Validation of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy for Greek children: Understanding assessment in response to culture and pedagogy

Abstract

Physical literacy (PL) is recognized as a channel for promoting holistic learning experiences within physical education (PE). Compared to conceptual advancements made in regard to its development, PL assessment lacks empirical evidence. The purpose of this study was to culturally adapt the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy – 2 (CAPL-2) and assess its construct validity in Greek children aged 8–12 years. Participants were 576 children (boys = 268, girls = 308; mean age = 10.22 years, standard deviation = 1.27), from Greek geographical locations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) compared the present sample data to a suggested theoretical model. Analysis of variance models and frequency tabulations were used to examine age and gender associations with CAPL-2 scores. CFA results established a good fit for the data and supported a model with four interrelated domains (χ²(67) = 122.751, p < 0.01; root mean square error of approximation = 0.038; comparative fit index = 0.906; and Tucker–Lewis index = 0.873). Boys’ and older children’s physical competence was higher. Girls and older children scored lower in daily physical activity (PA) behaviour. Knowledge scores depicted misunderstandings in participants’ answers, which can be attributed to enacted Greek PE practices. Motivation was high across age groups and both genders, demonstrating that PA participation is prioritized for Greek children. CAPL-2 interpretive category scores were associated with age and gender, indicating the need for further research concerning their cultural adjustment. The CAPL-2 can be used as a valid and comprehensive instrument for charting Greek children’s PL progress and making judgements in relation to situationally grounded PE perspectives.

Keywords

Physical activity physical education confirmatory factor analysis whole-person development cross-cultural adaptation

Introduction

Physical literacy (PL) has been identified as a multidimensional construct that encompasses all the aspects of an individual’s ability to move with embodied competence and positive attitude in physical activity (PA) contexts (Whitehead, 2013). During recent years, PL has attracted researchers’ attention due to its potential to promote health-related, whole-person development especially when the foundations are laid early in childhood (Edwards et al., 2017). Within the sphere of physical education (PE), PL has been identified both as an antecedent of children’s and youth’s successful participation in movement contexts and as a curriculum goal and outcome (Mandigo et al., 2009). In an attempt to implement an integrated approach to the study of what it means to be physically literate, the majority of researchers adopt Whitehead’s (2013) PL conceptualization, according to which motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in PA represent the interacting domains of PL.

Recognizing PL as a lifelong process of embodied interaction with the environment, researchers are beginning to investigate the ways that its philosophical base can inform everyday PE practice. Without negating the monist and existential PL tradition (Whitehead, 2010), scholars call for empirical findings on the development and expression of PL, as these are needed for advancing conceptual work and knowledge in the field (Cairney et al., 2019). According to Jurbala (2015), empirical findings could support the meaning of PL as “a theory-constitutive metaphor and not simply as a metaphor of convenience” (p. 375). To this direction, PL assessment has been suggested as a first level strategy (Green et al., 2018).

Many instruments for assessing PL have been established, with representative examples being the Passport for Life (Physical and Health Education Canada, 2014), the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (Canadian Sport for Life, 2014) and the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL) (Longmuir, 2013; Longmuir et al., 2015). The CAPL has been developed as an instrument for charting the PL level of 8–12 year old children. It measures PL manifestations in domains that work synergistically and thus is a comprehensive instrument that appropriately fits into the broader conceptualization of PL (Green et al., 2018).

The CAPL has been initially developed and tested in Canada and data have been reported about its feasibility, validity, and reliability (Francis et al., 2016; Longmuir, 2013; Longmuir et al., 2015). Since its development, it has been used in countries outside Canada such as South Africa (Uys et al., 2015) and Kenya (Tremblay et al., 2014). Initial evidence from the wide-ranging Canadian national surveys reveals that, in regard to PL, knowledge and physical competence increase with age, with boys attaining higher scores than girls (Longmuir et al., 2015). On the other hand, daily PA and the motivation that supports it seem to decrease as children grow older (Longmuir et al., 2015).

