The impact of the olympic training programme on the 7-9 form pupils' attitude to physical self-training

The completed research is likely to show insufficiency of physical activity in Lithuanian schools; for this reason, the number of schoolchildren distributed into special medical groups is increasing. It is not always enough to have some PE lessons to make pupils fit. Some PE lessons does not offer the solution to the problems of decreasing physical activity, poor physical health and ever – increasing sickness rate. However, the problems can be solved and the positive attitude developed by individual exercising. Due to a tendency for physical activity among the youth to decrease we raised a scientific problem which can by solved by adopting positive attitude to physical training and supplying the need for a healthy and physically active way of life. Hypothesis – The use of Olympic training programme to adopt the positive attitude towards physical training and factors which influence its development. Research aim – to examine the impact of the Olympic program on the 7-9 form pupils’ attitude towards physical self-training. Research tasks: 1. To research the attitude to physical activity, physical self-training and explain the reasons which stimulate or hinder a child’s individual exercising. 2. To evaluate the impact of the Olympic training programme on the development of the pupils’ attitude to physical self-training and factors which determine its development. 3. To examine the differences of attitude to physical self-training among different age groups. 445 7-9 form schoolchildren of 4 Vilnius secondary schools were asked to complete a questionnaire. 3 schools (Basanavičiaus, Ąžuolyno, Fabijoniškių) have been implementing integrated Olympic training programme (Smalinskaitė 2003) since 2001. The 4th school ‘Versmė’ doesn’t offer this programme. The students of the former three schools belonged to experimental groups and the latter, schoolchildren of Versmė school, were considered to be a control group. Research methods: 1. Analysis of literature 2. Questionnaires 3. Mathematical statistics Conclusions 1. The attitude to physical self – training among the schoolchildren of Vilnius basic secondary schools is positive, health, work, efficiency, achievements of results in sports are the basic motives; students have positive attitude to physical fitness, however, most students would like it to be better and would rather take care of it themselves. The research shows that pupils’ physical activity is high and they are ready for self-training now and in the future. 2. Specific knowledge based on the Olympic training program was acquired, which can help to provide the need for physical self-training: 2.1. the lack of knowledge and need are the main reasons which hinder a student’s individual exercising, and this can be the reason for a more positive evaluation of the physical fitness in the control group. 2.2. the control group pupils think that their parents and PE teachers should be concerned about their physical fitness, so we can assert that the experimental group students are more independent, because they gained more specific knowledge due to the Olympic training program. 3. The attitude to physical self-training depends on the age – the attitude is getting more negative and physical activity is decreasing with age. 4. Schoolchildren, who participated in the Olympic training programme, belong to different communities (sports, gyms, clubs, school sports clubs), this shows their higher social level. 5. Olympic training programme has a positive effect on the understanding of the importance of the sports in social life, however, it should be more oriented to the development of physical self-training.Švietimo akademijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta