Effects of a Hybrid Program of Active Breaks and Responsibility on the Behaviour of Primary Students: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Schools are ideal environments to promote healthy lifestyles and teach values among students. In this sense, the present study aims to verify the result of an Active Break program (AB) within the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) Model in the school environment. The sample consisted of two teachers/tutors from the sixth year of Primary Education and 51 pupils, aged between 11 and 13 years, who were divided into an experimental group (n = 26) and a control group (n = 25). The intervention program lasted 3 months, in which the hybridised methodology was applied during 100% of the weekly classes, computing a total of 156 sessions by the end of the study. It was a quasi-experimental study design that used a mixed methodology combining a systematic observational analysis with semi-structured interviews. The results showed an evolution in the behaviour of the teacher from the experimental group from a controlling style to one centred on the transfer of autonomy, while the teacher from the control group primarily used strategies based on the imposition of tasks and the establishment of organisation, which caused an increase in disruptive behaviours among students. We conclude that the program is adaptable to Primary Education and can be extended to any educational environment to improve the classroom climate and attract the attention of students and, finally, allows for the promotion of new teaching strategies.