Children's Movement And Learning In Early Childhood Education Article Analysis

The findings in the article highlights the lack of training for educators worldwide to be equipped with the necessary skills requires.Scarcity of information, workshops and guidance to educate early childhood practitioners on how to effectively integrate movement experiences when teaching academic concepts as well as spatial awareness to young children.Using the data from the research, this can push education organisations and schools to plan and educate teachers on ways to instruct and integrate movement for children’s learning experiences. 
 “US children rank lower in their academic performance compared to children from other developed countries “ (OECD, 2010) Due to that, it has resulted in early childhood programs focusing on building academic
S. Gehris, R. A. Gooze and R. C. Whitaker conducted a study on focus groups to obtain information from educators on how movement affects children’s learning. Children in America are behind in their academic performance compared to other developed countries.(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2010) Based on that result,early childhood programs that greatly emphasises on building academic skills has been on the rise.(Goldstein 1997; Scott-Little et al. 2006; Ginsburg 2007; Miller & Almon 2009).One of the outcomes has been the occurrence of structured activities in which young children are asked to be stationary at their seats and listen to the teacher instead of being allowed to move around.Concerns have been made about suggestions that inactivity may contribute to childhood obesity.(Institute of Medicine 2011). Furthermore, research has shown that movement experiences are a fundamental part of how young children learn (Dewey 1934; Piaget 1952; Thelen & Smith 1994; Hohmann & Weikart 1995; Pellegrini & Smith 1998; Gardner
Focus groups were chosen as the consensus between what did or did not exist on a topic could be distinguished quickly compared to individual interviews. There were six focus groups, each group included 4-8 participants. All participants were anonymous and received $50. The study was conducted in 2010 between March and June.There were 3 lead teachers as well as 3 assistant teachers. It was led by a primary moderator, assisted by secondary moderator and observed by a graduate research assistant. It was a semi-structured discussion that included open-ended probing as well as specific probing questions. Sessions lasted approximately 70 mins and were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim.To identify the key themes from the participants’ responses, transcripts were analysed through an inductive method of