By building upon theoretical debates and empirical findings, initial CAPL measures have been re-examined and administrative corrections have been made to improve the quality and accuracy of the test protocols (Gunnell et al., 2018a, 2018b). These studies have given rise to the development of the second edition of the CAPL (CAPL-2), which is currently suggested to be used as a valid and reliable tool for assessing PL in 8–12 year old children (Longmuir et al., 2018a). In Greece, researchers have documented children’s progress in various PL domains by examining the relationships between PA, motor competence and perceived motor competence (Afthentopoulou et al., 2018), daily PA and fitness (Kamtsios and Diggelidis, 2007), participation motives (Papaioannou et al., 2006) or self-perceived motivational climate (Sevdali et al., 2017). However, studies of this kind have been conducted under a more conventional and linear perspective. Since linear measurements are ill-aligned with the PL philosophy (Edwards et al., 2018), the adoption of a more comprehensive assessment approach, such as the CAPL-2, is needed. The availability of such an approach could initially shed light on current PL levels in Greece and afterwards be used for informing realistic pedagogical goals and practices.

Based on the above, the aim of the present study was to adapt the CAPL-2 for a Greek population and provide validity evidence for its use in 8–12 year old children. Particularly, we sought to critically examine the way that characteristics of the PL concept are enacted and assessed within Greek PE, being informed by current educational policies. We believed that a documentation of cultural variations related to the CAPL-2 scoring and interpretation would provide useful insights towards a more situational understanding of the factors that may promote or hinder the development of PL and its manifestations.

Methods

Participants and setting

Participants were 576 children (girls = 308, boys = 268), aged 8–12 years (mean = 10.22 years, standard deviation = 1.27), from two big and four small cities located in Central, North, and South Greece. Children came from schools and sport clubs whose principals or coaches expressed interest to participate in the study. Parents/guardians were informed by the research staff about the study objectives and procedures and all participants provided active informed parent/guardian consent. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

CAPL-2 measures

The CAPL-2 (Longmuir et al., 2018a) assesses PL in four interrelated domains: (a) physical competence (PC) (three protocols); (b) daily behaviour (DB) (two protocols); (c) knowledge and understanding (K&U) (a five-item questionnaire); and (d) motivation and confidence (M&C) (a 12-item questionnaire). The completion of the CAPL-2 measures provides: (a) numerical scores for each protocol, which are converted to domain scores and summed to the total CAPL-2 score; and (b) interpretive category scores for each domain and the total CAPL-2 score. The full protocol is administered in a standard manner by expertly trained assessors and can take 30–40 minutes per child, depending on the context.

According to the CAPL-2 manual (Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, 2017), DB is assessed objectively from pedometer step counts and via a self-report question included in the CAPL-2 questionnaire. Children are given a pedometer to wear for seven consecutive days (five school days and two weekend days) and are asked to self-report the number of days that they were physically active for at least 60 minutes during the previous week. In the present study, Omron HJ-720IT-E2 pedometers were used. These pedometers have been shown to be valid for use with children (Venetsanou et al., 2015). The total maximum DB score is 30 points (25 points maximum from the daily step count and five points maximum for the PA self-report).

For the examination of PC, the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment (CAMSA) (Longmuir et al., 2017), the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) (Meredith and Welk, 2010), and the isometric plank hold (Boyer et al., 2013) are used. The CAMSA is used to assess children’s performance in a sequence of fundamental, complex and combined movement skills. The quality of each skill is scored on the basis of 14 movement criteria and the time needed to complete the sequence is also recorded. Children perform four trials (two practice and two testing) and the best score of the two test trials is used for scoring. The PACER protocol requires children to run back and forth across a 20-metre space, and the number of lengths completed are recorded. The isometric plank hold protocol records the maximum time that a child can maintain a straight-line body position (from ears to ankles), supported only on the forearms and toes. The maximum score awarded for each protocol is 10 points (maximum PC score: 30 points).

The assessment of K&U focuses on recommended daily PA, aerobic and muscular endurance terminology and methods to enhance physical competence (Longmuir et al., 2018b). Four multiple choice questions are used to assess: (a) knowledge about PA guidelines; (b) knowledge about the cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular endurance definitions; and (c) awareness of methods for their improvement. Each correct response is assigned one point. One “fill-the-missing-word” question is used to evaluate knowledge about how to enhance aspects of physical competence and the total maximum score awarded for this question is 6 points (maximum score: 10 points).

The assessment of M&C is done via a self-report questionnaire. Four aspects of this domain (predilection, adequacy, perceived competence and intrinsic motivation) are evaluated via three items each (Gunnell et al., 2018b). Each of the six predilection and adequacy items is assigned a maximum of 2.5 points (responses rated as 0.6, 1.2, 1.8 or 2.5 points), while the six perceived confidence and intrinsic motivation items are assigned 0.5 to 2.5 points on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with higher values denoting more positive responses (maximum domain score: 30 points).

