A Study on the Appropriateness of the Learning of High Jump in an Elementary School

based on a study on the experiences acquired from athletic activities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the appropriate grade to start a quality program, to include an enjoyment factor, on high jump at the elementary school.
In order to accomplish the purpose, two classes at each grade from the 3rd to the 6th of an elementary school were studied to obtain various data, each class being organized to take six to eight school hours of high jump.
The results of this study are summarized as follows:
1) Throughout the courses, the performances were advanced in all classes. However, the statistical significance of the advancement was apparent only at the 4th grade and above. A significant difference between boys and girls was shown at both the 5th and the 6th grade, with the boys advancing at a higher rate than the girls.
2) Although no particular difference was observed between the 3rd and the 4th grade on the performance, there were significant differences between the 4th grade and the 5th, and between the 5th and the 6th both in boys and girls.
3) On the achievements of the individual target records, effective results were shown at the 5th and the 6th grades. And a similar result was also shown at the latter half of the course for the 4th grade.
4) Pleasure and satisfaction with the high jump courses were observed at the 5th and the 6th grades.
From those results, it is clarified that the most appropriate timing to start quality learning of the high jump should be from the 5th grade.
Although a significant progress of performance can be expected at the 4th grade, it seems necessary to examine the quality of guidance in greater detail.