Middle and high school principals’ perceptions of movement as part of instruction in lecture-style classrooms

Abstract

Research has reported multiple benefits when using movement in the classroom as part of the curriculum. These benefits have been shown to help students physically, emotionally, and mentally. Research on the benefits of movement on our bodies, specifically centered on brain growth and development in both medical and educational studies, supported that movement is beneficial for students’ learning and retaining information, along with developing positive lifelong habits (Holzschneider et al., 2012; Lin et al., 2012; Lu et al., 2016; Mahar et al., 2006; Stevens-Smith, 2016). A primary objective of this study was to determine principals' perceptions of best practices for adding movement into middle and high school courses that are routinely identified as traditional lecture courses. As part of the learning environment, movement in the classroom helps students learn the content without the teacher providing extra materials or taking time to focus on this piece of the instruction in planning or implementation. There is a potential need for principals to provide professional development on best practices for implementing movement in the classroom, specifically those classrooms centered on lecture-style instructional methods. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study incorporated an understanding of action-based learning theory (Madigan, 2004; Medina, 2008; Ratey, 2008) as a framework for understanding principals’ perspectives on movement in traditional lecture-style courses. A survey and interviews were designed to explore and discover patterns in principals' perspectives. One finding was principals understand the benefits of movement as part of learning, but do not have the resources to support teachers in this area. Second, testing demands, significant amounts of content, and time restrictions were barriers principals faced when trying to promote best instructional practices. Finally, the demand for students in both middle and high schools to be prepared for lecture-style courses in college prevented many principals from being able to convince teachers and districts that movement as part of instruction would be a purposeful school initiative.