Active breaks in primary school: Teacher awareness

Abstract

The need for movement, which characterizes the current generations of children, has become urgent and worrying. Despite the continuous projects carried out in primary school, few seems to improve health and motivation to adopt active lifestyles. Among the many projects carried out in recent years, active breaks seem to be gaining ground for their easiness of realization and sustainability over time. The active breaks proved to be very effective towards well being and cognitive activation representing an additional dose of physical activity that can help children in meeting the recommended levels of daily physical activity. Moreover, the active breaks represent an innovative strategy to improve the classroom climate and facilitate the educational action of teachers. Teachers, involved in the I-MOVE and ABS studies, of an inter-university study group (University of Bologna and University of Roma Tre), responded with great enthusiasm to the practice of active breaks. Teachers highlighted that active break produced a positive effect toward school routine, learning environment and activation of cognitive functions in children. The present paper reports data related to the awareness of teachers, with regard to the application of active breaks in their school day, in terms of feasibility, management and organization in the face of effects considered absolutely positive for the daily school experience.

Keywords

• Active Breaks
• Primary School
• Teachers
• Educational Climate
• Children's cognitive functions