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SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF:
DR. JOHANN ISSARTEL & DR. JAMIE MCGANN
SCHOOL OF HEALTH AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY
2
CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION: SMALL WALL EXPLAINED
1.1 Why SmallWall 3
1.2 Physical Literacy 4
1.3 Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) 5
1.4 Perceived Competence 6
1.5 Enjoyment 7
1.6 Deliberate Practice 8
2.0 DESIGN
2.1 SmallWall Components 9
3.0 METHODS
3.1 Quantitative Data 16
3.2 Qualitative Data 17
4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Quantitative results
4.1 Enjoyment 18
4.2 Perceived Competence 19
4.3 Fundamental Movement Skills 20
Qualitative Results
4.4 Focus Group 22
5.0 FEEDBACK
5.1 Summary 26
APPENDIX
Appendix 1 28
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WHY SMALL WALL?
Background to SmallWall
SmallWall was initially designed as a back garden aid to improve kick, touch,
control etc., and has since developed into a full size arena which aims to support
improved fundamental movement skills and overarching physical literacy in children and
adolescents. The SmallWall arena is described as a ‘go to’ place where both individual and
group practice can occur in a safe and secure environment and, an ideal solution for areas
of high anti-social behaviour. SmallWall is also described as a place where young people
can socialize with their friends through physically active experiences. SmallWall arenas
are filled with adaptable and mobile components that can be personalised to suit specific
activities/sports, focus on specific movement skills and/or cater for a range of individual
movement capabilities and needs.
For more information, see:
https://www.smallwall.ie/
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PHYSICAL LITERACY
The Ultimate Aim
A ‘physically literate’ young person has the motivation, confidence and
competence to sustain physical activity (PA) throughout their lives (Whitehead, 2010).
Physical literacy in childhood essentially predicts better health outcomes (physical and
mental) in later life. In an applied sense, children need to be sufficiently motivated to
engage in physical activity and experience success during these ‘active’ tasks.
Theoretically, ‘success’ fosters increased enjoyment and confidence leading to continued
engagement and, ultimately, higher levels of movement competence.
The SmallWall arena aims to support physical literacy by offering children choice
and autonomy over an array of physically active experiences. SmallWall components are
specifically designed to elicit a range of fundamental movement skills (jumping, kicking,
catching, throwing). The adaptable nature of the SmallWall components potentially
support differentiation and enable children and adolescents with low levels of movement
skill to experience success and build in movement competency and overall physical
literacy over time.
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FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS
The Problem
Irish children and adolescents demonstrate poor fundamental movement skills
which means they cannot hop, skip, throw or even run properly (O'Brien et al., 2013).
Developmentally, children are capable of performing proficient fundamental movement
skill by the age of eight. ‘Proficiency’ requires a child to combine ‘parts’ of a movement
skill leading to unique movement sequence. For example, a ‘jump’ does not merely entail
lifting two feet off the ground. Instead, it comprises of specific components on take-off, in
the air and on landing. FMS skills and their components are outlined in the TGMD-2
(Ulrich, 2000).
Worryingly, Irish children are years behind their expected age equivalence in
terms of basic movement skill proficiency. A focus on Fundamental Movement Skill
(FMS) provides children with the ‘building blocks’ they require to achieve success in
more complex play. On a macro level, proficient FMS in childhood prove beneficial for
future health as they predict continued participation in physical activity and sport over
a lifetime.
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PERCEIVED COMPETENCE
Two types of competence are associated with FMS in children. The first relates to
‘actual competence’, i.e. a child’s baseline or ‘actual’ skill level. The second, relates to
‘perceived competence’ i.e. the level of skill a child believes themselves to possess.
Lindquist, Reynolds and Goran (1999) state that psychological factors such as perceived
competence and enjoyment have a significant impact on children’s engagement in PA. Put
simply, if children perceive themselves to be competent in FMS they are more likely to
engage and, continue to engage, in tasks involving movement skills. Thus, perceptions of
competentency, not just actual competency, matter. High levels of perceived competence
are maintained in various ways, including provision of differentiated tasks, in line with
individual capabilities, from which different learners with different capabilities can
experience success.
In an applied sense, this means that in order to foster perceived competence in
children and ensure children continue to engage in PA, activities and equipment should
be adaptable and capable of allowing individuals with varying levels of capabilities to
each experience success.
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ENJOYMENT
Another psychological factor that has a particularly significant impact on
continued engagement with PA tasks is, enjoyment. Put simply, children are significantly
less motivated to participate in tasks or activities that they do not deem to be enjoyable.
According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985), ingredients that
foster intrinsic motivation simultaneously offer a principled ‘recipe’ for enjoyment. These
include conditions relating to autonomy (i.e. provision of choice and variation over task
selection), as well competence, which if based on White’s (1959) definition, means that a
person must feel capable and confident of doing all of the things expected of them. Thus,
in order to support enjoyment during PA, it is important to offer children choice and
variation within and across tasks and, as is the case in supporting perceived competence,
provide children with varying levels of capabilities, opportunities to experience success.
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DELIBERATE PRACTICE
Whilst the provision of choice and variation across tasks is crucial to maintain high
levels of perceived competence and enjoyment, too much choice can be detrimental to
skill acquisition. That is, self-generated free play has the capacity to facilitate inaccurate
performance of movement skills that become engrained through repetition. This is
particularly prevalent where children do not understand that there is something to be
learned (e.g. that there is a ‘right way’ to jump, kick, hop etc.). Conversely, free play with
additional direct instruction (typically teacher lead with clear, explicit descriptions of a
skill, a task and how the learner can achieve success) can potentially transform regular
practice, where learning is incidental, into ‘deliberate practice’ (Ericsson, 1993) where
learning is purposeful. Thus, an ideal PA environment is capable of facilitating regular
practice (or free play) in such a way that equipment, tasks and activities naturally elicit
relatively accurate skill outputs from learners, independently, and also support provision
of additional direct instruction/deliberate practice to facilitate a more long-lasting
change in FMS performance.
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SMALLWALL COMPONENTS
Equipment
Kick Catch Throw Jump Bat Hop Skip
SmallWall (junior, medium, senior)
Different walls of different sizes Elicits low ‘on the ground’ kick Slope angle is adaptable Supports differentiated skill levels Supports different FMS (kick & catch) and skill
outcomes with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
Target Board
Two different sized targets Utilised in conjunction with ‘ladder’ ground markings
to facilitate differentiation (skill, speed, strength etc.) Supports development of different FMS (throw, kick,
strike) and skill outcomes with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
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Kick Catch Throw Jump Strike Hop Skip
The High Jump
Height of ball is adaptable Full height elicits full jump ‘criteria’ Can be used to practice several skills including jump,
catch, throw, hop etc., with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
✔
Centre Circle [high throw]
Height of circle is adaptable Ladder ground markings used in conjunction to
support differentiation (of skill, speed, strength etc.) Support development of a number of FMS (throw,
catch, kick, strike etc.) with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
✔
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Kick Catch Throw Jump Strike Hop Skip Ladders
‘Ladder’ ground markings used in conjunction with other components (target board etc.) or separately
Effectively utilised to divide arena Effectively used for drills Support development of several FMS with additional
direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
Striking Frame
Height of ball is adaptable Size of ball is adaptable Supports differentiation
✔
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Kick Catch Throw Jump Strike Hop Skip
Dice Target
Holes represent number of points Activities to go with dice target are far reaching and can
include several FMS Ladder markings effectively used in conjunction to
differentiate outcomes
✔
✔
Agility Hurdle
Hurdles are adaptable and can be moved to sit at different angles
Support development of different FMS (jump, hop, strike, kick etc.) with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
✔
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Kick Catch Throw Jump Strike Hop Skip
Agility Frame
Frame is adaptable, bars can be moved at different angles
Adaptable nature supports differentiation for skill level
Frame supports development of a number of skills (agility, kicking, skipping etc.) with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
✔
Ball Wall
✔
✔
✔
✔
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Kick Catch Throw Jump Strike Hop Skip
Balance Board
Can be used as part of circuit or standalone Supports balance and several locomotor skills e.g.
hopping with additional direct instruction
✔
✔
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METHODS
This study employed a mixed methods research approach to capture effectiveness
of the SmallWall Arena in terms of: 1) Facilitating enjoyment (thus, predicting continued
engagement) and, 2) Eliciting effective FMS criteria (thus, predicting improved FMS over
time). Results are utilised to speak to the potential effectiveness of the SmallWall Arena
as a platform for improving children’s FMS performance and physical literacy over a
period of continued engagement. Thirty children aged between 9 and 12 years
participated in this study. Children were evaluated on enjoyment as well as actual and
perceived motor competence during semi-structured ‘normal’ PE and later, during a
period of semi-structured PE inside the SmallWall Arena. A focus group was deployed
with 8 participants (4 boys and 4 girls) to capture more nuanced details relating to
participant experiences in both settings.
QUANTITATIVE DATA
Test of Gross Motor Development – 2: Actual Motor Competence
The Test of Gross Motor Development -2 (Ulrich, 2000) was used to assess
fundamental movement skill capabilities of the cohort. TGMD-2 is a standardised tool that
measures FMS in children aged 3-10 years, with a high level of reliability (Aye, Oo, Khin,
Kuramoto-Ahuja & Maruyama, 2017). Each skill is assign ‘criteria’ which are used to
analyse movement quality. Children are given 1 point for criteria accurately performed
and 0 for criteria that are inaccurate or absent. Performance criteria are added to achieve
a total score for each skill and overall FMS capability. This study captured 4 FMS (jump,
catch, kick, throw). Participants were video recorded during assessment trials and scores
were later calculated on review of video footage.
The TGMD-2 was deployed in two settings. The first is described as ‘normal’ PE,
consisting of 6 semi structured station areas with appropriate equipment to promote a
range of FMS, including kicking, throwing, catching and jumping. Children were given 40
minutes of exploratory free play and assessed, intermittently, in line with TGMD-2
guidelines. The second setting relates to PE in the ‘SmallWall Arena’ where children
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were exposed to 6 semi structured station areas with adaptable SmallWall equipment to
promote a range of FMS (particularly kick, throw, catch, jump).
Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence
The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence (PMSC) assesses
young children's perceptions of movement skill competence across 12 Fundamental
Movement skills (FMS) based on the Test of Gross Motor Development -2. The test is
modelled on a picture and response format originally devised by Harter & Pike (1983).
Children identify as being good at a skill or, not so good at a skill in line with an
accompanying picture. They then decide if they are really good or good (4 points or 3
points respectively), versus really not good or okay (1 point or 2 points respectively).
Thus, 4 points correlate with high perceived competence, whereas 1 point marks low
levels. The PMSC was originally validated for Australian children (Barnett et al., 2015)
but has since been validated with children in countries worldwide. This study measured
perceived competence of 4 skills (jump, kick, throw and catch) following (i) semi-
structured ‘’normal’ PE and (ii) semi-structured PE in the SMallWall Arena.
Enjoyment Scale
Enjoyment was measured by adapting the most commonly used measure of enjoyment,
the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) (Kendzierski et al., 1991). Children were
asked to rate how they felt about the physical activity they were doing using a 7-point
rating scale. Higher scores reflect higher levels of enjoyment. This study captured children’s
enjoyment levels during (i) semi-structured ‘’normal’ PE and (ii) semi-structured PE in the
SMallWall Arena. All quantitative data were analysed using SPSS (version 25).