Although numerical and domain scores can be used for making inferences across age and gender groups they can also be interpreted within the following four categories as: (a) beginning (children who need significant support to enhance their PL); (b) progressing (typical performance in PL domains which is below the recommended level); (c) achieving (children performing at recommended levels that are associated with optimal health benefits); and (d) excelling (children performing substantially above the recommended levels).

Translation procedures

The English version of the CAPL-2 questionnaire was translated into Greek by two Greek-speaking translators who had a high level of English language knowledge. These translations were synthesized by a panel of experts into a single Greek version of the questionnaire (CAPL-2 GR-Q), which was afterwards back translated by two native English speakers so as to ensure that the CAPL-2 domain concepts were not lost in the translation process. The pre-final version of the CAPL-2 GR-Q that was produced was administered to 15 PE teachers and 50 primary school children in order to investigate its face validity. PE teachers were asked to report if the content and translation of the pre-final Greek version is appropriate for assessing children’s knowledge about and understanding of how and why to engage in PA and sport contexts. Children were given the pre-final version of the CAPL-2 GR-Q, and were asked whether they understood the wording and layout of each question. According to the results of the face validity process, the final version of the CAPL-2 GR-Q was produced and ready to be used in the measurement protocols.

CAPL-2 administration procedures

For our study purposes, research assessors, specialists in PE, were recruited and trained according to the CAPL-2 manual to accurately administer each protocol and generate reliable results. All measurements were conducted at children’s schools or sport clubs and the full assessment protocol was completed in one or two visits. Prior to the administration of the CAPL-2, children were divided into two groups and two assessors were assigned to each group (one PE teacher and an assistant). Explanations concerning the CAPL-2 GR-Q items and demonstrations of the assessment protocols were given to children, along with familiarization trials. The maximum administration time per child was about 30 minutes and all participants were given equal attention and encouragement to avoid the risk of bias. After the completion of the CAPL-2, each child was given an Omron pedometer to wear for seven consecutive days. Following the CAPL-2 manual, at least three days with a minimum of 10 hours of pedometer use per day, and a step range between 1000 and 30,000 were set as prerequisites for the inclusion of children’s pedometer data in the analysis. Children were advised to put the pedometer on each morning and take it off for bed at night or during bathing and swimming.

Data analysis

Following similar procedures adopted in the original CAPL validation studies (Gunnell et al., 2018a), confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were performed sequentially in two stages. First, a CFA was performed to examine the factor structure for each CAPL-2 domain separately. At a second stage, the models from each individual domain’s CFA were combined in a four-factor correlated measurement model. The four domain models that were tested individually were: PC (three indicators); DB (two indicators); K&U (five indicators); and M&C (four indicators). Since not all indicators could be specified as continuous variables, the asymptotically distribution free estimator was used.

Preliminary data cleaning and descriptive statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS 26.0 software. The full sample of participants was included in CFAs, since there were no missing values. Variance was constrained to one before setting the metric of latent factors. A combination of goodness-of-fit statistics was used to test data-model fit, including the model chi-square (χ²), the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) with the 90% confidence interval (CI) (RMSEA < 0.06 or less for good fit), the comparative fit index (CFI close to 0.95 or greater for good fit), and the Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) (TLI close to 0.95 or greater for good fit) (Brown, 2006). When the fit of a nested model was poor, modification indices were examined and were interpreted only in relation to relevant theory or prior research. CFA was conducted using AMOS 26.0 software.

Total and domain scores were computed for all participants and separately across genders and age groups. Associations between children’s age and gender and the CAPL-2 total and domain numerical scores were examined with the use of: (a) analysis of variance (ANOVA) models with Tukey honestly significant difference post hoc comparisons; and (b) frequency tabulations. The partial η² was used to interpret the effect sizes for main effects (Cohen, 1988).

Results

CFAs

Results indicated that the hypothesized CFA model for the K&U domain was a good fit for the data, χ²(5) = 2.88, p = 0.718, RMSEA = 0.00 [90% CI (0.000, 0.043), p = 0.974]; CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.041. Furthermore, the CFA model run for the M&C domain generated fit statistics that were satisfactory at an acceptable range, χ²(48) = 96.482, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.04 [90% CI (0.030, 0.054), p = 0.856]; CFI = 0.844; TLI = 0.785. The CFA model run for the DB domain could not be estimated, since it had only two indicators (pedometer counts and self-reported PA) (Brown, 2006). However, due to the information gained by scores in this domain, a decision was made to further examine its factor loadings in the full measurement model. Finally, the CFA model that was run for the PC domain was estimated with PACER, CAMSA, and plank as indicators and was just identified.

