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Abstract(s)
O movimento é essencial para o desenvolvimento infantil saudável. Ao moverem-se com intenção, as crianças em idade pré-escolar envolvem-se em comportamentos fisicamente ativos e exploram a sua esfera social, desenvolvendo a sua competência motora e socioemocional. O envolvimento físico (ex., design, equipamentos) e social (ex., políticas administrativas e práticas diárias) do jardim de infância é vital para proporcionar às crianças em idade pré-escolar diferentes oportunidades de ação (ou seja, affordances), que convidam ao movimento, e, por conseguinte, promovem a atividade física (AF) e as interações sociais. O objetivo geral desta tese foi compreender a relação entre a qualidade das affordances do jardim de infância para a AF e interações sociais e a competência motora e socioemocional da criança em idade pré-escolar. Para alcançar esse objetivo, três estudos foram realizados em jardins de infância portugueses. O primeiro estudo avaliou a qualidade das affordances dos jardins de infância para promover a AF das crianças e identificou combinações ótimas entre o design do espaço físico e as práticas diárias para melhorar a AF. O segundo estudo investigou a relação entre as affordances para a AF e a competência motora e socioemocional das crianças. O terceiro estudo comparou o funcionamento social das crianças, mais especificamente, comparou a proximidade social, dada por distâncias espaciais entre as crianças a frequentar jardins de infância com diferentes níveis de qualidade dos envolvimentos físicos do espaço exterior. Os dois primeiros estudos analisaram tanto os envolvimentos dos espaços interiores como exteriores e todos os estudos combinaram uma abordagem multimétodo, que incluiu a utilização de escalas de classificação, questionários, tarefas de avaliação e sensores de radiofrequência (RFID). O panorama que emergiu dos três estudos é que a qualidade das affordances oferecidas pelo envolvimento físico e social dos jardins de infância para as crianças serem fisicamente e socialmente ativas está relacionada com a competência motora e a proximidade social. Estes resultados destacam a necessidade de otimizar o envolvimento físico e social dos jardins de infância para proporcionar mais e melhores oportunidades para as crianças em idade pré-escolar se envolverem em AF. Os espaços interiores e exteriores do jardim de infância devem ser investidos para serem adequados, diversificados, seguros e desafiantes. Além disso, jardins de infância com designs favoráveis à AF têm melhores práticas diárias de AF, mais propensas a incentivar comportamentos de AF nas crianças e reduzir os comportamentos sedentários. Adicionalmente, em jardins de infância com envolvimentos favoráveis à AF, as crianças mostram uma melhor competência motora. No entanto, a competência socioemocional parece não se beneficiar dos envolvimentos que favorecem a AF no jardim de infância, o que reforça o papel dos educadores na socialização emocional das crianças. No que diz respeito à qualidade geral do envolvimento físico do espaço exterior, um espaço exterior de jardim de infância de maior qualidade, com oportunidades naturais, diversas e desafiadoras, promove a proximidade social entre as crianças e incentiva experiências com pares do outro género. Em conclusão, os estudos desta tese destacam que a qualidade do envolvimento físico e social do jardim de infância molda a competência motora das crianças em idade pré-escolar e as suas experiências sociais. Esse conhecimento é particularmente importante para os jardins de infância melhorarem a qualidade dos espaços interiores e exteriores e adotarem políticas e práticas que, quando combinadas, proporcionem melhores oportunidades para o movimento das crianças e para as interações sociais ocorrerem, o que é fundamental para um desenvolvimento saudável .
