Collective movement: reimagining children's physical literacy through shared responsibility

Abstract

Physical literacy, a multidimensional construct encompassing motivation, confidence, physical competence, and knowledge, is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of lifelong movement. As a holistic construct, there is an opportunity to collaborative provide opportunities for physical literacy development in the many contexts that children move. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a six-month multi-sectoral, multi-contextual physical literacy intervention implemented across home, school, and community contexts using a shared responsibility approach. A pre–post quasi-experimental design was employed with 686 children (mean age 10.5 ± 1.35 years) from intervention ( n  = 397) and comparison ( n  = 289) communities in Saskatchewan, alongside parent ( n  = 429) and teacher participants ( n  = 53). Physical literacy was assessed using the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (PLAY) tools, including measures of motor competence (PLAY fun), self-perception (PLAY self), parent perception (PLAY parent), and teacher perception (PLAY coach). A repeated measures mixed model was conducted as the primary analysis, with significance set at p  < 0.05. Results indicated a significant intervention effect for motor competence ( p  < 0.001), with the intervention group demonstrating significant improvements while the motor competence of the comparison group declined over time. Increases were observed across multiple domains, including locomotor skills, balance, and movement vocabulary. No significant group by time effects were observed for parental perceptions of children's physical literacy ( p  = 0.173), however there was a time effect which warrants further exploration ( p  < 0.001). No significant intervention effects were observed in children's self-perceived physical literacy ( p  = 0.784) or teacher-reported outcomes between groups ( p  = 0.987). These findings highlight the potential of a collaborative, community-wide approach to enhance key components of physical literacy, particularly motor competence and parent perceptions. The lack of change in self-perception measures suggests a need for stronger emphasis on psychological and affective domains within future intervention design. Overall, this study provides novel evidence supporting multi-sectoral, multi-contextual strategies as a promising pathway for fostering physical literacy development in children and underscores the importance of coordinated efforts across home, school, and community contexts.