QUALITATIVE DATA
Focus Group
A focus group was held after participants had experienced FMS practice as part of
‘normal’ PE and PE in the SmallWall Arena. This focus group was deployed to capture
finer details in relation to participant experiences in SmallWall arena, relative to ’normal’
PE. Questions that guided focus group discussion are outlined in table 1 below. The focus
group was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcription was analysed
using Thematic Analysis (TA) (Braun & Clarke, 2006), which included five phases:
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familiarization with the data, data coding, searching for and reviewing themes, defining
and naming themes, and production of a final report. The researchers reviewed the data
and agreed upon final themes and sub-themes.
Table 1. Focus group questions to guide discussion
Q1. What is your favourite subject in school? Q2. How do you feel about PE? Q3. Thinking about the SmallWall Arena, how was the experience for you? Q4. Is there anything you would do to make the SmallWall arena better?
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Quantitative results
Enjoyment: Normal PE settings vs PE Settings in the Arena
Crucial ingredient to facilitate continued engagement in a practice task
Figure 1. Enjoyment results
The Figure above indicates that the children enjoyment level when engaging in the Arena is 5
times higher than the “Normal” PE setting. The magnitude of this difference between the 2 set-
ups illustrates the ability of the Arena to stimulate children enjoyment. There is a direct
relationship between the level of enjoyment and the perception one
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Normal PE Setting PE setting in the Arena
Enjoyment level
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Perceived Competence: Normal PE settings vs PE Settings in the Arena
High levels associative factor of enjoyment and predicts continued engagement, necessary to
support improvements in actual competence
Figure 2. Perceived FMS competence results
Several things need to be pointed out here. The Jump perceived FMS competence didn’t change.
This is mainly due to a ceiling effect, children considered themselves as proficient in Jumping.
They perceived themselves as competent Jumpers in general. This explain why the Arena doesn’t
demonstrate any improvement for this skills. For the other 3 FMS, when this ceiling effect is not
present, we can see that perceived FMS competence is improving when they engage in the Arena.
The Catch percieved FMS competence improved by 39%, the Kick perceived competence
improved by 7% and the Throw perceived FMS competence imroved by 18%.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Jump Catch Kick Throw
Perceived Fundamental Movement Skill Competence
Normal PE Setting PE setting in the Arena
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Actual FMS Competence: Normal PE settings vs PE Settings in the Arena
Figure 3. Actual FMS competence results
In a similar fashion to the increased of the children enjoymnet levels, the actual fundamental
movement skills competence has increased by 120%. The contraint in place in the Arena enabled
children competence. The Arena display the optimal level of difficulty to each child. This come
down to the design of the space and the tools in place. Each element can be used in different ways,
eliciting for each user the emergence of the correct movement patterns. Those movement
patterns are dormant when the environmental conitions aren’t appropriate for the children
competence, co,nfidenan and ejoyment levels. This dramatic increase in performance is clear an
indaiton that the Arena is enabling chilren to the display higher levels of motor skill proficiency.
This will in turn encourage them to practice more, to continue growing their motor skills
repertoire, to gain confidence and to close the loop, display even higher and better motor skill
proficiency levels. In summary, We propose that the positive findings in relation to enjoyment,
perceived competence and actual FMS competence demonstrated by children in the SmallWall
Arena are a result of a number of effective ingredients. These are:
Adaptable SmallWall equipment means children of all capabilities can experience success
which has a positive effect on perceived competence in FMS
SmallWall equipment elicits a wide range of skill criteria even without direct, teacher-led,
instruction which potentially supports actual competence in FMS
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Normal PE Setting PE setting in the Arena
Actual FMS Competence
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QUALITATIVE RESULTS
Children’s Experiences in the SmallWall Arena
A focus group with 8 participants was deployed to capture nuanced details of
children’s experiences in the Small Wall Arena. Key quotes from this Focus group can be
found in Appendix 1. Two key themes (as well as sub-themes) were identified from this
data set. These were: 1) Small Wall supports high levels of enjoyment (facilitated by
feelings of autonomy and suitable levels of challenge) and, 2) SmallWall fosters
knowledge that there is something to be learned (facilitates effective FMS practice and,
improvements in perceived/actual competence) (Figure 4)
Fig 4. Qualitative results of children’s experiences in SmallWall Arena
The first key theme, ‘SmallWall supports high levels of enjoyment’ was referenced
in some fashion by all participants.
