Browsing by Author "Sääski, Valtteri"

Children and adolescents are moving less and less, while time their passive sedentary time has increased. The school reaches children of almost all age groups, which is why schools play an important role as physical education educators for children and adolescents. Class teachers can break passive sitting periods and increase physical activity in their lessons by integrating active breaks. Previous studies have found that active breaks improve students' concentration and attention, as well as enhance their learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore elementary school class teachers' experiences during a one-week intervention, during which they integrate physically active breaks into their lessons. This study describes how class teachers perceive active breaks to work in their own teaching and how ready-made break videos facilitate the integration of active breaks. The aim of this study was also to find out what kind of benefits and challenges the teachers perceive in integrating active breaks. This study was implemented using the qualitative research method. The research data were collected through semi-structured thematic interviews immediately after the interventions ended in late February to March 2024. The data were analysed using data-driven content analysis. Four elementary school class teachers were interviewed. The results of the study indicate that teachers found short-term break videos to be an effective way to integrate active breaks into lessons. Teachers perceived that using the break videos to integrate active breaks into lessons were a pleasant, user-friendly, and versatile way to break up students' passive sitting periods during lessons. The results also revealed that teachers felt active breaks working the best when they could choose an appropriate time during the school-day. The effects of active breaks on students' concentration were perceived to vary, and teachers felt that active breaks could be used as one classroom management strategy. Teachers encountered some challenges in integrating active breaks during the intervention, and these challenges did not affect their motivation to integrate active breaks during the intervention period. All teachers expressed their intention to continue using active breaks in their teaching even after the intervention.