At a second stage, each of the models described above were placed into a four-factor model, allowing for correlations between the four suggested PL domains. In this CFA, the four-factor model was close but did not meet adequate fit criteria, since, although RMSEA was acceptable [RMSEA = 0.050; 90% CI (0.041, 0.060), p = 0.468], other indices were not [χ² (69) = 168.769, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.832; TLI = 0.778]. These results indicated that minor adjustments in the model were needed since its latent structure was missing some significant relationships. Therefore, modification indices were inspected. The latter revealed high scores associated with error covariances that appeared to have a relationship with PA. According to Bentler and Chou (1987), the factorial validity of the data obtained from CFA models is not undermined when the covariance of error terms is incorporated, since the addition of this covariance may be more appropriate for real data. So, the covariances that occurred between the error terms of the indicators of “PA guidelines” and “self-reported PA”, “cardiorespiratory fitness definition” and “muscular endurance definition”, “adequacy score” and “predilection score”, “pacer score” and “pedometer score” were added to the model (Figure 1). After the four error covariances were added to the final model, the fit indices improved remarkably and approached an acceptable fit for the data, χ²(67) = 122.751, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.038 [90% CI (0.027, 0.049), p = 0.969]; CFI = 0.906; TLI = 0.873 (Figure 1). Nearly all factor loadings were significant (t > 1.96) and at an acceptable level (above the threshold of 0.32) (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007) (Table 1).

Figure 1.

Latent factor solution for the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy – 2 with completely standardized λ loadings.

Table 1.

Standardized factor loading matrix for the four-factor model.

	Daily behaviour	Physical competence	Knowledge and understanding	Motivation and confidence
Step average	0.310	–	–	–
Self-report	0.513	–	–	–
Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment	–	0.747	–	–
Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run	–	0.711	–	–
Plank	–	0.525	–	–
Physical activity (PA) guidelines	–	–	0.059	–
Cardiorespiratory fitness definition	–	–	0.396	–
Muscular endurance definition	–	–	0.214	–
Improve sport skills	–	–	0.057	–
PA comprehension	–	–	0.636	–
Adequacy	–	–	–	0.428
Predilection	–	–	–	0.235
Intrinsic motivation	–	–	–	0.451
PA competence	–	–	–	0.963

The factor loadings of the indicator “knowledge about PA guidelines” (λ = 0.059), and the indicator “improve sport skills” (λ = 0.057) were not significant but were kept in the final model, due to the value that knowledge indicators can add to the understanding of PL behaviours. Regarding the correlations among the four PL domains, as expected, the strongest correlation was recorded between DB and PC (r = 0.768, p < 0.01). Further, the positive correlation between M&C and PC was not so strong (r = 0.329, p < 0.01). The correlation between K&U and M&C was not significant.

The participants’ scores in the CAPL-2 protocols are presented in Table 2. The ANOVA computed on the total CAPL-2 scores showed that there was a statistically significant age by gender interaction [F(4,566) = 2.958, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.02, small size]. Mean scores increased with age [F(4,566) = 22.156, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.135, moderate size], and the increase was higher for boys compared to girls [F(1,566) = 10.873, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.01, small size]. Concerning DB, the age by gender interaction [F(4,566) = 2.555, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.01, small size], as well as the main effects for age [F(4,566) = 5.987, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.04, small size] and gender [F(1,566) = 11.964, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.02, small size] were statistically significant. DB seemed to decrease after the age of 10 years and boys seemed to accumulate higher scores than girls almost at all age categories. For the PC domain, the main effects for age were significant [F(4,566) = 24.586, p < 0.01; η2 = 0.14, moderate size], whereas the age by gender interaction (p = 0.06) and the gender main effects (p = 0.11) were non-significant. PC increased with age, and the highest score difference was noted between the ages of 8 and 9 years (3.09 points). For K&U, the main effects for age were significant [F(4,566) = 21.036, p < 0.01; η2 = 0.12, moderate size], whereas the main effects for gender (p = 0.67) or the age by gender interaction (p = 0.21) were not. M&C scores were similar for both genders (p = 0.05) and all age groups (p = 0.26), with no significant age by gender interaction (p = 0.77).

Table 2.

Total and domain scores for overall sample by age and gender.

