Systematic Review of Physical Literacy in Aquatic Activity

Nur Sita Utami

, Subagyo

, Slamet

, and Hedi Ardiyanto Hermawan

Faculty of Sport Sciences, Yogyakarta State University, Colombo Street No.1, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Literacy, Swimming

Abstract: The expansion of physical literacy vocabulary can be done with active motion in land and water

environment. Swimming is a basis for movement skills in aquatic activities. The systematic aim of this

review is to ascertain the swimming variables in the topic of physical literacy research. Data analysis used

meta-aggregation approach with Miles and Hubberman Model. Data were collected through Google Scholar

in the period of January 2018 to January 2019. The results of the review of 7 articles indicated that

swimming has not been used as the main variable in the topic of physical literacy research.

1 INTRODUCTION

The physical literacy movement popularized by the

International Physical Literacy Conference inspires

researchers to study the topic of physical literacy

problems in aquatic activities. The researchers have

the idea to conduct a systematic review so that the

state of the art research of the topic is drawn.

Aquatic activities are included in Curriculum

2013 with a three-star code. The code means that

aquatic activities can be held at school or not,

according to the school's potential. This policy came

about by considering the availability of swimming

pools in each different school. In general, this policy

gives physical education teachers the leeway not to

be optimal in carrying out aquatic activities. On the

other hand, aquatic activities are needed by

individuals to master the basic skills and attitudes of

safety in water.

Mastery of basic physical activity skills, such as

resistance training, swimming, and cycling allows

individuals to move actively (Hulteen, 2017).

Furthermore, these skills are the basis for more

specific movement skills such as marathon running,

mountain biking, and swimming in the strait.

Mastery of these advanced movement skills can be

developed into a triathlon.

The basic skill of aquatic activity is swimming.

Individuals who have physical literacy skills will not

stop at mastering basic swimming skills. Individuals

will explore themselves to develop other skills in

water, for example diving, water polo, and

swimming.

The results of the study are expected to be a

reference for researchers in developing further

Research Group research topics with current

problems. On the other hand, researchers can utilize

the results of research as lecture materials for

aquatic learning and support for the implementation

of swimming elementary courses.

2 METHODS

2.1 Research Design

A systematic review was used in this research to

obtain information on the results of physical literacy

research in aquatic activities.

2.2 Participants

Articles were collected with keywords Physical

Literacy AND Swimming through Google Scholar's

digital database. The number of search results

included 5,170 articles. Furthermore, there were 7

selected articles which were published online in the

period of January 2018 to January 29, 2019. The

terms of the article being reviewed contain physical

literacy and swimming words.

2.3 Data Collection

Researchers as research instruments perform content

validation, namely the selection of articles based on

the appearance of keywords in the content of the

Utami, N., Subagyo, ., Slamet, . and Hermawan, H.

Systematic Review of Physical Literacy in Aquatic Activity.

DOI: 10.5220/0009308302110213

In Proceedings of the 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science in conjunction with the 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports

(YISHPESS and CoIS 2019), pages 211-213

ISBN: 978-989-758-457-2

211

article. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are presented

in table 1 below.

Tabel 1: Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Inclusion criteria English-language academic

research articles published online

and included in the Google

Scholar database

Exclusion criteria articles containing physical

literacy and swimming words

2.4 Data Analysis

The meta-aggregation approach was carried out in

data analysis. Miles and Hubberman model was used

to analyze this research data.

3 RESULTS

The results of a review of 7 articles have not shown

specific studies of physical literacy in aquatic

activity, particularly swimming. In general, physical

literacy is the main variable of research. Swimming

is only mentioned as an example of aquatic activity

that can be done to develop physical literacy.

One effort that parents can do to develop

children's physical literacy is to introduce outdoor

physical activities that involve large muscles (Gehris

et al., 2018). Swimming is an alternative physical

activity that can be done outdoors. This activity is

one of the recommendations for parents in

developing children's physical literacy.

Swimming is an exception activity for using a

pedometer in the research of Trembley et al (2018).

