There are many physical and mental health gains when children are physically activity for at least sixty minutes comprising of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day (Department of Health, 2011). Taking part in regular physical activity constructs strong and healthy bones, enhances muscular strength, endurance, decreases the risk of type-2 diabetes and obesity, and combats anxiety and stress (Steinbeck, 2001). Despite schools being well placed to offer unique opportunities for pupils to participate in high levels of physical activity during the school day, there is an inherent tendency for schools to cut back on these opportunities to increase academic or study time, assuming that increased classroom time equates to better results. Therefore, the ever increasing pressure on schools to continually improve their academic results for subjects such as Mathematics, English and Science is often at the expense of time spent being physically active. There are, however, numerous arguments that PE and physical activity can actually enhance children’s academic performance, as well as their overall health and wellbeing. This assignment will discuss the importance PE, and physical activity can play in enhancing academic performance, cognitive development and classroom behaviour within schools.
PE and physical activity enhancing academic performance:
There have been various studies examining the correlation between regular physical activity and the impact this has on enhancing students’ academic performance. For example, Sallis et al. (1999) conducted a two-year quasi-experiment focusing on the impact of health-related fitness and physical activity in PE on academic attainment. The study randomly assigned pupils from a relatively affluent school district within Southern California into one of three groups; the specialised educator group, trained classroom teacher group; and a controlled group. The specialised educator group, had a qualified instructor to lead the Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK) programme. For the classroom teacher group, the researchers constructed training for the teachers enabling them to implement the SPARK programme; and the controlled section conducted their regular PE programme as normal. The SPARK curriculum focused on encouraging physical activity in and out of school and consisted of three, thirty-minute lessons per week. The lessons were broken into two fifteen-minute sections; the first part of the lesson focused on health-related activities and physical fitness, while the second part of the lesson centred on skill-related fitness. Additionally, thirty-minute self-management lessons were delivered, to emphasise to the children the importance of behavioural change and how these skills are linked towards maintaining regular physical activity levels. The study measured physical fitness levels at the beginning and end of every school year and assessed the pupils’ academic performance through the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) results. From the results, Sallis et al. (1999) found that additional time spent in physical education lessons for both the specialist educator group and the trained teacher group was significantly higher than that of the controlled group, and that their physical fitness levels were substantially higher. Furthermore, the study highlighted that the participants within the specialist educator group and the trained teacher group performed better within their MAT results than those within the controlled group, despite the later spending double the time within PE lessons.
Additionally, a study of two hundred and fifty-nine school pupils in Illinois by Castelli, Hillman, Buck, and Erwin (2007) examined the association between physical exercise and academic attainment. The study found a positive association between physical activity, particularly on aerobic fitness with improved academic performance. Furthermore, the study found a negative association between high levels of Body Mass Index (BMI) and academic achievement. Further highlighting the importance physical activity has on school pupils’ health and attainment. This collaborates the findings undertaken by Booth et al. (2013), which revealed that regular bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity contributed to an increase in academic achievement across English, Maths and Science. The study found that for children who began to exercise for an extra sixty minutes a day, there was an increase of an entire grade in attainment; boosting them from a C grade to B, or even from a B to an A. More surprising was the result that for the boys that took part in the study, it only took an average of an extra seventeen minutes of exercise a day for them to show an improvement in Maths and English results.
Furthermore, Dexter (1999) conducted a study on five hundred and seventeen secondary pupils, across seventeen schools, concentrating on the connection between physical activity and school sport on academic success. The study found significant correlation between school sports such as hockey, football, athletics and netball on improved academic results in both English and Maths. This was further endorsed by the findings of Trudeau and Shepard (2008) who examined numerous literature focusing on the relationship connecting PE, physical activity and sport to academic attainment. They concluded that increasing the time spent on PE, physical activity and school sport do not have a determinant effect on students’ academic attainment and argued that reducing time allocated for being physically active can have adverse effects on the physical, mental and academic success of pupils (Trudeau and Shepard, 2008).
These studies further highlight the importance that PE and physical activity can bring to enhancing not only pupils’ physical health but also academic attainment. However, some limitations of these studies must be noted. For example, the sample study by Sallis et al. (1999) was conducted within an affluent school district and may not have taken out of school hours of extra sport and physical activity into consideration. Thus, further research within schools with more diverse and challenging catchment areas may be needed. Furthermore, Dexter (1999) measurements were conducted within examination conditions, therefore, may not entirely replicate the participants’ normal performance levels during their lessons. Nevertheless, these studies have shown that physical activity can help enhance academic performance and that the introduction of more curriculum time spent on PE, physical activity and sport at the expense of time allocated to academic subjects, does not have a detrimental effect on the impact of pupils’ academic success.
