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27 SES 10 B: Early Childhood and Primary Education
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27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper Meaningful Movement Cultures in Early Primary Physical Education: A Movement Culture Analysis, 1: University of Southern Denmark, Denmark; 2: University College VIA Presenting Author:Physical education (PE) in the early primary years plays a vital role in cultivating children’s long-term motivation for movement. Across Europe and internationally, Meaningful PE has gained increasing attention as a pedagogical approach (Beni et al., 2017; Fletcher et al., 2021; Fletcher & Ni Chroinin, 2021). Yet recent scholarship highlights the need for stronger theoretical grounding and for attending more closely to pupils’ perspectives (Hastie, Alshuraymi & Wang, 2025). Addressing these gaps, this study brings together movement culture theory and pupils’ voices to investigate the following question: What characterizes the movement culture in PE lessons that pupils themselves experience as meaningful? The study builds on the action research project More Meaningful Physical Education, which co-developed six didactic strategies with a group of Danish PE-teachers (Madsen et al., 2025). This follow-up qualitative study examines PE events identified by pupils as meaningful (Svendsen & Madsen, 2026). Data were generated through ethnographic field notes from 6 PE-classes, and focus-group interviews with 20 children based on a draw-and-tell method (Barton, 2015). Field-notes, interviews and drawings were analysed using Henning Eichberg’s Configurational Analysis as a lens (Eichberg, 1998; 2007). Findings reveal that meaningful movement cultures are characterized by teachers acting as storytellers and pupils as co-creators, cyclic time structures enabling exploration and flow, organic spaces responsive to movement, and a creative and carnivalesque energy infused with creativity. By combining movement culture theory with Meaningful PE, this study contributes to international debates on culturally embedded meaning-making in physical education and highlights the importance of listening to children´s lived experience when shaping future PE practices. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This study is a follow-up to the More Meaningful Physical Education (MMPE) project, which developed teaching strategies aimed at creating meaningful PE experiences in lower primary school (Madsen et al., 2025). In this phase four Danish schools with diverse demographic backgrounds participated in MMPE, involving 26 teachers and 22 PE classes. Drawing on Kemmis and McTaggart’s (2005) action research model, teachers and researchers met monthly to develop, test, and refine PE strategies. Data comprised 21 workshop summaries, 70 sensory-ethnographic observation notes (Pink, 2015), and informal conversations.The action research resulted in six didactic strategies forming the MMPE pedagogy: (i) broadening the curriculum, (ii) using the body as a teaching resource, (iii) narratives, (iv) experimental approaches, (v) framing the PE lesson, and (vi) providing “just-right” challenges (Madsen et al., 2025). The present study was conducted as a follow-up based on a movement culture study, which examined how these strategies shaped movement cultures. Two schools and four teachers from Phase 1 took part in the movement culture study. Data were collected from two Year 2 classes (7–8 years) and three nursery classes (5–6 years taught together). Each class was observed twice using sensory ethnographic field notes, later rewritten as practice narratives to capture sensory detail (Sparkes, 2002). Following the second lesson, four semi‑structured focus group interviews were conducted with 20 pupils in familiar school settings. A draw‑and‑tell method (Barton, 2015) enabled pupils to depict meaningful moments from their lessons. Pupils drew for three minutes before and during the interview, allowing interviewers to reference drawing details and explore embodied experiences. Interviews were transcribed, and recurring motifs and statements informed the selection of two meaningful events (Events 1 and 2). Data were analysed using Eichberg’s Configurational Analysis, which examines movement culture across three levels: body culture, production culture, and institutional culture (Eichberg, 1998, 2001). Seven search parameters guided the analysis: time, space, energy, relations, objectification, values, and institutions. In line with Eichberg’s approach, movement cultures before and after (the action research were compared, with the body culture level forming the main analytical focus and production and institutional aspects discussed analytically. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Primary school PE has the potential to foster lifelong motivation for movement, yet traditional PE teaching methods do not always provide meaningful experiences. This study examined the movement cultures that pupils themselves identified as meaningful, drawing on observations and interviews analysed through Configurational Analysis. The findings show that meaningful movement cultures were characterised by teachers acting as storytellers and pupils as co-creators within cyclic time structures that supported flow and exploration. Learning spaces were flexible and responsive to pupils’ movements, and the curriculum centred on experimental activities rather than conventional games. These cultures were infused with playful, humorous, and carnivalesque elements, enabling creativity and shared engagement. Although this study was conducted on a relatively small group in Denmark it holds broader international relevance. A key implication is the value of integrating movement culture theory into the Meaningful PE framework to illuminate how meaningfulness is culturally embedded. This theoretical lens deepens understanding of the pedagogy underpinning meaningful experiences and supports critical reflection on existing PE practices. By combining Configurational Analysis with Meaningful PE, the study contributes new insights into how PE both reflects and co-constructs societal values. The results of the examination could expand PE pedagogy and assist teachers in integrating various PE objectives, content, and learning processes. References Barton, G. (2015). Arts-based educational research in the early years. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 6(1), 62. Beni, Stephanie, Tim Fletcher, and Déirdre Ní Chróinín. 2017. “Meaningful Experiences in Physical Education and Youth Sport: A Review of the Literature.” Quest (Grand Rapids, Mich ) 69 (3): 291–312. Eichberg, H. (1998). Body cultures. Essays on sport, space and identity. Routledge. Eichberg, H. (2007). How to Study Body Culture: Observing Human Practice. www.idrottsforum.org/articles/eichberg/eichberg070606.html Fletcher, Tim, Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Douglas Gleddie, and Stephanie Beni. 2021. Meaningful Physical Education: An Approach for Teaching and Learning. New York: Routledge. Fletcher, Tim, and Déirdre Ní Chróinín. 2021. “Pedagogical Principles That Support the Prioritisation of Meaningful Experiences in Physical Education: Conceptual and Practical Considerations.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 27 (5): 455–466. Hastie, P. A., Alshuraymi, A. N., & Wang, C. H. (2025). Measuring meaningfulness in physical education: a tool for teachers and researchers. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1–15. Madsen, K. L., Svendsen, A. M., Volshøj, E. S., Jakobsen, A. W., & Lillelund, K. B. (2025). Six teaching strategies to support meaningful PE experiences in early primary schools – results from an action research project. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1–13. Svendsen, A. M. & Madsen, K. L. (2026). Lower primary school pupils’ experience of meaningfulness in physical education. Sport, Education and Society. Accepted, in press. 27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper Power-sharing In Early Childhood Discourse In Poland Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Presenting Author:In an era of ubiquitous threats to democracy, such as the war in Ukraine or attempts to force other countries to submit to the United States under Donald Trump's leadership, shaping democratic attitudes from an early age is becoming increasingly important. One of the key spaces for learning democracy is school, including everyday communication practices that are embedded in early childhood education discourse. One of the conditions for creating a democratic educational environment is power-sharing in the teacher-student relationship. In this paper, I will present a picture of power-sharing in early childhood discourse in 5 schools in Poland. Power-sharing in early childhood discourse is sharing power in all matters that occur within the educational relationship in which individuals participate, and which do not necessarily directly concern the individual. It appears in 1-3 grades (7-9 years old). It is realized through the behaviors and communication acts of individuals in areas such as verbal and nonverbal communication, lesson content, materials used, organization of school time and space, rules of conduct, assessment (including response to errors), cooperation, and conflict, and its goal is to increase the democratization of education. The following research questions were formulated: 1. What power-sharing practices can be reconstructed based on the analysis of classroom discourse at the early childhood education stage (grades I-III, attended by children aged 7-9) in the studied classes? 2. What power-sharing techniques can be reconstructed based on the classroom discourse being studied? 3. What factors differentiate power-sharing practices in the classroom discourse being studied? 4. What ways of giving and receiving voice can be identified in the student-teacher relationship in the studied discourse? The study was based, among others, on M. Foucault's concept of power and M. Reisigl's strategies in verbal discrimination. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Data collection methods included student interviews and audiovisual material collection (recording two days of lessons in each classroom). Data analysis methods included content analysis and Ruth Wodak's critical discourse analysis. The study collected 3.5 hours of interview recordings and 25 hours of lesson recordings, which translated into 750 pages of transcripts. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Initial findings show that manifestations of power-sharing vary depending on the classroom studied. These include, for example, choosing the manner of greeting and checking other students' work. In some classrooms, manifestations of a lack of shared power predominate. The research material revealed representation of all four techniques of exercising power (Foucault's: repartition, the control of activity, prescribing movements, the composision of forces). In the context of differentiating strategies, the material identified, for example, backgrounding, naming based on health status, and naming based on personality traits. The material identified three groups of techniques for inducing silence in the classroom: verbal-direct, verbal-indirect, and nonverbal. References Foucault, M. (2009). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Aletheia. Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Taylor&Francis. Reisigl, M. (2010). Dyskryminacja w dyskursach [Discrimination in Discourses]. Tekst i Dyskurs, 3, 27–61. Wodak, R. (2008). Dyskurs populistyczny: retoryka wykluczenia a gatunki języka pisanego [Populist Discourse: The Rhetoric of Exclusion and Genres of Written Language]. In Duszak. A. & N. Fairclugh (Eds.), Krytyczna analiza dyskursu. Interdyscyplinarne podejście do komunikacji społecznej [Critical Discourse Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Social Communication](pp. 185–213). Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych UNIVERSITAS. Wodak, R. (2011). Wstęp: Badania nad dyskursem - ważne pojęcia i terminy [Introduction: Discourse Studies – Key Notions and Analytical Categories]. In R. Wodak & M. Krzyżanowski (Eds.), Jakościowa analiza dyskursu w naukach społecznych [Qualitative Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences]. Lośgraf. Stek-Łopatka, N. (2024). Power-Sharing in Formal and Non-Formal Education. Lubelski Rocznik Pedagogiczny, 43(4), 59–73. 27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper ***WITHDRAWN*** A Holistic Analysis of Research on Nature of Science Instruction at the Elementary Level: A Systematic Review KUTAHYA DUMLUPINAR UNIVERSITY, Turkey (Türkiye) Presenting Author:The primary goal of science education is to cultivate scientifically literate individuals. An essential component of scientific literacy is the nature of science (NOS). Numerous studies have indicated that learners’ ability to understand fundamental scientific concepts, develop an understanding of how scientific knowledge is produced, and recognize the effects of scientific and technological developments on individuals, society, and the environment can be achieved through science education that emphasizes the nature of science. Accordingly, science curricula have highlighted the necessity of integrating NOS into instruction (Lederman & Lederman, 2014). The nature of science is an approach that aims to help learners develop an understanding of what scientific knowledge means, the processes and rationales through which it is constructed, and the characteristics embedded in the nature of scientific knowledge (Liu & Lederman, 2007). In this sense, NOS instruction seeks to foster students’ understanding of scientific knowledge as (i) evidence-based, (ii) tentative, (iii) subjective, (iv) influenced by social and cultural contexts, (v) consisting of theories and laws that represent different types of knowledge, and (vi) produced through imagination and creativity (Lederman et al., 2002).
There are three primary approaches to NOS instruction: implicit, explicit-reflective, and historical approaches (Abd-El-Khalick & Akerson, 2004). The implicit approach assumes that students acquire the values and characteristics of scientific knowledge incidentally through activities involving scientific inquiry processes or science process skills (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000). The explicit-reflective approach involves both engaging students in science-based activities and explicitly teaching NOS aspects through post-activity reflection and discussion (Khishfe & Abd-El-Khalick, 2002). The historical approach posits that integrating episodes from the history of science into instruction supports students’ development of NOS understanding (Khishfe & Abd-El-Khalick, 2002).
The literature on the nature of science has grown substantially. Existing studies have examined the effectiveness of various NOS instructional approaches (Abd-El-Khalick, 2001; Abd-El-Khalick & Akerson, 2004), as well as the NOS views of students (Leblebicioğlu et al., 2011), preservice teachers (Yalçınoğlu & Anagün, 2012), and in-service teachers (Bartos & Lederman, 2014). In addition to studies assessing views and understandings of NOS, written documents—such as textbooks (İrez, 2009) and curriculum documents (Özden & Cavlazoğlu, 2015)—have also been analyzed from an NOS perspective. Moreover, some studies have reviewed the NOS literature (Caymaz, 2022; İnce & Özgelen, 2015). However, these studies primarily adopted a descriptive approach, focusing on surface-level characteristics such as distribution of studies by university, publication year, or research method.