Movement is essential for healthy child development. When preschoolers move intentionally, they engage in physically active behavior and explore their social sphere, fostering motor and social-emotional competence. The kindergarten physical (e.g., design equipment) and social environment (e.g., administrative policies and daily practices) are vital to providing preschoolers with different opportunities for action (i.e., affordances), facilitating their movement, and, thus, promoting physical activity (PA) and social interactions. This thesis aimed to understand the quality of the kindergarten's affordances for PA and social interactions and their relationship with preschoolers' motor and social-emotional competence. To achieve this aim, three studies were carried out in Portuguese kindergartens. The first study assessed the quality of kindergarten affordances in promoting PA among preschoolers and identified optimal combinations of physical design and daily practices to enhance PA. The second study investigated the relationship between PA affordances in kindergartens and preschoolers' motor and socio-emotional competence. The third study compared the social functioning of preschoolers attending kindergartens, more specifically, social proximity, given by spatial distances between children, with different levels of quality regarding their outdoor physical environments. The first two studies analyzed indoor and outdoor environments, and all studies combined a multi-method approach combining rating scales, questionnaires, assessment tasks, and radiofrequency identification devices (RFID). The picture that emerged from the three studies is that the quality of the kindergarten's physical and social affordances for preschoolers to be physically and socially active is linked to children's motor competence and social proximity. These findings highlight the need to improve kindergartens' physical and social environment to provide preschoolers with more opportunities to engage in PA. Both indoor and outdoor settings should be invested in for appropriateness, diversity, safety, and challenging activities. Besides, kindergartens with PA-friendly designs have better daily PA practices and are more likely to prompt preschoolers' PA behaviors and reduce the sedentary ones. Besides, in kindergartens with PA-friendly designs, preschoolers show better motor competence. However, socio-emotional competence does not benefit from kindergarten PA-friendly environments, which reinforces the role of teachers in children's emotion socialization. Concerning the overall quality of the outdoor environment, a higher-quality kindergarten outdoor environment, with natural, diverse, and challenging opportunities, fosters social proximity among preschoolers and encourages peer experiences between genders. In conclusion, this thesis underscores that the quality of the kindergarten's physical and social environment shapes preschoolers' motor competence and social experiences. This knowledge is essential for kindergartens to enhance the quality of indoor and outdoor settings and to adopt policies and practices that, when juxtaposed, afford better opportunities for children's movement and social interactions, which are pivotal for a healthy development.
Movement is essential for healthy child development. When preschoolers move intentionally, they engage in physically active behavior and explore their social sphere, fostering motor and social-emotional competence. The kindergarten physical (e.g., design equipment) and social environment (e.g., administrative policies and daily practices) are vital to providing preschoolers with different opportunities for action (i.e., affordances), facilitating their movement, and, thus, promoting physical activity (PA) and social interactions. This thesis aimed to understand the quality of the kindergarten's affordances for PA and social interactions and their relationship with preschoolers' motor and social-emotional competence. To achieve this aim, three studies were carried out in Portuguese kindergartens. The first study assessed the quality of kindergarten affordances in promoting PA among preschoolers and identified optimal combinations of physical design and daily practices to enhance PA. The second study investigated the relationship between PA affordances in kindergartens and preschoolers' motor and socio-emotional competence. The third study compared the social functioning of preschoolers attending kindergartens, more specifically, social proximity, given by spatial distances between children, with different levels of quality regarding their outdoor physical environments. The first two studies analyzed indoor and outdoor environments, and all studies combined a multi-method approach combining rating scales, questionnaires, assessment tasks, and radiofrequency identification devices (RFID). The picture that emerged from the three studies is that the quality of the kindergarten's physical and social affordances for preschoolers to be physically and socially active is linked to children's motor competence and social proximity. These findings highlight the need to improve kindergartens' physical and social environment to provide preschoolers with more opportunities to engage in PA. Both indoor and outdoor settings should be invested in for appropriateness, diversity, safety, and challenging activities. Besides, kindergartens with PA-friendly designs have better daily PA practices and are more likely to prompt preschoolers' PA behaviors and reduce the sedentary ones. Besides, in kindergartens with PA-friendly designs, preschoolers show better motor competence. However, socio-emotional competence does not benefit from kindergarten PA-friendly environments, which reinforces the role of teachers in children's emotion socialization. Concerning the overall quality of the outdoor environment, a higher-quality kindergarten outdoor environment, with natural, diverse, and challenging opportunities, fosters social proximity among preschoolers and encourages peer experiences between genders. In conclusion, this thesis underscores that the quality of the kindergarten's physical and social environment shapes preschoolers' motor competence and social experiences. This knowledge is essential for kindergartens to enhance the quality of indoor and outdoor settings and to adopt policies and practices that, when juxtaposed, afford better opportunities for children's movement and social interactions, which are pivotal for a healthy development.
Description
Keywords
Atividade física Competência social Comportamento motor Criança Dados de sensores Interação social Physical activity Motor behavior Sensor data Social competence Social interaction Young children