		Mean (standard deviation)
		8 years		9 years		10 years		11 years		12 years
		Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy – 2 (CAPL-2)	Total CAPL-2	55.70 (12.41)	56.00 (10.75)	63.78 (11.55)	56.37 (9.18)	64.81 (11.12)	64.79 (10.80)	67.00 (11.12)	64.27 (11.52)	75.82 (10.40)	68.33 (11.22)
Daily behaviour (DB)	DB (total)	11.11 (6.82)	10.29 (5.73)	13.16 (7.11)	9.75 (4.87)	13.38 (6.97)	13.73 (6.20)	13.42 (7.79)	12.24 (6.85)	18.75 (8.59)	12.82 (6.57)
	Step average	7.83 (6.5)	7.10 (5.19)	9.75 (6.75)	6.63 (4.77)	10.19 (6.75)	10.24 (5.92)	9.66 (7.27)	8.71 (6.64)	14.38 (8.70)	9.39 (6.32)
	Self-report	3.28 (1.83)	3.20 (1.49)	3.41 (1.62)	3.12 (1.59)	3.19 (1.52)	3.49 (1.46)	3.77 (1.29)	3.54 (1.31)	4.37 (0.71)	3,43 (1,45)
Physical competence (PC)	PC (total)	13.48 (5.92)	14.57 (4.48)	18.57 (5.08)	15.64 (5.17)	19.04 (5.94)	18.13 (5.31)	20.28 (5.47)	19.16 (4.53)	21.70 (4.63)	21.66 (4.93)
	Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment	4.84 (1.74)	5.54 (1.54)	6.85 (1.26)	5.90 (1.52)	7.21 (1.43)	6.84 (1.25)	7.67 (1.19)	7.25 (1.11)	8.32 (0.88)	7.30 (1.12)
	Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run	3.78 (2.45)	3.66 (1.81)	5.42 (2.54)	3.96 (2.19)	5.81 (2.65)	4.86 (2.48)	6.11 (2.74)	5.23 (2.39)	7.44 (2.33)	6.46 (2.56)
	Plank	4.86 (3.17)	5.37 (2.76)	6.29 (2.99)	5.77 (2.99)	6.03 (3.21)	6.42 (3.09)	6.50 (3.03)	6.68 (2.48)	5.94 (2.79)	7.89 (2.69)
Knowledge and understanding (K&U)	K&U (total)	5.17 (1.69)	5.30 (2.29)	5.61 (1.99)	5.51 (2.27)	5.69 (2.13)	6.53 (1.80)	7.03 (2.18)	6.96 (1.88)	8.00 (1.36)	7.61 (1.42)
	Physical activity (PA) guidelines	0.47 (0.50)	0.63 (0.48)	0.53 (0.50)	0.56 (0.50)	0.58 (0.49)	0.59 (0.49)	0.66 (0.47)	0.63 (0.48)	0.69 (0.47)	0.79 (0.41)
	Cardiorespiratory fitness	0.39 (0.49)	0.59 (0.49)	0.64 (0.48)	0.51 (0.50)	0.60 (0.49)	0.70 (0.46)	0.84 (0.36)	0.87 (0.33)	0.94 (0.25)	0.93 (0.26)
	Muscular endurance	0.69 (0.46)	0.69 (0.46)	0.72 (0.45)	0.65 (0.48)	0.79 (0.41)	0.84 (0.37)	0.84 (0.36)	0.87 (0.33)	1.00 (0.00)	0.96 (0.18)
	Improve sport skills	0.33 (0.47)	0.23 (0.42)	0.20 (0.40)	0.14 (0.35)	0.10 (0.30)	0.15 (0.35)	0.23 (0.42)	0.28 (0.45)	0.31 (0.47)	0.29 (0.46)
	PA comprehension	3.28 (1.46)	3.15 (1.71)	3.53 (1.65)	3.65 (1.66)	3.61 (1.72)	4.24 (1.38)	4.45 (1.64)	4.31 (1.59)	5.06 (0.99)	4.64 (1.31)
Motivation and confidence (M&C)	M&C (total)	25.94 (4.03)	25.83 (3.50)	26.43 (3.14)	25.46 (3.82)	26.68 (2.43)	26.41 (2.59)	26.26 (3.15)	25.89 (3.05)	27.37 (1.76)	26.24 (2.77)
	Adequacy	6.43 (1.25)	6.80 (1.02)	6.59 (1.21)	6.43 (1.40)	6.76 (1.02)	6.75 (1.05)	6.52 (1.19)	6.50 (1.15)	6.84 (0.81)	6.54 (1.17)
	Predilection	6.38 (1.26)	6.52 (1.23)	6.86 (0.90)	6.72 (1.14)	6.83 (0.83)	6.86 (0.99)	6.76 (1.05)	7.03 (0.87)	7.25 (0.52)	7.05 (0.86)
	Intrinsic motivation	6.84 (1.13)	6.45 (1.50)	6.75 (1.31)	6.50 (1.43)	6.96 (0.82)	6.76 (0.99)	6.83 (0.92)	6.67 (1.07)	6.96 (0.88)	6.60 (0.78)
	PA competence	6.27 (1.57)	6.06 (1.42)	6.21 (1.28)	5.78 (1.38)	6.13 (1.28)	6.02 (1.22)	6.14 (1.38)	5.67 (1.27)	6.31 (0.96)	6.03 (1.16)

Concerning the CAPL-2 interpretive categories, statistically significant associations were found between the total CAPL-2 score and children’s gender (χ² = 9.776, p = 0.021). More girls were categorized as beginning compared to boys who were more likely to be excelling (Table 3). Domain interpretive categories for DB were also associated with gender (χ² = 21.515, p < 0.01), with girls being more likely to be beginning than boys who were more likely to be progressing. Interpretive categories for PC, M&C and K&U scores were not associated with gender (p > 0.05). Associations were also recorded between age and interpretive categories for the total CAPL-2 (χ² = 51.589, p < 0.01), PC (χ² = 52.889, p < 0.01), DB (χ² = 32.210, p < 0.01), and K&U scores (χ² = 43.566, p < 0.01). Interpretive categories for M&C were not associated with age (p = 0.28).

Table 3.

Total and domain scores of Greek children by Canadian interpretive categories.

Interpretive category	Beginning		Progressing		Achieving		Excelling
Interpretive category	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
Total Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy – 2	24 (31.6%)	52 (68.4%)	148 (49.0%)	154 (51.0%)	50 (44.2%)	63 (55.8%)	46 (54.1%)	39 (45.9%)
Daily behaviour	85 (35.3%)	156 (64.7%)	142 (53.8%)	122 (46.2%)	23 (59.0%)	16 (41.0%)	18 (56.3%)	14 (43.8%)
Physical competence	62 (41.6%)	87 (58.4%)	98 (48.8%)	103 (51.2%)	42 (46.7%)	48 (53.3%)	66 (48.5%)	70 (51.5%)
Knowledge and understanding	74 (12.8%)	80 (13.9%)	99 (17.2%)	107 (18.6%)	43 (7. 5%)	64 (11,1%)	52 (9.0%)	57 (9.9%)
Motivation and confidence	2 (50.0%)	2 (50.0%)	33 (42.9%)	44 (57.1%)	64 (56.6%)	49 (43.4%)	169 (44.2%)	213 (55.8%)

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to adapt and validate the CAPL-2 for Greek 8–12 year old children, using group comparisons and factor analytic techniques. Moreover, Greek children’s PL levels according to the CAPL-2 interpretive categories were examined in order to investigate their suitability for the Greek population. CFA procedures confirmed the four-factor structure as a good fit for the data. The examination of group differences in CAPL-2 numerical and interpretive category scores documented current forms of children’s PL progress, in ways that reflected the performance-oriented culture of the Greek PE system (Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, 2003). Taken together, these findings support the validity of the CAPL-2 for assessing PL in Greek primary school children. A critical examination of these results is presented in the following paragraphs under a situated learning perspective (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Particularly, discrete institutional, personal and instructional issues of Greek PE teachers’ daily work are mentioned as challenges that have to be faced by those who wish to translate PL discourse into culturally relevant PE pedagogy and practice.

With regard to CFA, results supported the theoretically-grounded, PL four-factor model. Correlational analyses indicated an absence of significant relationships only between K&U and M&C, a finding also reported by similar studies (Gunnell et al., 2018a). Students in this study did not lack motivation for engaging in PA but seemed to have made limited progress in terms of the cognitive learning outcomes that are needed to support such an engagement longitudinally (Zhu et al., 2009). This was evident both in the high rate of their incorrect scores in K&U (Table 2), along with the correlation found between the error terms of K&U indicators. Such a finding confirms the notion that activity-centred instruction, although initially appealing to students, may not lead to profound cognitive learning outcomes (Sun and Chen, 2010). Indeed, research carried out in Greek PE settings confirms that professionals place value on activity-centred tasks that require primarily physical effort and engagement (Karandaidou, 2005), and do not consider using “knowing-through-moving” (Chen et al., 2013) and “knowledge-in-action” (Hodges et al., 2016) instructional approaches. The latter appear to be more appropriate for promoting children’s embodied knowledge and thus align more with the PL philosophy. Therefore, it is recommended that PE teachers in Greece should use children’s motivational energy as a positive trait that could help sustain their engagement in lesson activities. By investing in knowledge gained about students’ capabilities and interests, PE teachers could afterwards use strategies such as collaborative learning, peer teaching or differentiated learning to direct this motivational energy towards a balanced achievement of motor and cognitive outcomes.

Our participants’ high motivation scores are a finding also reported in many studies (Chen et al., 2012; Phillips and Silverman, 2012). However, motivation is mediated by confidence and thus can be transient (Corbin, 2016). Therefore, attention should be paid to the socio-emotional and intellectual state that children exhibit during PE instruction. Findings from studies conducted in Greece suggest that life skills training programmes (Kolovelonis et al., 2010) and student-centred instruction (Chatzipanteli et al., 2015) enhance confidence and are appealing to students at all ages. Thus, if the goal is PL, it remains a challenge for PE teachers in Greece to use movement as a medium for empowering their students’ feelings of acceptance, self-confidence and engagement. This seems important for achieving success, since PE may be for some children the only opportunity for PA participation. As such, more emphasis has to be placed on curriculum goals such as inclusiveness, decision-making and relationship building. The adoption of game-based instruction or models-based practice could offer a solution at a practical level. Thus far, instructional approaches of this kind are lacking in the Greek primary PE curriculum.

One intriguing and context-specific finding in this study was the error correlation found between children’s pedometer measures and PACER scores. Error correlations were somewhat expected since PL is a multidimensional construct and error correlations often appear with such constructs (Levine, 2005). Prior research has documented positive relations between children and youth’s PA participation and their motor competence (Holfelder and Schott, 2014; Venetsanou and Kambas, 2017) or fitness (Cattuzzo et al., 2016; Lang et al., 2018). Further, dynamic trends of association have been reported between different PC elements across childhood (Stodden et al., 2014). According to ecological learning theories, the strength of such associations can vary over time in terms of biological, environmental, social, and psychological influences (Davids et al., 2013). Therefore, both the error correlations and the associations found between our participants’ PC scores and age may be attributed to children’s context specific adaptations or reactions to the measurement procedures. Recruitment in this study represented a cross-section of geographical locations and socio-economic areas. However, participants came from schools or sport clubs that expressed an interest to participate. As such, additional validation studies are needed to understand which of the above correlates could be added to our suggested PL measurement model in order to further substantiate future assessment findings.

Children’s PA patterns decreased with increasing age, with boys accumulating higher scores than girls. Similar findings are also reported by relevant previous studies (Chung et al., 2012; Nader et al., 2008; Tremblay et al., 2018). What should be noted however is that, in our case, both older participants’ and boys’ DB scores did not seem to be satisfactory, given the 30 points maximum domain score. Considering that PA elevation is a primary surveillance indicator of youth health (Lang et al., 2018), this finding was not very promising. Relevant studies carried out in Greece report that students’ PA participation declines with age (Goltsos, 2011), something which is attributed both to their academic workload (Bertaki et al., 2007) and to the performance-oriented focus of PE curricula (Vlachaki, 2016). With regard to gender, boys in Greece seem to accumulate a higher number of PA experiences than girls throughout their schooling years, due to their increased time participating in sporting activities both within and outside of PE (Chroni et al., 2011).

Broadly speaking, adolescent inactivity and gender inequalities are trends that can negatively influence Greek children’s and youth’s PL development; to overcome these disparities it is imperative that – irrespective of age and gender – all children are given the chance to experience PA participation as an inherently enjoyable, situationally relevant and personally rewarding experience. In response to this, the adoption of “whole-of-school” approaches could help Greek PE teachers to effectively address students’ physical inactivity at an institutional level (i.e. opportunities for PA before, during and after school). The latter are recommended as promising avenues for eliciting positive behaviour change, given their consistent PL messaging not only among students, but also among those affiliated with their education and nurturing (i.e. family, community, and school staff) (Castelli et al., 2014).

