Task 4d: Literature Reviews

Wachob (2014) Using Physical Education to Improve Literacy Skills in Struggling Students Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators, Volume 27, Issue 5, September 2014, pp. 12-17

In his article Wachob (2014) outlines the importance of literacy skills in relation to Academic Performance. In his article he aims to outline the increasingly important issue of the impact student literacy levels have on academic achievement. Next, Wachob (2014) discussed how physical education could be used as a teaching tool to impact upon academic achievement. Finally, he offers examples of how to improve literacy through physical teaching (Wachob, 2014).

In beginning the article, Wachob (2014) calls upon existing theories and research from Yazzi-Mintz (2010), to provide his motives for this article, stating that ‘the majority of students reporting information being taught in school is not interesting’ (p. 13). This statement establishes the fundamental reasons why this article has been written, with credited academic evidence. He further argues the importance of raising literacy levels in schools with the use of a recognised three year research project by Yazzi-Mintz (2010) where, ‘students report lack of relevance of the material, poor interaction with the teacher and the work not being challenging enough as the top reason for disengagement’. Leading Wachob (2014) to the motives of the article for addressing this lack of engagement within classroom education and how this can lead to stronger engagement and improved academic performance in literacy.

Wachob (2014) then provides a standpoint for his establishing ideas by defining literacy as reaching, ‘well beyond being able to read and write’ (p. 13). He identifies and relates to Willms (2003) ideas that students ‘literacy’ is directly linked with achieving goals and gaining skills needed for future life.

Under the heading ‘Physical Education as a Tool for Change’, Wachob (2014) introduces his argument that students outside a tradition classroom setting can expand their knowledge, using Burchanan et al. (2002) as an academic source. He presents a key theory that students can use movement to help them to investigate classroom content, resulting in ‘increased motivation to learn’ (Wachob, 2014, p. 13). Wachob (2014) identifies physical literacy as registering and responding to an environment by using the body to express or communicate ideas in order to develop skills and perception. Wachob (2014) forms the basis of his perception that literacy can be integrated into physical education lessons.

Within the main body of his article, Wachob (2014) identifies techniques to be used within physical subjects to improve literacy levels, such as collaborating with classroom teachers to incorporate the content of subject into physical education classes. He interprets that the most effective way to incorporate literacy into physical education is through communication with class teachers (Wachob, 2014). Within this section of the article, Wachob (2014) justifies his way of thinking by using literature from Ekeland, Eian & Hagen (2005) to argue his perspective that regular connectedness (communication) between teachers and subjects helps students to engage and learn in the form of literature.

To conclude, Wachob (2014) reiterates the premise for his argument through Yazzi-Mintz’s (2010) findings in increased dropout numbers. Wachob (2010) closes his argument by clearly identifying his standpoint and theory that teachers of physical education need to be at the forefront of building a cross curricular learning to improve connectedness and meaning for students to improve academic achievement.

Although this article is concerned with Physical Education and literacy, I have chosen it as a source of interest because many of the ideas discussed relate to Dance and Drama. A Performing Arts teacher is still a teacher of a physical subject. Many of the ideas presented by Wachob (2014) discuss and establish ideas of how to use a range of literacy skills (particularly oracy) practically, without specific mention of sport.

Wachob (2014) clearly establishes concepts and develops these theories with a variety of published sources, including that of statistical research. One of theories I found particularly useful was the idea that literacy can be more than reading and writing. Furthermore, I found the idea that using physical literacy to explore ideas in movement, reinforces class messages and improves traditional ‘literacy’ skills such as reading and writing particularly useful challenging my own think. The argument Wachob (2014) presented that teachers should communicate to improve connectedness, ultimately improving literacy levels, I felt was really significant for my inquiry because it gave me another idea to consider and explore through my own inquiry. I also found that the reading list had led me to other sources of literature that provide other avenues of thought such as Willms (2003) Student Engagement in School: A sense of belonging and participation.

