The Complexities of staying active beyond the school setting and session

Citation

Murray A (2026) The Complexities of staying active beyond the school setting and session [ Models based practice to raise awareness, develop proficiency and reduce inequity around physical activity participation between school and out of school session]. Murray A (Designer), Murray P (Other), Cowley J (Other), Howells K (Other) & Johnston B (Other) 2026 Annual NAKHE Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 06.01.2026-09.01.2026.

Abstract
Critical thinking, despite being a concept without firm consensus (Rivas, Saiz, & Ossa, 2022), has long been acknowledged as integral to and a requisite for physical education (Ennis, 1991; McBride, 1991). It serves as a tacit means to build awareness and pragmatic competencies through a justice-oriented lens (Culver et al., 2022). One effective way to enhance critical thinking is by facilitating and promoting metacognition. This inquiry explores the interplay between critical thinking, understanding, physical skills, and competencies required to plan and participate in self-selected physical activities. It considers how equitable provision, established within school settings, may differ in out-of-school contexts. Participants (N = 90; 4 classes) engaged in physical education lessons delivered via either direct instruction (Engelmann et al., 1988) or metacognitive instruction (Brown, 1987) over one semester. These pedagogical approaches were contextualized through a models-based practice framework, with two groups receiving instruction via direct methods (Rosenshine, 1983) or metacognitive strategies (Murray & Napper-Owen, 2021). Findings revealed that knowledge acquisition, contextual transference from school to home settings, and metacognitive awareness were significantly higher in the metacognitive instruction group (P<0.01). While developmentally appropriate health and fitness indices improved significantly across both groups, critical thinking and knowledge gains were exclusive to the metacognitive group. Students in the metacognitive group demonstrated superior ability to transfer learning from PE to planned summer activities, employing self-regulatory strategies more frequently and effectively. They also showed greater capacity to incorporate future-oriented planning into their decision-making. The study considers the complexities of learner agency; particularly how physical literacy transcends traditional notions of literacy within a complex dynamic system. Theoretical and empirical insights are triangulated from the case study to inform whole-school and community-oriented physical education. Implications support the integration of critical thinking into pedagogical practice as part of a holistic approach, emphasizing  temporal executive functioning within teacher education. Insights for teacher education are discussed.

Keywords
Critical thinking, equity, physical literacy, physical education, pedagogy, affordances, agency

Journal
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES)