Kindergarten teachers' perception of physical activities at preschool age / Percepcija odgojitelja o tjelesnim aktivnostima u predškolskoj dobi

Snježana Mraković¹, Ivana Nikolić¹, Tomislav Hublin³

¹Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb

²Polytechnic of Medjimurje in Čakovec

snjezana.mrakovic@ufzg.hr

 Kinesiology education and sports

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine how kindergarten teachers, with regard to their years of work experience, estimate the importance of physical activities impact on the development of preschool children, as well as the implementation of structured and unstructured physical activities in kindergarten. A total of 112 kindergarten teachers participated in the research. For this purpose, a scale of 19 statements was constructed, on which the value was estimated from 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (completely agree). Using factor analysis, 4 main components were isolated, which in total explain 45% of the variance. With varimax rotation, 4 factors were obtained - teachers' competence and motivation for implementing physical activities in kindergarten (6 items), influence of regular physical activity on children's development (5 items), implementing physical activities in kindergarten (5 items), support and material conditions (4 items). The differences in factors with regard to years of work experience were calculated by the Mann Whitney U test. The results showed significant differences in favor of kindergarten teachers with 11 and more years of work experience in the factors of influence of regular physical activity on children's development and support and material working conditions. Teachers with more years of work experience have a significantly more positive attitude towards physical activity on the development of children. They also estimate that they have more support from the school principal and other professional services in the implementation of kinesiological activities, as well as more sports requisites and equipment for various physical activities.

Key words

educators, free play, preschool age, self-assessment, structured physical activities 

Snježana Mraković¹, Ivana Nikolić¹, Tomislav Hublin³

¹Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb

²Polytechnic of Medjimurje in Čakovec

snjezana.mrakovic@ufzg.hr

Kineziološka edukacija i sport 

Sažetak 

Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je utvrditi kako odgojitelji zaposleni u ustanovama ranoga i predškolskoga odgoja i obrazovanja, s obzirom na godine radnoga iskustva procjenjuju važnost utjecaja tjelesnih aktivnosti na razvoj predškolske djece kao i provođenje strukturiranih i nestrukturiranih tjelesnih aktivnosti u vrtiću. Ukupno je sudjelovalo 112 odgojitelja. U tu svrhu konstruirana je skala s 19 tvrdnji na kojoj se vrijednost procjenjivala od 1 (uopće se ne slažem) do 5 (u potpunosti se slažem). Faktorskom analizom izolirane su 4 glavne komponente koje ukupno objašnjavaju 45 % varijance. Uz varimax rotaciju dobivena su 4 faktora –kompetencije i motivacija odgojitelja za provođenje tjelesnih aktivnosti u vrtiću (6 čestica), utjecaj redovite tjelesne aktivnosti na razvoj djece (5 čestica), provođenje tjelesne aktivnosti u vrtiću (5 čestica), podrška i materijalni uvjeti (4 čestice). Razlike u faktorima s obzirom na godine radnoga iskustva izračunate su Mann Whitney U testom. Rezultati su pokazali značajne razlike u korist odgojitelja s 11 i više godina radnoga iskustva u faktorima utjecaja redovite tjelesne aktivnosti na razvoj djece te podrške i materijalnih uvjeta rada, odnosno odgojitelji s više godina radnoga iskustva imaju značajno pozitivniji stav tjelesne aktivnosti na cjelokupni razvoj djece. Također, procjenjuju da imaju veću podršku ravnatelja i ostalih stručnih službi u provođenju kinezioloških sadržaja te više sportskih rekvizita i sprava za raznovrsne tjelesne aktivnosti.

Ključne riječi

odgojitelji; predškolska dob; samoprocjena; slobodna igra; strukturirane tjelesne aktivnosti