Thinking critically, I believe Wachob (2014) has a clear standpoint for this article. He clearly feels very strongly that physical educators can use literacy effectively. This is particularly evident when he introduces his theory that, ‘The uniqueness of physical education class makes it ideal for integrating literacy’. I feel some of his thinking may be slightly biased towards the positive impact of physical education on literacy, which may inhibit the legitimacy of this source. Another negative is that whilst he provides ethically sounds and established research to form his hypothesis as secondary data, the basis of this research is in an American education system context; this make it difficult for my to use within my own inquiry.

Parsons, S. A., Malloy, J. A., Ward Parsons, A & Cohen Burrowbridge, S. (2015) Students’ Engagement in Literacy Tasks The Reading Teacher, Volume 69, Issue 2, pp. 223-231.

In this article, Parsons et al. (2015) provide definitions, theories, evidence and conclusions of what makes effective engagement in literacy lessons. The aims and motives of the article are to define and establish why engagement is important for teachers, the direct links between tasks and engagement and to provide better understanding of engagement though describing their study of student engagement. Parsons et al. (2015) present the standpoint that although disengagement is a significant problem within classrooms, engaging students is difficult especially when there are different levels of ability, background and interests within classes themselves.

Within the first section of the article, Parsons et al. (2015) describe 'engagement' as 'a multidimensional construct, consisting of affective, behavioural and cognitive components' (p. 224) based on the theories of Fredricks, Blumenfled & Paris (2004). Affective engagement is defined as showing, 'interest, enjoyment and enthusiasm, behavioural engagement is concerned with 'effortful participation' and cognitive engagement evolves around the concept of 'strategic behaviour, persistence and meta cognition' (Parsons et al., 2015, p. 224). Furthermore, Parsons et al. (2015) introduce a theory that students do not stay in one state of engagement throughout the whole lesson, but alternate between engagement and disengagement throughout the lesson, using Fredrick's et al. (2004) as an academic reference. 

Under the title, ‘Why is Engagement Important?’ Parsons et al. (2015) identify their motives for the article by using the justification of other recognised literary sources; as an example, stating Skinner and Pitzer’s (2012) theory that engagement is key to ultimately achieving academic success. Parsons et al. (2015) make use of secondary research data conclusions to provide a sound justification for the motives of the research in, ‘reading engagement could compensate for – and even overcome – low socioeconomic status and family educational backgrounds’ (p. 224).

In the main body of the essay Parsons et al. (2015) outline the variety of observational documents used in their research to monitor the behavioural engagement, as well as post observation interviews to document their cognitive and affective engagement in the students. 83% of the students tested over one year were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Students were asked to complete a number of tasks which were designed for various levels of engagement (outlined in the tables and appendices included in the article) and were observed whilst completing the tasks. Parsons et al. (2015) evidence their primary data through statistics, finding that the majority of engaging tasks were open tasks, and the majority of the least engaging tasks were closed.

Parsons et al. (2015) present two main areas that contributed to engagement in their evidence: ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Appropriate Support’ (p. 227). Parsons et al. (2015) interpreted from their observations that ‘group selection leads to collaborations’ success of failure’ (p. 227) and that the teacher has to be consciously aware to select groups that contained students with the appropriate skills in each group. Furthermore, Parsons et al. (2015) interpreted that appropriate support was needed from the teacher through the following methods: differentiation of task; ensuring tasks were not too difficult; monitoring when students do not understand tasks and intervening; easing their frustrations through classroom navigation; and preplanning tasks to suit the group appropriately through making use of organisational skills. The main areas that Parsons et al. (2015) noted, through observation and interview, that did not contribute to engagement were the following: tasks that were too difficult, tasks that required little involvement (worksheet) and use of competition.

This article was particularly useful for me. I identified that I would like to find out more about engagement literacy in addition to Dance/Performing Arts subjects. I was not looking for any ‘answers’ in this article, yet it gave me a clearer idea what I meant by engagement in my questions. The model of cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement helped me to understand the word ‘engagement’ more clearly. I found that the use of existing literary sources, secondary data and published primary research data used in this article gave the research and article authenticity. Furthermore, it made me more aware of the style of existing research in this topic area and the type of primary data collection is used in social research. I found the ethical practices sound in this research, as none of the students were mentioned by name, class or school. Additionally, the sample consisted of a majority of the students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, which relates to my working context in my school.