Another important issue is that PE teachers in Greece should consider using a positive youth development perspective (Côté and Fraser-Thomas, 2016) during the design of learning activities. This is important when it comes to gender, considering the fact that boys and girls may differently perceive the importance of PE curriculum goals (Lyyra et al., 2015). Nonetheless, it appears that teachers in Greece need to be more cognizant of potential “gender biases” in PE expectations, so that they can shape the pedagogical delivery of their lessons accordingly. Thus, we claim for the adoption of ipsative judgements concerning each child’s progress (Green et al., 2018), since these better align with PL pedagogy and practice.

Lastly, the examination of Greek children’s PL status in relation to the Canadian interpretive categories highlighted age and gender differences in the total CAPL-2 and DB scores. Further, associations were found between children’s age and the domain scores of PC and K&U (Table 3). This finding is in contrast to those of similar studies conducted in Canada (Longmuir et al., 2015) and could relate to the way that PL is operationalized within the two educational systems. Since interpretive categories were developed according to Canadian normative data, differences and associations of this kind were somewhat expected. It is important to note that the CAPL-2 interpretive categories are based upon criterion or normative thresholds that reflect research findings related to the current status of Canadian children’s progress in PL domains (Tremblay et al., 2018). From an educational perspective, the culture specific nature of this information is unique. As Whitehead (2010) states, a global interpretation of the PL construct is neither expected nor desired, since in each country PL judgements are infused by socially-constructed performance codes. Compared to Canada, the focus of primary PE in Greece is on the “physically educated person” and the term “physical literacy” has recently entered the academic discourse. Although efforts are made by curriculum designers to address discrepancies in ways that align with the PL philosophy (Gorozidis and Papaioannou, 2011), the enacted-curriculum culture (i.e. principals, colleagues, parents, and authorities) puts pressure on practitioners’ efforts to implement educational reforms (Dania and Harvey, 2019). PE teachers’ and coaches’ work obligations, both within and outside of school, restrict their opportunities and willingness for professional development or knowledge/skill updating (Dania and Griffin, 2019). Therefore, since the construct of PL is under ongoing development, we believe that further empirical testing is needed to explore culture/country specific thresholds. Such thresholds could further substantiate the potential use of interpretive category scores as reference points for making inferences across countries. Though we acknowledge that such a discourse will enable PL research, we primarily advocate for quality PE and not for the adoption of terminology that will be more of a hindrance to practitioners.

Conclusions and implications

While PL has broadened the possibility for children’s holistic development through PE practices, the field has lacked valid instruments that could measure the construct in a culturally relevant way. The present study’s findings provide support concerning the construct validity of the Greek version of the CAPL-2 to be used for assessing PL in 8–12 year old children. Given the multidimensional nature of PL, the present data supported the existence of a four-factor model that aligns with theoretical and pedagogical recommendations found in the relevant literature. Consistent with the PL philosophical framework, the CAPL-2 captured in a culturally sensitive way the current status of Greek children’s PL across different age and gender groups and established reference points that can make the concept tangible to educational policy-makers. The large sample of children from various regions of Greece, the similar proportions of boys and girls and the lack of missing data were all strengths of this study.

While the present validation of the CAPL-2 is an important contribution to the PL literature, there are also several limitations or suggestions for future studies. First, additional research is required in bigger samples that are more representative of Greek demographic variables such as anthropometric indices, geographical location and socio-economic status. Research of this kind can identify PL thresholds in ways that more appropriately align with the practices and understandings of the Greek educational culture. Future research could also measure PL achievements longitudinally, given the dynamic nature of children’s development at these ages. Qualitative data reflecting PE teachers’ voices in the interpretation of these measures are also recommended. Finally, further validation studies could also explore relationships between PL and other latent constructs (e.g. creativity and empathy), so that causal connections between unobserved variables are discovered.

As suggested by Barnett et al. (2019), appropriate measures are those that can capture real data in a situation sensitive/relevant way, and this should be of paramount concern to PE professionals. Thus, we advocate for the use of the present findings as a reference point for ensuring the fidelity of PL research in and outside of Greece and not for their dissemination in an opportunist manner. Recognizing that this study is the first scientific endeavour in a rather undiscovered field in Greece, it remains a possibility and a challenge for future PE researchers to use our results as a basis for directing international collaboration efforts towards the design of cost–benefit PL educational programmes and policies.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The European Partnership Agreement 2014-2020, Operational Program “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning”. The Program is co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund) and Greek national funds, call entitled “Supporting researchers with an emphasis on young researchers”.

ORCID iD

Aspasia Dania

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