Physically active lessons in secondary school: an intervention Study

Background: This article describes an intervention study examining the effect of physically active lessons on both educational outcomes and the teacher’s perspective on integrating PA into academic lessons in secondary school.
Methods: A 12-week physically active lessons program using the MIT-approach, Movement Integrated into Teaching. The study outcome was 1) change in math and reading performance 2) the teachers motivation for implementing PA in academic lessons focusing on barriers and opportunities, collected through group interviews with teachers.
Results: The study showed no effect on reading and math scores. However, reading improvements in the intervention group was higher than in the control group, but due to differences in baseline scores, a linear regression showed a ceiling effect.
The physically active lessons engage and motivate more students, and it increases the student’s on-task behavior. Integrating PA in the lessons is a challenge, because of the time pressure and strong curriculum demands in secondary school. The teacher’s see the MIT-approach as a more systematic way of using physically active lessons making the teaching more active and varied.
Discussion: The results of the study are expected to provide schools and policy-makers with new insights into the potential of physically active lessons in secondary school.


Keywords: Physically active lessons, Movement integrated into teaching (MIT), academic achievement, 8. Grade, school, motivation.