Through critical thinking I can see how such a small-scale research project and sample could not show true results. Furthermore, it is American research, meaning that these results may be completely different within a UK setting with a different cultural background and cultural education. The research may not have been completely objective, as the results were based on observation. The researchers, who designed the observation documents and post observation interviews, could have had assumptions about the tasks before the students completed them, meaning their results could be slightly biased to match their desired outcome.

Bond, K. E & Stinson, S. w. (2007) ‘It’s work, work, work, work’: young people’s experiences of effort and engagement in dance. Research in dace Education, Volume 8, Number 6, December 2007, pp. 155-183

In this article, Bond & Stinson (2007) outline their findings in the second stage of a larger research project, which examines the experiences and views of young people within a dance education context. The data presented consisted of a range 700 students of different abilities, genders, ethnicities, ages and level of dance experience from different socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds. The evidence is presented in a variety of forms such as illustrations, interviews, observations and anecdotal evidence (Bond & Stinson, 2007). Bond & Stinson (2007) then analyse their data in context with existing theories from a range of fields. Through the collection of their evidence, Bond & Stinson (2007) aim to address the question of, ‘is it [dance] work or play?’ (p. 156) and why students engage in dance education.

In their justification of their study, Bond and Stinson (2007) outline that they aimed to present a wide range of students in their study. They also outline that while they could not present the findings of all 700 cases, they, ‘made choices based not only on search for range of experience, but also on aesthetic create, illustrating themes with anecdotes that we found mot vivid and engaging’ (p. 157).

By using the anecdotal, interview and illustrative evidence, which have been interspersed throughout the articles arguments, Bond & Stinson (2007) interpret that motivation is key factor in determining whether students are engaged or disengaged from dance. They observed and concluded that some of the following aspects may contribute to disengagement: fear of failure, as students find dance is too difficult; lacking in confidence, as mistakes as physical therefore more noticeable to others; and the dislike of working hard (Bond & Stinson, 2007).  Alternatively, using the same evidence format, they conclude that ‘a large majority of the data report experiences of high engagement’ (Bond & Stinson, 2007, p. 161), arguing that many students enjoy dance because of the hard work element to the subject. They perceived a variety of reason why students enjoyed and engaged in dance education: student recognised that they need to work hard in dance; failure is part of improvement in dance; students expressed a genuine interest in the subject; students made a connection between hard work and emotional engagement; students found the challenge of dance motivating; they found the physical challenge of dance is motivating; students gained positive feelings when they mastered their own goals and standards; students were engaged when they received appreciation from audience or a teacher (Bond & Stinson, 2007).

Under the title of ‘Discussion’, Bond and Stinson (2007) develop their interpretations using the theories and study evidence from a wide and varied selection of published researchers and academic sources. However, the authors clearly outline that ‘it is also clear that not all young people in dance classes find themselves constantly engaged’ (Bond & Stinson, 2007, p. 174). Bond & Stinson (2007) identify that intrinsic motivation is key in dance motivation, using Csikszentmihalyi’s (2000) concept of ‘flow’ to support many of the evidence in their findings. Bond & Stinson (2007) develop this theory using the work of Lepper and Henderlong (2000), where by students become seemingly less motivated when they advance through their education. Bond & Stinson (2007) identified that failure is an important part of dance motivation; they utilise Reeve’s (2005) finings as an academic source to credit and contextualise their argument.

Bond & Stinson (2007) conclude, using existing academic theory and their own research evidence, that there are three key theories why students engage or disengage from dance education (p. 176):

• ‘Emotional connection/ personal interest/positive affect (I love to dance!)
• ‘Challenge matched by skill, and belief that effort matters (I like the challenge!)
• ‘A sense of autonomy and personal control, especially in setting standards and assessing the degree to which they have been met (It’s like I’m my own boss. I’m good at it, and/or I’m getting better).

