Special Issue "Active School Concept"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francis Ries
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: health-enhancing physical activity; physical education; psychosocial correlates of physical activity in children and adolescents
Dr. Richard Bailey
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Academic Partnerships and Engagement, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia
Interests: philosophy of education; pedagogy; human development
Dr. Claude Scheuer
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Education and Social Work, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4365, Luxembourg
Interests: physical Education; active schools; motor competencies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It has been discussed that, while overturning the obesity epidemic among children is not exclusively the responsibility of schools, the trend is unlikely to change without schools' assistance. Schools are an ideal setting for the implementation of healthy behaviors as children spend an enormous amount of time at school; and because schools already might have the access, personnel, equipment, and space to implement physical activity programming.

Physical activity opportunities in schools take the shape primarily of formal instruction in physical education for all students. Although physical education is a compulsory school subject, the classes may occur infrequently, and children taking them often accumulate only low levels of physical activity. Central for a successful implementation of an “Active School” is a conceptualization embedded in the frame of school development initiatives, achieved by involving all relevant stakeholders, such as teachers, students, parents, and community-based partners.

This Special Issue “Active School Concepts” aims to synthesize current knowledge on opportunities for physical activity in the school environment other than physical education, with an emphasis on including components such as active breaks/recess; active classroom learning; school, modified playground, and classroom design; active and dynamic sitting; active transport to school; active homework; physical activity-related school events; pre-school and after-school clubs and activities; and activity-enhanced physical education. Furthermore, policies and recommendations that may affect these opportunities, as well as barriers to and enablers of the opportunities, will be discussed.

Dr. Francis Ries
Dr. Richard Bailey
Dr. Claude Scheuer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • active schools
  • leisure time
  • recess
  • breaks
  • school sports
  • active classroom learning and homework
  • transportation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
Associations of Classroom Design and Classroom-Based Physical Activity with Behavioral and Emotional Engagement among Primary School Students
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8116; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13148116 - 20 Jul 2021
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Abstract
Educational reforms worldwide have resulted in schools increasingly incorporating open and flexible classroom designs. Open learning spaces may contribute to a student’s behavioral and emotional school engagement directly and by facilitating classroom-based physical activity (CPA). We investigated the associations between accelerometer-assessed CPA and [...] Read more.
Educational reforms worldwide have resulted in schools increasingly incorporating open and flexible classroom designs. Open learning spaces may contribute to a student’s behavioral and emotional school engagement directly and by facilitating classroom-based physical activity (CPA). We investigated the associations between accelerometer-assessed CPA and student ratings of task-focused behavior and attitude towards school as indicators for behavioral and emotional engagement, respectively, with the associations of gender, grade, and classroom design on CPA among 206 3rd and 5th grade students in open learning spaces and conventional classrooms. Structural equation modelling showed open classroom design to be directly associated with better attitude towards school (B = −0.336; CI95% −0.616 to −0.055), but not with task-focused behavior. The relationship between task-focused behavior and attitude towards school was statistically significant (B = 0.188; 95%CI 0.068 to 0.031). CPA was not associated with task-focused behavior and attitude towards school, while classroom design (B = 1.818; 95%CI 1.101 to 2.536), gender (B = 1.732; 95%CI 20 1.065 to 2.398), and grade (B = 1.560; 95%CI 0.893 to 2.227) were statistically significantly associated with CPA. Open learning spaces seem to be associated with better emotional engagement, which is associated with behavioral engagement. Longitudinal studies investigating associations of open learning spaces and CPA on students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement concurrently are warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active School Concept)
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Article
Differences on Habitual Physical Activity Index in Primary Schoolchildren according to Age and Gender
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7806; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147806 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 586
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a large majority of children do not reach its recommendations on physical activity for health, i.e., 60 min a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The objective of this study was to know the [...] Read more.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a large majority of children do not reach its recommendations on physical activity for health, i.e., 60 min a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The objective of this study was to know the index of habitual physical activity in different contexts where the child interacts: school index (SCHOOL-I), extracurricular/sports activity index (SPORT-I), free time index (LEISURE-I) and the total habitual physical activity index (GLOBAL-I) based on age and gender. 900 Primary Education schoolchildren from Galicia (Spain) aged 10–12 years (M = 10.84; SD = 0.67) participated, of which 454 (50.40%) were boys and 446 (49.6%) girls. For data collection, the validated Inventory of Habitual Physical Activity in Schoolchildren (IAFHE) questionnaire was used. The results show a significant main effect on the age factor in SCHOOL-I (p < 0.001), and in GLOBAL-I (p = 0.034), the rates being higher in 10-year-old children compared to 11 and 12. A significant main effect has also been found in the gender factor in SCHOOL-I (p < 0.001), SPORT-I (p < 0.001) and in GLOBAL-I (p < 0.001), being greater in boys than in girls. It is concluded that, as school age increases, a lower index of physical activity is registered, this being higher in boys compared to girls. It is necessary to establish strategies to promote the practice of physical activity from different agents and in different contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active School Concept)
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Article
Individual and Interpersonal Factors and Their Interaction Predicting the Intentional Physical Education Skipping Behavior among Lithuanian High School Students
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7616; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147616 - 07 Jul 2021
Viewed by 390
Abstract
The promotion of physical activity in physical education (PE) might be enabled only in the case that PE is attended. Intentional skipping of PE, while widespread, is understudied. The aim of the study is to identify individual and interpersonal correlates as well as [...] Read more.
The promotion of physical activity in physical education (PE) might be enabled only in the case that PE is attended. Intentional skipping of PE, while widespread, is understudied. The aim of the study is to identify individual and interpersonal correlates as well as their interaction effect on the intentional PE skipping behavior in Lithuanian high school students. This cross-sectional population-based study included 1285 students aged from 14 to 18 years old. Among them, 42.2 were male. PE skipping, sociodemographic, individual and interpersonal indicators were measured. Results revealed that 58.4% of high school students intentionally skip their PE class at least once per week. The main correlates of PE skipping are sedentary behavior and social participation. The main preventive factors are perception of PE usefulness, better self-rated health among direct predictors. Indirectly, social capital played a protective role for PE skipping classes through a more positive perception of PE usefulness. Raising awareness of physical education benefits, providing a rationale for physical education in the social contexts of family and school, in terms of family support and building trust with teachers, strengthening reciprocity at school indirectly prevents students’ PE skipping behaviors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active School Concept)