PE and physical activity enhancing cognitive functions and classroom behaviour:
Another area of interest that highlights the importance of PE within schools is the association that PE and physical activity play in enhancing specific aspects of cognitive development, such as memory and concentration, as well as academic success. For example, Budde et al. (2008) conducted a study with one hundred and fifteen students, between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, focusing on the effect short bouts of physical activity has on concentration and attention. The students involved were randomly assigned to a controlled group and an experimental group. The experimental group conducted ten minutes of coordinated exercise that consisted of challenging the pupils on their coordination, balance and reaction times within their PE lesson, while the controlled group continued their session as normal. After the end of each lesson, attention and concentration tests were taken, and they found significant increase in concentration and attention within the experimental group compared to the controlled group. This highlights the importance that increased concentration and attention could subsequently improve on-task and classroom behaviour. Further supporting this notion, Caterino and Polak (1999) conducted a study in which they randomly assigned pupils into two interventions; a physical activity group and a controlled classroom group. The physical activity group performed fifteen minutes of exercise before taking a concentration test, whereas the controlled classroom group did not participate in any exercise prior to their testing. The study found that pupils who participated in the active break-times had significantly higher concentration scores than students who were in the controlled classroom group. This echoed the findings of Pellegrini and Davis (1993) who discovered that pupils who undertook sedentary behaviour were less attentive and fidgeted more often in class than pupils who were physically active during their break-time. Furthermore, a meta-analysis of forty-four studies by Sibley and Etnier (2003) revealed a significant correlation between physical activity and improved levels of functioning cognition in children across eight cognitive categories. Sibley and Etnier (2003) concluded that there were improvements in concentration, memory, mathematical and verbal tests, perceptual skills, academic willingness, intelligence quotient (IQ) and subsequently academic achievement.
In addition to these cognitive benefits, PE and school-based physical activity can also enhance classroom behaviour that may contribute to the improvement of pupils’ academic performance. A study conducted by Mahar et al. (2006) examined the effectiveness of classroom-based physical activity on improving school behaviour. The programme lasted for twelve weeks and gave pupils the opportunity to participate in short bouts, of approximately ten minutes of classroom-based physical activity per day. The study found that there was an increase of on-task behaviour and that the short time spent on being physically active led to a positive correlation between classroom-based physical activity and pupil behaviour. This study was of particular interest, as it puts forward and encourages the idea of more cross-curricular opportunities of PE and physical activity within other subjects in the school curriculum. Furthermore, Barros et al. (2009) conducted a study examining the effects of regular physical activity on classroom behaviour. The study found significant correlation between regular exercise breaks of approximately fifteen minutes during a school day and improved classroom behaviour. These studies further emphasise the importance PE and physical activity has on pupils’ cognitive functions, classroom behaviour, which in turn could have positive outcomes on their academic attainment. Despite this, there are some limitations within the studies that should be highlighted. For example, the sample size for both Caterino and Polak, (1999) and Pellegrini and Davis (1993) were small, thus could be argued to have limited the effects within the studies. Furthermore, it could be argued that for both Mahar et al. (2009) and Barros et al. (2009) allowing teachers to rate the behaviour of their pupils' within their studies, could have led to a biased conclusion. However, the notion that physical activity may enhance thinking, concentration and subsequently academic performance is an attractive prospect to PE as a whole and one that should not be ignored. This could bring additional value and justification towards the subject for increased physical activity and PE time within the school curriculum.
Inactivity and negative feelings towards PE:
Despite the apparent positive physical and mental health benefits of being active, the present level of physical inactivity experienced by numerous children across the UK and England is of particular concern and one that seems to be continually on the rise. The Youth Sport Trust’s National PE, School Sport and Physical Activity Survey Report (2015) found that only 21 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls met the suggested levels of one hour’s moderate levels of physical activity per day. Furthermore, the report stated that one in three primary school leavers were either overweight or obese by the time they started secondary school and that children conceived today were on course to be 35 percent less active by 2035 (Youth Sport Trust, 2015). As more children enter secondary school as either overweight or obese, this could cause for further levels of inactivity and barriers to participation for schools and PE departments to deal with. For example, Trout and Graber (2009) conducted a study concentrating on the experiences of overweight pupils within PE lessons. They found that despite the pupils recognising the benefits of being physical activity and the link between inactivity and obesity, students who were classified as being overweight still wanted to avoid participating in the lesson as they did not want to be perceived inadequate by their peers (Trout and Graber, 2009). This raise issues and concerns about the suitability, diversity and inclusive nature of PE and that PE teachers should be more emotionally aware of such feelings and issues children may have towards their subject. Furthermore, Smith and Parr, (2007) conducted a study exploring students’ views and perceptions of PE in the North-West of England. From their interviews with the pupils, they found that there was a variety of opinions on the purpose and nature of PE focusing on fun and enjoyment; however, they also noted that there were significant issues around the monotonous nature of repetitive skill-based PE practice. Thus, further highlighting the importance of implementing a more favourable and conducive approach to the planning of PE lessons and programmes that would be beneficial to encourage participation. Furthermore, differentiation of activities and lessons should be taken when considering individual physical and psychological learning needs and requirements of each and every pupil. This awareness has the potential to increase participation and along with this the academic benefits associated with physical activity as highlighted above.
Conclusion:
The benefits associated with increased levels of PE and physical activity are substantial and highlight the many complex and diverse ways in which PE and physical activity can have a positive impact on the overall physical, mental and academic well-being of school pupils. Additionally, the literature has shown that increasing academic and classroom time at the expense of PE and physical activity can ultimately have a negative impact on students’ health and academic attainment. Therefore, as schools, universities and parents strive for higher academic results and grades every year for their children, this could not only have a detrimental effect on the child’s health and learning capabilities in the short term, but also have an adverse effect on their physical and mental wellbeing for the rest of their future careers. Therefore, there is an argument that more needs to be done to highlight the importance physical activity and PE has on every school pupil and perhaps improving grades and results at the detriment of children’s physical and mental wellbeing needs to be revised. Furthermore, PE and physical activity alone, cannot fight the battle against physical inactivity and obesity as discussed above. Schools, Governments and policy makers need to buy into the importance PE and physical activity plays on enhancing academic performance and overall wellbeing of their pupils and provide them with more opportunities to participate in physical activity and sport during and after school. Only then, will we begin to understand the potential benefits PE and physical activity has on future health, well-being and education.