Abstract des Autors

Fundamental motor skills (e.g., run, jump, catch, and throw) are essential building blocks for more advanced and context-specific skills. Children with these motor skills are able to function independently while learning and exploring their environment. For children to achieve competency in fundamental motor skills, they need instruction, practice, and reinforcement. In addition to gross motor skills, the perception of one's physical abilities (i.e., perceived physical competence [PPC]) is another influential factor in growth and development. It was also noted that children with high perceived competence often exhibited higher self-esteem, exerted greater effort, selected tasks that challenge their ability, and enjoyed the learning process. One of the five guidelines specifically states that children between the ages of 3-5 years need to develop basic competencies in motor skills that lead to more complex movement and engage in daily movement and physical activity. To meet this recommendation, preschool programs often provide recess or free-play sessions that are unplanned and do not provide children with developmentally or instructionally appropriate practices. Mastery motivational climate (MMC) is an instructional approach based on achievement motivation theory. An essential tenet is that individuals participate in achievement contexts such as academics, sport, and physical education to demonstrate their competence or ability. The current study expands on the work of Robinson and colleagues (Robinson & Goodway, 2009; Robinson etal., 2009). The researchers investigated the effects of two motor skills programs, mastery climate and low autonomy (i.e., characterized by teacher control and direction over organization and decisions in which students follow the guidance and directions), and a free-play, unplanned recess (control group) on object control (OC) skill development and PPC in preschool-age children. All groups demonstrated similar OC skills and PPC at pretest. Following the intervention, the mastery climate and low-autonomy participants demonstrated similar and positive changes in their OC skills, while the control group demonstrated no changes. In terms of PPC, the mastery climate participants reported significantly higher scores, while there were no changes in the low autonomy and control groups. The 9-week retention test revealed that these changes were maintained over time. However, a question remains as to what would occur if an intervention were provided to the control group. The current investigation examined the effects of an MMC motor skill intervention on OC skills and PPC in preschoolers who served as the control group for a previous study. It was hypothesized that MMC participants would demonstrate significant changes in their OC skill performance and report higher PPC following the intervention. Aus dem Text (geändert)