed the high-stakes test was bad for learning. So, whilst the fitness testing debate has been a dominated by blaming teachers’ for their approach to fitness testing, the insights from this study illustrate that physical educators know how to make class valuable for students. It is the test, however, that instigates a change in their approach – not the other way around.
ReferencesAlfrey, L., & Gard, M. (2019). Figuring out the prevalence of fitness testing in physical education: A figurational analysis. European Physical Education Review, 25(1), 187–202.
Chen, J., & Brown, G. T. (2013). High-stakes examination preparation that controls teaching: Chinese prospective teachers’ conceptions of excellent teaching and assessment. Journal of Education for Teaching, 39(5), 541–556.
Farvis, J., & Hay, S. (2020). Undermining teaching: How education consultants view the impact of high-stakes test preparation on teaching. Policy Futures in Education, 18(8), 1058–1074.
Göloglu Demir, C., & Kaplan Keles, Ö. (2021). The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on the Teaching and Learning Processes of Mathematics. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 5(2), 119–137.
Goudas, M., Biddle, S., & Fox, K. (1994). Achievement Goal Orientations and Intrinsic Motivation in Physical Fitness Testing With Children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 6, 159–167.
Hopple, C., & Graham, G. (1995). What children think, feel, and know about physical fitness testing. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 14(4), 408–417.
Jaakkola, T. T., Sääkslahti, A., Yli-Piipari, S., Manninen, M., Watt, A., & Liukkonen, J. (2016). Student Motivation Associated with Fitness Testing in the Physical Education Context. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 32(3), 270–286.
Landi, D. (2023). Thinking qualitatively: Paradigms and design in qualitative research. In KAR Richards, M.A. Hemphill and P.M. Wright (Eds.) Qualitative Research and Evaluation in Physical Education. SHAPE America.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications
O’Keeffe, B. T., MacDonncha, C., & Donnelly, A. E. (2020). Students’ attitudes towards and experiences of the Youth-fit health-related fitness test battery. European Physical Education Review, 1–16.
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. (2005). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. London: SAGE Publications.
Ryan, K. (2002). Assessment validation in the context of high‐stakes assessment. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 21(1), 7–15.
Saldaña, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications
Silverman, S., Keating, X. D., & Phillips, S. (2008). A lasting impression: A pedagogical perspective on youth fitness testing. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 12(3), 146–166.
Simonton, K. L., Mercier, K., & Garn, A. C. (2019). Do fitness test performances predict students’ attitudes and emotions toward physical education? Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 24(6), 549–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2019.1628932
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