Digitalni repozitorijum
Univerziteta u Beogradu
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Preschool children’s engagement in structured physical activity
Којић, Филип
Џиновић Којић, Даница
Summary: The paper presents the results of research that aimed to explore preschool children’s engagement during structured physical activity, and to find in which phase of the structured physical activity the children are most engaged. The research results, obtained on a sample of 25 middle-group children, show that the children were optimally engaged in structured activities which included dance activities and movement games. The children’s engagement largely depended on their motivation induced both by the contents and the teachers. Since the peak of motivation in the dance activity was based on individual success with no competitive element, the children persevered longer and tried harder to learn the given choreography. Related to the contents of the movement game, the children’s engagement in the introductory phase of this activity yielded better results than in the introductory phase of the dance activity, with a complete turn of events in the central phase, when the dance choreography motivated children more and gave better results than the central phase of the movement games. It can be concluded that children’s engagement in the movement games was dependent on the success, that is, victory or defeat in the game set. If the child is not successful in a movement game, their motivation drops and so does their overall engagement in the game. The child’s gender did not significantly influence the level of their physical engagement during the structured physical activity. Results show that girls were slightly more engaged in dance activities, while the movement games were dominated by the competitive spirit, regardless of the gender. Thus, it can be concluded that the driving force of a child’s engagement in both types of structured activities is motivation, as well as success in the task performance.
engleski
2020
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Key words: engagement, physical education, preschool children, structured activity