The impact of stretching exercises on fifth graders\u27 attention

Preživljanje vedno več časa v sedečem položaju in vedno manj sproščenega gibanja na prostem lahko privede do različnih zdravstvenih težav. Vsakodnevni opravki zahtevajo določeno fizično pripravljenost, ki pa jo, zaradi današnjega hitrega načina življenja, vse težje zagotovimo. Poleg rednega in ustreznega izvajanja športno-vzgojnega procesa v osnovnih šolah ter rednega gibanja v prostem času je predvidena tudi dodatna fizična aktivnost učencev v programih \u27minuta za zdravje\u27 in \u27aktivni odmor\u27 (Učni načrt za šport, 2011). Dejavnosti nista natančneje opredeljeni, zato lahko gibalne dejavnosti organiziramo v obliki jutranjega raztezanja. Postavi se vprašanje, ali redno izvajanje jutranjih razteznih vaj vpliva na pozornost in počutje učencev, kar je tudi cilj magistrskega dela. Ugotoviti smo želeli, ali se pojavljajo razlike v stopnji pozornosti in počutju med učenci kontrolne in eksperimentalne skupine in ali se po jutranjem raztezanju zmanjša čas med prvim opozorilom učitelja za začetek pouka in dejanskim začetkom pouka. Delo je razdeljeno na teoretični in empirični del. V teoretičnem delu smo najprej opisali značilnosti otroka v srednjem otroštvu na čustvenem, socialnem, kognitivnem, telesnem in gibalnem področju, se kasneje posvetili športnim temam in opredelili gibljivost ter raztezne vaje. Na koncu pa smo podrobneje opisali pojem pozornost ter opisali dejavnike, ki vplivajo na počutje učencev. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 56 učencev 5. razreda Osnovne šole Bovec in Osnovne šole Kobarid, ki so bili razdeljeni v eksperimentalno in kontrolno skupino. Eksperimentalna skupina je en mesec izvajala raztezne vaje pred začetkom pouka, nato pa smo s testom pozornost in testom počutja ugotavljali, kako aktivnost vpliva na ti dve področji. Za ugotavljanje razlik med skupinama merjencev smo uporabili kontingenčne tabele in izračunali hi2. Izsledki so pokazali, da se razlike v pozornosti med učenci ne kažejo, počutje pa se pri učencih eksperimentalne skupine izboljša le pri spremenljivkah \u27\u27strah me je\u27, \u27zaskrbljen/-a sem\u27 in \u27živčen sem\u27. Ugotovili smo tudi, da se kažejo razlike v počutju med učenci kontrolne in eksperimentalne skupine pri spremenljivkah \u27slabe volje sem\u27, \u27utrujen/-a sem\u27, \u27težko sedim\u27 in \u27želim biti sam/-a\u27. Časa med napovedjo pouka in dejanskim začetkom, zaradi neustreznega merjenja, nismo mogli natančno izmeriti.Many different health issues are the consequence of our sedentary life styles, as we spend the majority of our time sitting and we do not stretch enough. Everyday errands require certain physical endurance, which we have difficulties in maintaining, due to a fast life styles. In addition to already established sport programmes in primary schools and regular sport activities in children’s free time there are different initiatives, such us: \u27minute for health\u27 and \u27active school break\u27 (School curriculum for sport, 2011). These initiatives do not regulate the exact manner of how the exercises should be done, therefore we can perform them as a morning stretching exercises. Consequently, the question emerges, whether regular morning stretching exercises influence the attention and the feeling of well-being of the pupils. To find the answer to this question was my masters dissertation goal. We wanted to discover, if there are any differences in the level of attention and a feeling of well-being amongst the pupils in control groups in comparison to the experimental group performing the morning stretching exercises. We also wanted to measure the time required to start the class after the teacher gave a vocal sign that the class has begun, after the stretching exercises were completed. The masters dissertation is branched in to theoretical and empirical part. In the theoretical part we have first described the characteristics of the child in his middle childhood looking at emotional, social, cognitive, physical and locomotional aspects. Next, we have turned the focus to more sport themes and established the locomotional and stretching exercises. In the last section, we have described the concept of attention and described the factors, which influence the feeling of pupils well-being. In the research 56 pupils attending 5th grade of Bovec and Kobarid primary school were included. The pupils were divided in experimental and the control group. The experimental group was performing the morning stretching exercises every day before the start of the classes for a month. With the test, measuring their attention and the feeling of well-being, the impact of stretching exercises on pupils was evaluated. To properly address the differences between the groups the contingency tables were used and hi2 was calculated. The findings have shown, that there were no differences between pupils when measuring their attention. In the experimental group only the feeling of well-being changed, as pupils felt less negative feeling, such as: “I feel scared”, “I fell worried” and “I am nervous”. We have also established differences in feeling of well-being in pupils comparing the experimental and control group, when pupils were evaluated “I am in the bad mood”, “I am tired”, “I have difficulties in sitting still” and “I want to be alone”. The time between vocal sign to start the class and the actual start of the class could not be calculated, due to improper time measuring methods