In contrast, the present study aims to conduct a systematic review to provide a comprehensive overview of how NOS topics have been characterized in science education research within the elementary school context. Within this scope, the study seeks to answer the following research questions:
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This study employed a systematic review approach, which enables a critical evaluation of studies conducted on a particular topic that meet predetermined criteria. Systematic reviews aim to synthesize existing research through a holistic analysis and provide evidence-based answers to research questions, ultimately generating new insights within the field (Moher et al., 2009). This systematic review on the nature of science intends to offer a comprehensive evaluation of the literature by identifying the aims of NOS-focused studies, the NOS components they target, and the instructional approaches they employ. However, systematic reviews do not directly offer information about students’ developmental levels, the quality of learning, or independent variables influencing learning outcomes. The Web of Science (WoS) database was used to identify the studies included in the review. The inclusion criteria were as follows: • The study must explicitly address the concept of the nature of science (NOS). • The research must be conducted within the context of science education. • The participant group must consist of elementary-level students, teachers, or preservice teachers. • The publication must be an empirical research article. • The study must include empirical data. • The publication must be written in English. • The full text must be accessible. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in WoS using the following keywords: ("nature of science" OR NOS OR "views of nature of science" OR VNOS OR "scientific epistemology" OR "epistemic cognition" OR "scientific inquiry") AND ("elementary" OR "primary school" OR "primary education" OR "elementary education" OR "primary students" OR "elementary students" OR "K-4" OR "K-5" OR "young learners" OR "early grade") AND ("science education" OR "science teaching" OR "science learning"). This search yielded 272 studies. In the first screening stage, conference papers, book chapters, and review articles were excluded based on the inclusion criteria, leaving 242 studies. Publications not written in English were subsequently removed, resulting in 216 studies to be analyzed in the systematic review. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The analysis process is ongoing. However, preliminary findings indicate that most studies aim to improve participants’ perceptions and views of the nature of science. The findings also show that instruction typically targets components such as “the role of imagination and creativity in scientific knowledge,” “the distinction between observation and inference,” “the tentative nature of scientific knowledge,” “the evidence-based nature of scientific knowledge,” and “the subjective nature of scientific knowledge.” On the other hand, many studies do not provide sufficient or convincing explanations for why specific NOS components were selected. In addition to conventional NOS instructional approaches, the review also reveals the use of hybrid approaches in the examined studies. References Abd-El-Khalick, F. & Akerson, V.L. (2004). Learning about nature of science as conceptual change: Factors that mediate the development of preservice elementary teachers‟ views of nature of science. Science Education, 88, 785-810. Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2001). Embedding nature of science instruction in preservice elementary science courses: Abandoning scientism, but… Journal of Science Teacher Education, 12, 215-233. Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Lederman, N. G., (2000) Improving science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literatüre. International. Journal of Science Education, 22(7), 665-701. Bartos, S.A., & Lederman, N.G. (2014). Teachers' knowledge structures for nature of science and scientific inquiry: Conceptions and classroom practice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(9), 1150-1184. Caymaz, B. (2022). Türkiye’de bilimin doğası öğretimini konu alan ve 2005-2020 yılları arasında yayınlanan tezlerin incelenmesi. İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 23(2), 755-786. İnce, K., & Özgelen, S. (2015). Bilimin doğası alanında son 10 yılda yapılan çalışmaların farklı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.17860/efd.77894 İrez, S. (2009). Nature of science as depicted in Turkish biology textbooks. Science Education, 93(3), 422-447. Khishfe, R. & Abd‐El‐Khalick, F., (2002). Influence of explicit and reflective versus ımplicit ınquiry‐oriented instruction on sixth graders' views of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(7), 551-578. Leblebicioğlu, G., Metin, D., Yardımcı, E., & Berkyürek, İ. (2011). Teaching the nature of science in the nature: A summer science camp. İlköğretim Online, 10(3), 1037-1055. Lederman, N. G., & Lederman, J. S. (2014). Is nature of science going, going, going, gone?. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25, 235-238. Lederman, N.G., Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R.L., & Schwartz, R.S. (2002). Views of nature of science questionnaire: Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learners‟ conceptions of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(6), 497-521. Liu, A. Y., & Lederman, N.G. (2007). Exploring prospective teachers‟ world views and conceptions of nature of science. International Journal of Science Education, 29(10), 1281-1307. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Med 6(7), e1000097. Özden, M., ve Cavlazoğlu, B. (2015). İlköğretim fen dersi öğretim programlarında bilimin doğası: 2005 ve 2013 Programlarının İncelenmesi. Eğitimde Nitel Araştırmalar Dergisi, 3(2), 40-65. Yalçınoğlu, P., & Anagün, Ş.S. (2012). Teaching nature of science to the pre-service teachers. Elementary Education Online, 11(1), 118-136. | ||