The research of the level of physical literacy of

children in Canada aged 8-12 years (Tremblay et al.,

2018) was measured with a SC-StepRx pedometer

(Steps Count, Deep River, ON, Canada). Pedometer

is placed on the right waist of children. It is used for

seven days, except when sleeping, bathing, and

swimming.

To explore the way elementary school children

in Ireland connect physical activity in shaping

physical education experiences that aim at

promoting lifelong participation. Tests given to

individuals were in the form of drawing and writing.

The results of children's drawings and writings will

describe awareness, knowledge, and understanding

of physical activity and physical education. Most

girls draw activities that do not require the

participation of others, for example walking with

dogs, swimming or riding horses (Parker et al.,

2018). Swimming is one of the physical activities

chosen by girls. On the other hand, boys tend to

draw physical activities that involve teamwork.

Knowledge and understanding in encouraging

physical literacy can be taught through the

curriculum. Physical literacy learning in physical

education can be transferred through core traditional

activities, such as athletics, dance, games,

gymnastics, outdoor education, and swimming (Cale

and Harris, 2018).

The examination results of the curriculum of

Physical Education and School of Sports or Faculty

of Sport Sciences in Turkey show that the general

subjects given are Gymnastics, Athletics,

Swimming, Rhythm Education, Sports Psychology,

Sports Movement and Skills Learning, Recreational

Practice, Kinesiology, Sports Pedagogy, Educational

Games , and Dance (Basoglu, 2018). The integration

of physical literacy between semesters 3-6 can be

very useful for the development of physical literacy

(Basoglu, 2018).

To examine the effect of perception of physical

literacy in predicting the success of coaching and

leadership behavior from the perception of athletes

in Hong Kong high schools. Each participant

competed individually and in teams. The individual

sports that were competed were field and track, table

tennis, badminton, swimming, jumping rope, and

trampoline. The team sports that were competed

were basketball, soccer, dodgeball, ice hockey,

handball, baseball, korfball, and rugby. The

conclusion of the research is the key to the success

of the concept of athlete formation is the

understanding of physical literacy (Li et al., 2019).

Swimming is an aquatic activity that can be

introduced to children from an early age. Swimming

with parents will strengthen the foundation of

children's physical literacy, especially in aquatic

activities. On the other hand, parents will learn from

swimming trainers on how to develop children's

motor skills in water (Nováková and Čechovská,

2019).

4 DISCUSSION

The heart of physical literacy is the development of

physical competence. The three elements of motion

that form the basis of physical competence consist of

a wide range of motion vocabulary, memory and

accuracy of motion, and improvement of motion

quality (Maude, 2010). The expansion of motion

vocabulary needs to be done with variations in the

YISHPESS and CoIS 2019 - The 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science (YISHPESS

2019) in conjunction with The 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports (CoIS 2019)

212

motion environment. Motion is not only done in

land, but also in water. Motion carried out in water

has an ease, that is, the body seems lighter.

However, the challenge of motion in water is a

different breathing technique. Habituation is needed

so that water is not swallowed.

Swimming is a basis for physical literacy in

aquatic activities. In the period of January 2018 to

29 January 2019, there were no studies using

swimming as the main variable in the topic of

physical literacy research. It was Google Scholar-

based article search. Research with physical literacy

variables is increasingly diverse. Swimming is

written in research as an example of one of the

recommended aquatic activities.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Physical literacy is expected to expand the

vocabulary of motion. Expansion can be done with a

variety of environments to move. The aquatic

environment has the advantages and challenges of

motion. Supported body weight feels lighter being in

water. However, breathing skills become a challenge

at the beginning of learning motion. The foundation

of physical literacy for aquatic activities is

swimming. The results of a review of 7 articles

indicated that swimming has not been used as the

main variable in the topic of physical literacy

research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article is a publication of a Research Group

grant entitled Systematic Review of Physical

Literacy in Aquatic Activity funded by DIPA UNY.

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Li, M. et al. 2019. ‘Influence of Perceived Physical

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