By Jean Buckler, PhD candidate
I chose Kinesiology as my field of study because I was passionate about science and how the body worked! Like many KIN undergrads I planned to pursue a career in physiotherapy, but the research experience I gained during my undergraduate degree inspired me to go pursue more in-depth research! I had begun to find parallels between what I was learning in motor development classes and what I was seeing when I was working in community recreational programs. I wanted to learn more about how we could engage children in physical activity, which led me to pursue a Masters in Kinesiology. I am now in the final year of my PhD.
My doctoral research, supervised by Drs. Eli Puterman and Guy Faulkner, focuses on how we can best prepare young children with the skills to be physically active for their entire life. Fundamental movement skills needed to participate in physical activity and sports are an important modifiable predictor of participation in the type of physical activity that keeps us healthy. Current research indicates that the majority of Canadians are not participating in enough physical activity for their health.
Being able to throw a ball means you are more likely to engage in activities that use this type of skill, which of course means baseball and football, but it also includes tennis and volleyball, as the serve in these sports relies on the same basic movement pattern. Early childhood, particularly ages 3-5 years, is a critical time to develop these foundational skills and to begin developing physical activity habits. In 2017, the provincial government released new standards to provide guidance to early childhood educators in promoting fundamental movement skill development and physical activity during the childcare day. With a number of children attending regular childcare, early childhood educators are in a key position to teach these skills.
My doctoral research examines this issue from three perspectives: a systematic review of relevant literature, qualitative interviews with early childhood educators, and a cross-sectional study examining the skills, abilities, intentions, and habits of early childhood educators. In all three research components, fundamental movement skills appear to be the missing link. The knowledge that our research efforts need to be focused on skill development is critical, as many public health initiatives have solely aimed to engage children in more physical activity, which may not have the lasting benefits that strong fundamental movement skill proficiency could have on lifelong engagement in activity. Now we need to start tackling the question, how can we best engage early childhood educators in teaching and learning fundamental movement skills? The answers to this will help us to promote life-long health of all Canadian children.
Jean Buckler walks the talk and has a passion for hiking, bicycling, camping and swimming on the west coast of BC. Once she finished her PhD, she plans to complete a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Public Health and pursue a career in research.