Other

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Systematic Review
The Effects of Bike Desks in Formal Education Classroom-Based Physical Activity: A Systematic Review
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7326; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137326 - 30 Jun 2021
Viewed by 416
Abstract
A systematic review of the research conducted on classroom-based physical activity using bike desks, a school health prevention strategy. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of bike desks effects on formal education students. Articles from two databases, Web of Science [...] Read more.
A systematic review of the research conducted on classroom-based physical activity using bike desks, a school health prevention strategy. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of bike desks effects on formal education students. Articles from two databases, Web of Science and PubMed, were analyzed according to PRISMA. The quality of each study was analyzed. After the exclusion criteria, eight articles were fully assessed based on six criteria: (1) author and year, (2) setting and sample, (3) duration, (4) outcomes measurements, (5) instruments and (6) main results. The results show how the interventions are mainly in secondary education and university, and most of them are quantitative studies of short-term interventions. Physical activity is the most frequently variable assessed, using logs, questionnaires and objective methods such as accelerometry and heart rate monitoring. Based on all the studies, it is feasible to implement bike desks in the classroom during theoretical lessons. The weaknesses are related to small samples and the use of different instruments to measure. In conclusion, this systematic review compiles the current information about bike desks in order to inform teachers and administrators for the implementation of bike desk in their schools. They should consider bike desks’ strengths and weaknesses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active School Concept)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Building Physical Activity Habits for Moving Children at Active Schools
Authors: JeongAe You; Suhak Oh
Affiliation: Chung-Ang University, Korea; Inha University
Abstract: School physical activity aims to promote sustainable movement during daily school lives. Sustainable movements of children at active schools are being made by physical activity habits. Just like other daily human behaviors performed on a daily basis (e.g., brushing teeth, wearing seat-belts, sleeping habit, eating habit etc.), it is very important to make and build good physical activity habits as early as possible in life so the children might persist into all life cycling. Unfortunately, little scholarly attention is given to how to form physical activity habits at school settings. According to Graybiel and Smith(2014), building and breaking habits that are one of human behaviors are strongly related to brain circuits. Thus, discourses on physical activity habits as good habits in school lives should be addressed, focusing on why physical activity habit is important for children and how it is being built in appropriate ways at schools. The purpose of this paper is to explore how to build good physical activity habits for making active schools that could lead children’ sustainable movements in their lives. This paper will be included three parts such as (1) the role of school physical activity in futuristic global society, (2) the rationales of physical activity habits, (3) making active schools throughout physical activity habits.

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