“[Small Way] was really enjoyable…like…way more fun than learning [the skills] the
normal way”. (5th class, boy)
References to enjoyment were typically accompanied by factors relating to autonomy and
challenge.
“I really enjoyed [small wall] because I got to come up with my own games and I
wasn’t told what to do or how to do it”. (5th class, girl)
“You can come up with lots of different games and ideas ….time went really fast....I
hope we go again”. (3rd class, boys)
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“Sometimes you might be embarrassed in PE if you’re not great at, like, kicking…..but
I liked SmallWall because no one can really tell if I’m not great because it’s not too
hard”. (5th class, boy)
Multiple references to high levels of autonomy and appropriate challenge throughout the
focus group were particularly interesting given that the literature states autonomy and
challenge are significant predictors of enjoyment and, associative predictors of continued
engagement with a practice task (reference). Furthermore, continued engagement in FMS
practice is also cited as an effective means of improving motor competency but, only
when practice conditions are effective (Wulf et al., 2010). Put simply, in order to make
improvements through a practice task, a child needs to be aware that there is something
to be learned (Ericsson, 1991). In affording too much autonomy, there is a danger that
children will not engage in practice of skills (or parts of skills) that they need to learn.
Additionally, left to their own devices, children may not be aware of their own
shortcomings, i.e. that the way they perform a skill is inaccurate. Consequently, continued
practice of inaccurate FMS could see errors become engrained and actual FMS become
worse over time (Ericsson, 1991).
With that, the second theme to emerge from our focus group, ‘SmallWall fosters
knowledge that there is something to be learned’ is particularly prevalent as it speaks to
the potential effectiveness of the arena in having a positive affect on children’s FMS skills
over time, even without provision of additional direct instruction. That is, we know direct
instruction (typically teacher lead with clear, explicit descriptions of a skill, a task and
how the learner can achieve success) can potentially transform regular practice, where
learning is incidental, into ‘deliberate practice’ (Ericsson, 1993) where learning is
purposeful. What’s interesting is that results from our focus group suggest that, even
when SmallWall is utilised in semi-structured fashion (i.e. without additional, teacher-led
direct instruction), children were aware that the Arena is a place to practice FMS and
present as intrinsically motivated to perform movement skills in a variety of ways: whole-
skill, in parts and in combination with one another.
“I liked that you could change the height of the ball to make it easier at the start and
then you can push yourself to jump higher and higher……you had to really use your
arms to get up high”. (5th class, girl)
“I was throwing through the hoop and catching on the other side”. (3rd class girl)
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SmallWall equipment has been designed to support children in practicing a number of
FMS. Our qualitative results found that not only did these components (SmallWall, target
board, centre circle etc.) foster knowledge that there is something to be learned (kicking,
throwing, jumping etc.) and elicit a range of these outputs (whole-skill, part or in
combination) but, SmallWall equipment also fostered perceived and actual competency.