Within the ‘Summary and reflection’ section of their article, Bond & Stinson (2007) identify that, ‘the issues arising from data and literature are too complex’ (p. 177). Furthermore, Bond & Stinson (2007) express their standpoint that undertaking this research has ultimately reinforced the message that our relationships with work are complex. Finally, Bond & Stinson (2007) identify that there is no clear reason or answer to why any individual student may engage or disengage from dance education, but every teacher has something to learn from each student's individual experiences, no matter how diverse.

I chose to review this article as it related very clearly to my topic of interest: engagement in Dance education. I believe this article was very credible as the project and research had taken place over a nine-year process with a large sample of students, including a full range of abilities, genders, ethnicities, ages and level of dance experience, in addition to a range of students from different socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds. I found the range of evidence used very interesting and relevant to this type of study, particularly the use of anecdotal and illustration evidence; after the online sessions, I believed this evidence was appropriate to the purpose. I found the use of existing theories to contextualise and justify findings not only gave the article credibility, but also helped me to develop me thinking. In particular, I found the theories present surrounding ‘intrinsic motivation’ very intriguing and would like to look at the work of Csikszentmihalyi (2000) in more detail.

Overall, this article gave me a better understanding about existing research within this field. It gave me a clearer understanding of how anecdotal and observational evidence can be used in research into this topic, and how this primary data can be presented alongside existing arguments from publish literature. From Bond & Stinson’s (2007) conclusion, it has made me realise that research, even published research, does not have to have conclusive answers (much like our BAPP inquiry) and that finding out more about a topic can still have purpose and meaning.

However, as the evidence from this research was anecdotal, this may make it unreliable. I found their comment that ‘a large majority of the data report experiences of high engagement’ (Bond & Stinson, 2007, p. 161) could be a biased opinion depending on if they are analysing their collection of evidence objectively.

Reference List

Bond, K. E & Stinson, S. w. (2007) ‘It’s work, work, work, work’: young people’s experiences of effort and engagement in dance. Research in dace Education, Volume 8, Number 6, December 2007, pp. 155-183

Parsons, S. A., Malloy, J. A., Ward Parsons, A & Cohen Burrowbridge, S. (2015) Students’ Engagement in Literacy Tasks The Reading Teacher, Volume 69, Issue 2, pp. 223-231

Wachob (2014) Using Physical Education to Improve Literacy Skills in Struggling Students Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators, Volume 27, Issue 5, September 2014, pp. 12-17

Bibliography

Buchanan, A. M., Howard, C., Martin, E., Williams, L., Childress, R., & Bedsole, B. (2002). Integrating elementary physical education and science: A cooperative problem-solving approach. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 73(2), 31–35.


Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000) Beyond boredom and anxiety: experiencing flow in work and play (25th anniversary edition) (San Francisco, CA, Jossey Bass).

Ekeland, E. E., Heian, F. F., & Hagen, K. B. (2005). Can exercise improve self-esteem in children and young people? A systematic re- view of randomized controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39, 792–798.

Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Paris, A.H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. 

Lepper, M. R. & Henderlong, J. (2000) Turning ‘play’ into ‘work’ and ‘work’ into ‘play’: 25 years
of research on intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, in: C. Sansone & J. Harackiewicz (Eds) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: the search for optimal motivation and performance (San Diego, Academic Press).

Reeve, J. (2005) Understanding motivation and emotion (New York, Wiley)    

Skinner, E.A., & Pitzer, J.R. (2012). Developmental dynamics of student engagement, coping, and everyday resilience. In S.L. Christenson, A.L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 21–44). New York, NY: Springer. 

Willms, J. D. (2003). Student engagement at school: A sense of belonging and participation: Results from PISA 2000. Paris, France: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. 

Yazzie-Mintz, E. (2010). Charting the path from engagement to achievement: A report on the 2009 High School Survey of Student Engagement. Retrieved from http://ceep.indiana.edu/hssse