“It’s cool the way you can do a few skills together, like, I was kicking [up the
SmallWall] and then catching it myself……I had to really stretch to catch it…..I felt
good when I was able to do it”. (5th class, boy)
“You can’t really do it wrong, like whatever way you kick or throw – you’re still
learning [in SmallWall Arena]”. (5th class, boy)
A learning environment that facilitates high levels of perceived competence (the
level of skill a child believes themselves to possess) is more likely to facilitate continued
engagement in a practice task (Lindquist et al., 1999). Our qualitative results suggest that
the purposeful design of SmallWall equipment makes it clear to children that there is
something to be learned, put simply, when children enter the SmallWall Arena they know
almost instinctively know that they are expected to kick, jump, throw, catch etc., as part
of the SmallWall ‘experience’. Furthermore, the adaptable nature of each SmallWall
equipment allows children of all levels to experience success, which has a positive impact
on perceived competence. That is, children start to see themselves as effective movers,
predicting continued engagement over time. Crucially, children in this study also
discussed a need to employ effective ‘part-skill’ performance (“I had to stretch to catch
[the ball]” &, “you had to really use your arms to get up high”). This suggests that
interactions in the SmallWall Arena not only elicit whole-skill FMS performance but also
prompt development of FMS skills ‘in parts’ (e.g. a focus on fully stretched arms when
catching etc.). This detail is particularly crucial as it precits the potential of the SmallWall
Arena to bring about a lasting change in actual FMS competence.
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Whilst participants talked about execution of FMS in the SmallWall Arena as being
‘easy’ and ‘not hard’, it is interesting to note that kicking was perceived to be more
challenging, particularly for younger participants and, female participants,
“I kicked a few times but [the ball] didn’t go up the ramp like other people”. (3rd class,
boy).
“The kicking looked a bit hard to get it up the ramp…..I didn’t really do any kicking”.
(5th class, girl).
Feedback in relation to the SmallWall ramp suggests that design constraints require
children to possess a baseline ability in kicking in order to feel competent and/or
experience success. For example, a ball will only interact with the SmallWall ramp
effectively when kicked along the ground. In contrast, a ball kicked into the middle of the
ramp will fall flat leaving a child feeling as if they have not ‘kicked’ correctly. This could
essentially provide the child with negative task-intrinsic feedback that has a negative
effect on perceived competence. Thus, the SmallWall ramp presents as having a higher
point of entry where children with low levels of capability are less likely to experience
success, and/or improve in actual or perceived ‘kicking’ competence. This SmallWall
ramp differs to other adaptable SmallWall components that present as being suitable for
a wider range of individual levels and capabilities.
Whilst the SmallWall ramp presents as having a potentially negative effect on
actual and perceived kicking competence for children with particularly low baseline
capabilities, we propose that it could readily facilitate improved kicking in children of all
levels when paired with additional direct instruction. Indeed, our research explored the
effectiveness of the SmallWall Arena on enjoyment, actual and perceived motor
competence when children were given limited support or guidance from a teacher, coach
or expert. We propose that, with additional direct instruction (typically teacher lead with
clear, explicit description of a skill and, how the learner can achieve success) (Ericsson,
1993) children could potentially experience even greater success in the SmallWall Arena.
This is in line with recent literature that found interventions with direct instruction
support improved fundamental movement skill performance in young children and, also
move children with high baseline capabilities towards ‘mastery’ (Bedard et al., 2017)
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Direct Instruction also presents as a useful way of promoting more effective
practice variability which relates to the variation in a practice task and variation in FMS
performance. Put simply, in order to improve across a range of FMS, children need to
experience parity of practice across skills and skill subsets. Our qualitative findings
indicate that female participants engaged more with SmallWall equipment that called for
locomotor outputs (jump, hop, run etc.) which was in contrast to boys who present as
having engaged more with SmallWall equipment that call for object control outputs (kick,
throw, catch etc.). These findings were in line with several studies linking stronger
inclination towards locomotor skills in girls compared to boys and stronger inclinations
towards object control skills in boys compared to girls (.
“I think I spent most of my time with the [High Jump]….I really liked that you could
jump higher and higher and then help your friend to be able to jump high too”. (5th
class, girl)
“I probably spent most time on the little ramp, it was cool to get the ball to come
back at you….I also liked the [target] and moving back on the lines to see could I
throw further”. (3rd class, boy)
Whilst qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate high levels of enjoyment
experienced by children in the SmallWall Arena, there were several suggestions made by
children in the focus group that could potentially enhance enjoyment further.
“It’s already a bit like a playground for learning skills so it would be really good if it
had other playground things like monkey bars to make you stronger and for fun”.
(5th class, boy)
Ultimately, reference to the SmallWall Arena as ‘a playground for skills’ is a fitting one
and, additional equipment such as ‘monkey bars’ could not only promote this
‘playground’ component further but also foster improvements in muscular endurance
and upper body strength necessary for success in more complex play.
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Overall Feedback
The SmallWall Arena presents as novel and effective platform to target improved
fundamental movement skills and overall physical literacy in children. The Arena a range of
equipment that is particularly effective at prompting children to perform (or practice) a range of
FMS. The adaptable nature of SmallWall equipment means that children, who differ in age, gender
and capabilities, can experience success which has a positive impact on ‘perceived competence’.
The high level of autonomy and choice of activities offered in the SmallWall Arena also fosters
high levels of enjoyment, particularly when compared to ‘regular’ PE. Our findings also indicate
that, when left to their own devices with relatively little support from teachers/coaches or
experts, children are prompted to perform more effective movement patterns in order to achieve
success. That is, SmallWall components such as the High Jump call upon the children to use their
arms effectively on take-off to generate adequate height. Thus, design of SmallWall equipment
not only elicits a range of FMS, but also promotes high quality FMS outputs. Effectively, the
SmallWall Arena facilitates enjoyment and perceived competence, crucial ingredients for the
development of actual FMS competence and overall physical literacy in youth (fig. 5, below).
Figure 5. SmallWall ingredients
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instrument for assessing fundamental movement skill perceived competence in young
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Bedard, C., Bremer, E., Campbell, W., & Cairney, J. (2018). Evaluation of a Direct-
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Ulrich, D. A. (2000). Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
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APPENDIX 1
“You need the skills to be good at sports…. I’m not in a sports club……I’m not very good
at kicking” (3rd class, girl)
“I liked [small wall] because I got to come up with my own games and I wasn’t told what
to do or how to do it” (5th class, girl)
“[Small Wall] made doing the skills easy – like- you can’t really make mistakes” (5th class,
boy)
“I liked that you could change the height of the ball to make it easier at the start and then
you can push yourself to jump higher and higher……you had to really use your arms to
get up high” (5th class, girl)
“There were lots of things you could do, like it’s not just kicking, but….we did an obstacle
course with hopping and skipping……and I really like the balance beam” (3rd class, girl)
“It’s a good place to learn [kicking, jumping, throwing] without getting bored and being
[embarrassed] if you do it wrong” (5th class, boy)
“You can’t really do it wrong, like whatever way you kick or throw – you’re still learning
[with Small Wall]” (5th class, boy)
“It’s great for your imagination and working in teams to learn your skills…….in like a more
fun way” (5th class, girl)
“you can come up with lots of different games and ideas ….time went really fast....I hope
we go again” (3rd class, boy)
“Sometimes you might be embarrassed in PE if you’re not great at like kicking…..but no
one is going to really tell if you’re not great [in the Small Wall] because it’s not hard”. (5th
class, boy)
“It’s already a bit like a playground for learning skills so it would be really good if it had
other playground things like monkey bars to make you stronger and for fun”. (5th class,
boy)
“It’s cool the way you can practice a few skills together, like I was kicking [up the small
wall] and then catching it myself……I had to really stretch to catch…..I felt good when I
was able to do it” (5th class, boy)
“I was throwing through the hoop and catching on the other side” (3rd class girl)
“[Small Way] was a lot more fun…like…way more fun than learning [the skills] the normal
way” (5th class, boy)
“the boys and the girls [in the class] really liked it…..because there was something for all
of us to do and we could do whatever [skills] we wanted” (5th class, girl)